Party farewell to a left leg, child narrator in a coma for four months, anorexia, bulimia, disastrous ATV accident and families broken by bone cancer: the new series Red bracelets of TVA had all the ingredients to plunge us into a dysthymia-type depression. Long, painful and constant.
But no. Against all expectations, the episodes of the Quebec adaptation of the Catalan television series Vermellas polseres inject a strong dose of light into our winter, which promises to be, like that of 2021, austere and painful. This spirit of benevolence that envelops Red bracelets evokes the sweetness ofHelp Beatrice, a benchmark in comforting TV.
Despite its very serious subject, namely childhood illnesses, Red bracelets unfolds in a program that warms the heart and tells stories of friendship, courage and hope. Really, it promises for the future. This is one of the beautiful surprises of the television season.
The young actors at the heart of the plot, here I am thinking of Noah Parker, Anthony Therrien and Léanne Désilets, burst the screen.
In the second episode, which you’ll see next week, the scene where young hockey player Justin (Noah Parker) discovers his body after the amputation will make you cry, that’s for sure. It is played with accuracy and truth. Hat.
Of course it’s sad. But not a boring and heavily supported sadness. There is something deeply touching about seeing these sick teens help each other and find the right words to console themselves. No, it’s not cheesy or cheesy. It is touching.
And it seems that this Spanish format has been tested and refined in several countries, including France and the United States (Red Band Society from the Fox Channel). The construction of the first episode, which you surely watched on Tuesday night on TVA, is incredibly efficient. It is a master class in the art of writing a pilot.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE PRODUCTION
Léanne Désilets in Red bracelets
Quickly, the viewer embarks on this choral series, which never mixes us. And even if we do not know the pathology of each of the patients at the Rive hospital, a sort of CHU Sainte-Justine des Laurentides, we understand that it is serious and we immediately become attached to them.
The relationship between Justin (Noah Parker) and his roommate, Félix (Anthony Therrien), who suffer from the same bone cancer, leads to some lovely moments. Optimist with a devastating smile, Felix serves as a guide for Justin, still reeling from the tumor that has torpedoed his hopes of playing junior hockey. A love triangle emerges between them and Flavie (Audrey Roger), who talks little about her state of health. We guess she suffers from an eating disorder.
Red bracelets obviously does not speak only of disease, but of everything that so-called normal teenagers go through: heart problems, emancipation and popularity.
I loved the character of Kim (Léanne Désilets, alias Dorice Boulerice in Six degrees), the arrogant teenager who softens in contact with his hospital mates. Daughter of a TV star (Frédérick De Grandpré), Kim forges an unlikely – and adorable – bond with Kevin (Étienne Galloy), who suffered multiple fractures in a four-wheeler accident.
Sébastien Delorme, who plays Justin’s father, will arrive in the series next Tuesday. He does not accept at all the state of his son, which he hides from his colleagues.
You will better understand the past of Lou (Milya Corbeil-Gauvreau) in the second episode, where his two fathers (Victor Andrés Trelles Turgeon and Éric Paulhus) will appear.
The story of the band of red bracelets is told to us by little Albert (Malick), still unconscious after a jump to the 10-meter tower. His mother (Isabelle Blais) visits him every day. Even the more esoteric side of the show – there’s a meeting in the afterlife in the next episode – passes the test. Yan England did a great job behind the camera.
Strong market shares
It is probably only in Quebec where people are rocking the New Year in front of their TV. The ratings for the December 31 broadcasts on Radio-Canada prove it again. On the other hand, alone Infoman broke its audience record, going from 3,038,000 viewers in 2020 to 3,047,000 this year. the Bye bye 2021 was seen by 3,773,000 people, down from the previous record edition (3,814,000). Live from New Years Day, affected by the failure of Helix, did not suffer too much with 1,993,000 revelers listening, or 5,000 less than in 2020.
The ratings ofSee you next year, seen by 1,710,000 people, decreased slightly. It was 1,843,000 a year ago. These figures do not include the repetitions of the 1er January.
As to Bye bye 2021, its market share was estimated at 90%. This means that 90% of French-speaking Quebecers who watched TV between 11 p.m. and 12:15 a.m. had tuned into Radio-Canada. It is gigantic. The curfew must not have harmed these large trade fair gatherings (in a bubble, of course) either.