The French island with deadly secrets: CBC’s Saint-Pierre Season 2 picks up after an epic cliffhanger
Watch the trailer and get the full details on the new plot, cast and guest stars
Our favourite gritty police drama, Saint-Pierre is back for Season 2 on CBC Gem. After an all-time epic cliffhanger, audiences can’t wait to find out what happens next on this crime-ridden archipelago.
This new season digs deeper into Arch and Fitz’s backstories, including the real reason Arch came to work on this remote island and the dark history behind Fitz’s sleepwalking. But while their lives become more complicated, the crimes in deceptively beautiful Saint-Pierre are unrelenting, and the duo must work as a team to solve them.
“It's truly awesome,” says Allan Hawco, lead star and co-producer, “it's good escapism and in each episode of the show we bring in a whole different world around a case.”
What is Saint-Pierre about?
Inspector Donny (Fitz) Fitzpatrick (Allan Hawco) and Deputy Chief Geneviève (Arch) Archambault (Joséphine Jobert) are two seasoned detectives who find themselves in remote Saint-Pierre, a French island off the coast of Newfoundland, for different reasons.
The island’s idyllic facade conceals the worst kind of criminal activity which tends to rise up on its beautiful shores. “Saint-Pierre may have the highest crime rate in the world, but the pastries are so good,” Jobert says of her fictional island home.
Fitz and Arch became partners, and together they make an unconventional team solving crimes and tracking the island’s notorious baddie, criminal kingpin Sean Gallagher (James Purefoy), who Arch learns in Season 1, is her father.
Where did Saint-Pierre leave off last season?
Season 1 ended with an epic cliffhanger! When Gallagher’s son Tristan (Dempsey Bryk) is found dead, Sean blames and then kidnaps police chief Marcus Villeneuve (Benz Antoine). Using a tracker that Fitz and Arch had previously embedded in Villeneuve's coat, they track him to the local cemetery. Things get heated quickly as Arch, Fitz, Gallagher, Villeneuve and Gallagher’s other son Rowan Colbert (Eric Osborne) face off.
“There’s a multi-gun standoff, things go sideways and a lot of bullets go off,” explains Hawco. “So, we don’t really know what happened. Is anyone dead? Is anyone injured? We find out in Season 2!” says Jobert.
Watch the scene here.
Where can I watch the Saint-Pierre trailer?
Here you go. Enjoy.
What’s new for Season 2 of Saint-Pierre?
Season 2 picks up just a few days after the standoff in the graveyard. “We’ve delved a little more into the personal this season,” says co-producer Robina Lord-Stafford. “We get to know a little more about their back stories and who they are outside of work.” We’ll learn more about Fitz’s life, including a juicy backstory about his relationship with his ex-wife Meredith (Vanessa Matsui).
His dynamic with Arch deepens. Says Jobert: “Now, they aren’t just partners, they’re friends. They know everything about each other and they trust each other.” But a hint of trouble brews when Arch starts a relationship with the island’s charming psychologist Dr. Théo Fouchard (Tim Rozon), who is brought in to consult for the police department. “Fitz isn’t quite sure about who this Dr. Théo is and we’re left to wonder, is it because he’s a little bit jealous or is he seeing something else in him that Arch isn’t?” says Lord-Stafford.
Arch is understandably conflicted when she learns that Gallagher, her nemesis, is actually her father. After the shooting in the cemetery, Gallagher is released by the police and agrees to help them catch another mysterious criminal organization that is targeting the island. Father and daughter will need to collaborate, and that makes work a bit uncomfortable. “Arch and Gallagher, even though they're on the different ends of the spectrum as far as crime goes, they're a lot more alike than either of them would ever want to let on,” says Lord-Stafford. “They’re both harboring secrets and they're both very devoted to family.”
Prefect Charlotte Diard (Maxim Roy) is brought to Saint-Pierre to investigate the shooting in the cemetery. She comes in guns blazing and really gets in Arch and Fitz’s way. “Arch doesn’t like authority,” says Jobert, “so there’s this little friction between them which I love playing.”
Junior detective Patty (Erika Prevost) is star-struck by Diard who manipulates her into keeping an eye on Arch and Fitz, leading to some friction between the coworkers. The situation finally comes to a head when Fitz and Arch race against the clock to rescue Patty and Diard, trapped on a plane rigged with a bomb.
This season, Renuf (Jean-Michel Le Gal) takes a renewed interest in his job and uses his deep knowledge of Saint-Pierre to become a skilled investigator. We learn more about his past when one of his former classmates dies on the eve of his high school reunion. “I think the audience is going to fall even more in love with Renuf this season and he’s so funny,” says Lord-Stafford.
One scene features Arch and Fitz riding horses together. It was “just a dream” for Jobert, who is a lifelong rider. But it was a new experience for Hawco. “They used this horse they train little children on,” he jokes, “so I think we’re going to be okay.”
What new characters and special guests appear on Saint-Pierre this season?
Maxim Roy (Shadowhunters/Bad Blood) and Tim Rozon (Instant Star/Schitt’s Creek) join the cast in the recurring roles of Prefect Charlotte Diard and psychologist Dr. Théo Fouchard.
Look out for Kevin Hanchard (Hudson and Rex), Fiona Reid (King of Kensington/My Big Fat Greek Wedding), Emma Hunter (Mr. D/The Beaverton), Sergio Di Zio (Flashpoint) and Salvatore Antonio (Paradise Falls) who appear in special guest roles.
Actor Paul Gross (Due South/Slings and Arrows) also has a fun cameo this season.
“This country is punching way above its weight in terms of talent and I'm happy to be able to be working with so many different people,” says Hawco.
Where was Saint-Pierre filmed?
Saint-Pierre was filmed in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon which is, of course, a real place. Saint-Pierre is the centre of a group of remote islands located just 45 km off the coast of Newfoundland. On the doorstep of North America, the islands are part of France and offer a unique blend of European and Canadian culture.
“It’s the most unique place I've ever seen in my life”, says Hawco, “just the basic makeup of that rock is so gorgeous and the sky is never not beautiful.”
Although present day Saint-Pierre is a peaceful place, the islands became a hub for rum smuggling during the prohibition era, with gangsters like Al Capone and Bill McCoy establishing operations there.
Each fictional case solved by Arch and Fitz is tied to the island’s history and storied past. “The little twists and turns are very specific to Saint-Pierre,” says co producer Lord-Stafford, “we have a murder that happens in the ‘Mouth of Hell’ and that’s a real actual place.” The islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon are separated by a six-kilometre strait (known as the ‘Mouth of Hell’) which is the resting place of over 600 shipwrecks and countless lost souls.
Where can I watch Saint-Pierre in Canada?
Watch Saint-Pierre in Canada on CBC Gem now.
CBC Gem is available for free as an App for iOS, tvOS, Fire TV, Android TV, Android phones and tablets, LG and Samsung Smart TVs, Roku, and Xbox One/S/X.
