Endgame Endgame is a rather surprising product of the Canadian television industry. Although Canadian mystery stories lack the punch and grit of the British or the American action style, Endgame is endowed with a certain wit that plays well on the steps of previously known The Mentalist.

In Endgame, we meet Arkady Balagan, former world chess champion (Russian, of course, aren’t all chess champions Russian?). He develops a severe case of agoraphobia after the murder of his fiancée and remains trapped in a hotel. There, Arkady resorts of helping people solve mysteries in order to pay his bills, drawing the ire of the hotel’s head of security and the hotel’s manager. His agoraphobia likens Arkady Balagan to Rex Stout’s detective Nero Wolfe.

 

A recurring theme in Endgame (kudos for staying away from the much too obvious title “Check-mate”) is the death of Arkady’s fiancee Rosemary, assassinated by unknown gunmen. Aside from (more or less) mundane mysteries, Arkady is trying to piece together her death with the help of Rosemary’s sister Pippa.

The cast of Endgame is hard to call after the first 7 episodes, but they look promising:

  • Shawn Doyle (Arkady Balagan): the accent sounds rather forced and fake but although a Russian actor might’ve been better for this, Shawn has a certain charm playing the egotistical and narcissistic chess master.
  • Torrance Coombs (Sam Besht): the stereotypical apprentice, Torrance plays an easy part that everyone expected to exist. There’s some regret on my part the producers didn’t choose another approach but it’s ok.
  • Patrick Gallagher (Hugo): the head of security is there for a pretense antagonist and some comic relief. Patrick does a great part, he makes the character both comic and quite believable. It’s hard not to feel sorry for him at times and that’s the whole point.
  • Katharine Isabelle (Danni): the bartender. She sees and hears a lot, she’s quite charismatic but much like in the case of the apprentice, not much can be said. She’s probably there to provide a source of subplots in the future.
  • Carmen Aguirre (Alcina): a cleaning lady at the hotel, who helps Arkady get information as well as with giving insight in cases. She’s a sharp, smart, overworked family mother with little patience for dilly-dallying. Like Patrick, she fits the role and performs it admirably.
  • Melanie Papalia (Pippa): Arkady’s fiancée Rosemary’s sister. Little presence so far, often annoying.
  • Veena Sood (Barbara Stilwell): the hotel’s manager. She gave Arkady a discount in the wake of his agoraphobia development. Nothing much can be said about an actor credited as main cast but with little visibility in the plots.