I am very surprised and disappointed that this series didn't get as much exposure and higher ratings and reviews than in my opinion it very much deserves. From most of the reviews and the synopses I've read it seems like people who wrote them never even watched the first season! What I saw was a gripping, well-written, excellently performed (quite literally the whole cast absolutely nails it - how often do you find that?) and beautifully produced murder mystery/relationship drama, not a "grim piece about teenage issues" as I saw it presented in reviews.
It has very strong, multi-faceted - and for the most part flawed and tragic - characters, who you can relate to and feel for very strongly at times. I don't think I've ever felt as strongly for a TV character as I did for Lisa the barmaid - an excellent performance by Kandyce McClure, an actress I had never heard of before and now am a bit of a fan of! But really, everyone on the cast impressed me greatly. Nicole Miller (by Holly Elissa) is one of the strongest female characters I've seen on TV - a real air punch of a lady! And Brendan Penny's performance as AJ is nothing short of stellar!
Besides, visually the show is real eye-candy both in terms of the stunning Canadian scenery, excellent production design and an all round very good-looking cast (including Nick Lea, on whose account I actually watched this in the first place, his character turning out to be one of the most flawed in my opinion).
I also found very successful and impressive the way music was used in the series.
I hear that it is only available now on Prime UK (included with subscription) - lucky for me I guess! If you have access to Prime UK, I urge you - watch it! This is quality.
Review of Whistler
