A cameo by Daniel Bélanger as a taxi driver, a performance by Lunou Zucchini, a resolute anagram (Nietzsche-Scienthez) that identified the terrorist, a spangled frock coat and a 93e slow motion of the bombs exploding in Santorini, the final of Chaos, Tuesday evening at TVA, was less chaotic than the whole of this extra-dramatic season and riddled with clichés.
The resolution of the mystery was satisfactory for those who persevered in listening despite the bizarre names (Doc Chill, CarrousoRoma) and the abuse of music supporting very, very, very hard the heartbreaking moments (alcoholism, suicide, shooting, lark !).
Notice to latecomers who have not yet hummed the latest INVO hit (yes, it’s UFO upside down) Love take me away, shout your tablet to the garbage, or throw your cell phone against the wall immediately. The whistleblower alert flashes like the detonator that blew up the backpack of pianist Eugénie Normandeau (Lysandre Ménard).
Honestly, the plot around the orphan sociopath Thomas (Lévi Doré) was skillfully knitted by Josélito Michaud’s team. Throughout the 10 episodes of Chaos, the false leads first pointed towards Charles (Henri Picard), the introverted little brother of INVO and the perfect mule, as well as in the direction of Christian (Daniel Thomas), the impresario of INVO on the verge of losing his popstar / printing machine money.
Behind his angelic air and his sad family history, Thomas fooled everyone, including the little insightful Detective Sergeant Pierre Bisson (Pierre Lebeau). Even when Thomas quoted Nietzsche on his hospital bed, no one lit, not even Nostradumas. How could the kind Thomas have orchestrated such a violent and bloody attack? Well done, detective Louise Ventura (Mélanie Pilon), who had the technological flair necessary to complete the investigation.
Chaos could have been a much better TV series if so many important details hadn’t been overlooked. Here, just the name given to Detective Ventura, it sounds like a joke from Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey), the stupid detective who searches for lost animals in the movies of the same name. It undermines the credibility of the project.
It doesn’t work either that INVO (Simon Morin) performs four nights in front of 20,000 people in Berlin and ends his world tour in a Montreal club barely bigger than Club Soda. It is at the Bell Center that INVO the UFO should have landed. Not in Santorini. Moreover, all the names given to businesses sounded weird: the Crazy Dragon bar, the À vos jeux café, it feels like 1998.
Daniel Bélanger composed all the songs performed by INVO in Chaos, of which The world is chill, pieces that would stick more to a contemporary adult repertoire than to that of the idol of generation Z. INVO is not Loud, we agree.
It’s a shame, because the range of young actors chosen for Chaos is impressive and talented. Let us think of Pier-Gabriel Lajoie (Xavier), Lévi Doré (discovered in Help Beatrice), Henri Picard (Charles), Ève Lemieux (Justine), Lysandre Ménard (Eugénie), Naïla Louidort (Camille) and even singer Simon Morin, who did well in his role of “international star”.
We must not forget either the veterans like Pascale Bussières, Denis Bernard, Christian Bégin, Ariel Ifergan, Claude Despins and Fanny Mallette, who would have benefited from more solid texts.
According to TVA, the ratings of Chaos reached 930,000 viewers, which includes recordings. This is a very respectable score.
Strong acting performances
The actresses of All the life have been stealing the show for a few weeks now. I am thinking here of Marie-Ève Beauregard, who plays the teenager Laura Filmon, the one who carries the child of her producer grandfather Michel (Bernard Fortin). It is breathtaking. Tuesday night it was once again stunning, swinging between anger, distress and vulnerability.
RADIO-CANADA PHOTO
Marie-Ève Beauregard plays the character of Laura Filmon in All the life.
For those who are wondering, Marie-Ève Beauregard also played in Amber Alert at VAT. She played the young Jasmine Robidoux, who had lent her car to Logan (Lévi Doré).
Another outstanding performance: that of Tiffany Montambault, alias Margaux, pregnant for the third time before coming of age. It’s a delicate role that could have been cliché, but no. Its interpreter translates well all the nuances brought by the screenwriter Danielle Trottier.
Myriam Leblanc, who plays Margaux’s indebted mother, also comes to pick us up. Her intensity, resentment, and affection for her daughter, despite everything, make her hard to completely dislike. It is high aerobatics.
I obviously bring to the table all the passages of Micheline Lanctôt, so just as an inadequate mother, as well as those of Marie-France Marcotte, the overwhelming biological mother of Tina (Hélène Bourgeois Leclerc). Special mention to Philomène Bilodeau (the redhead Mari-Jo) and Camille Felton (Rosalie), who also deserve flowers. What a distribution, anyway.