There are things we might expect from Canadian TV shows.

They includes optimism and idealism. Even amid tragedy, the “Flashpoint” cops remain calm and cool.
Now comes a new show, which goes in the opposite way. “'Durham County' is much darker,” said Hugh Dillon, who stars in that show and co-stars in “Flashpoint.”
The mood of “Durham County” is signaled instantly. We're in suburbia, but nearby are the woods and overhead are massive power lines.
“It's foreboding,” Dillon said. “The power lines are huge … It all makes you feel quieter and smaller.”
This is the world Mike Sweeney (Dillon) moves back to. His wife Audrey (played by Australian actress Helene Joy) is fighting cancer; they've returned to their home town with their teen daughter.
This is supposed to be a soothing place for a new life, but there are ominous signs – the power lines, the trees, the scheming teen boys, two murder cases … and the fact that Mike's high-school nemesis (Justin Louis) lives across the street. Mike – who has dark secrets of his own – is overwhelmed.
There's a tough, working-class feeling to the show, something Dillon can associate with from his boyhood in Kingston, Ontario. “It's the prison capital of North America,” he said. There are nine prisons in all, one going back to 1835.
His dad worked in an aluminum factory, his mom was a teacher and his siblings were quite a bit older. Dillon tried acting and music, then scored as singer for a rock band, the Headstones.
This was rock success – a major-label (MCA) contract in 1993, nominations for two national Juno awards (best group, best rock album) in 1996 – complete with a down side. “It gives you so much access to drugs and the life is so brutal,” Dillon said.
He did rehab twice. He also became an actor, drawing praise for “Hard Core Logo” in 1996.
Most of his success was confined to Canada, until the writers' strike spurred crossovers. “Flashpoint” (with Dillon as Ed Lane) has filmed 18 episodes for its third season; CBS has ordered nine of them, as a mid-season replacement.
He was already doing that show when he was called for a meeting with the women who are the “Durham County” producers. “It felt like 'The Witches of Eastwick.' All of a sudden, you're very self-conscious, because they are so smart and charismatic.”
He took the role, wedging one show into breaks from the other. So far, he's done two six-episode Canadian seasons of “Durham County” and is starting a third.
In the U.S., that gives the little Ion network 12 episodes. Americans can step into a darker side of the Canadian experience.