The Sketch Artist is a French-Canadian detective series on Walter Presents. The title character, Éve Garance (Rachel Graton), is an artist with an almost supernatural ability to read people, which helps her create facial composites based on verbal descriptions from eyewitnesses. She is part of a team of 4 called the Investigative Unit, which works alongside the police in Montréal. Kind of like the team in Swedish series The Truth Will Out. Each case plays out over 2 episodes, and there are 10 episodes in all. As a warning, some of the stories feature gory and even upsetting imagery. For example, in case 3, Éve has to create a composite from a completely destroyed face. Like all detective series, the personal dramas of the quirky characters unfold over the entire season.
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The Team
The Investigative Unit is led by chief Maryse Ferron (Sophie Lorain), a no-nonsense yet caring woman with Brittle Bone Disease, a degenerative condition that keeps her wheelchair bound. She is very fit, gets around well, and will not be pitied. She is very protective of Éve, whose “spooky” talent for reading people freaks her police colleagues out. Nevertheless, they rely on her brilliant sketch artist abilities, as the chief likes to remind them. 5 years earlier, Éve’s 6-month-old son was kidnapped from the swanky apartment she shared with her husband, James Healy (Brett Donahue), who is the heir to a billion-dollar fortune. Their son has never been found, and not only did Éve have a breakdown, but her marriage fell apart as well. In the present day, Éve has been diagnosed as bi-polar, and is dutifully taking a regimen of pills to stabilize her. In episode 1, new kid Anthony “Anto” Kamal (Adrien Belugou), a cheery recent university graduate, joins the team as the forensic analyst. Anto is sharp, but has a penchant for talking too much, which irritates veteran investigator Bernard Dupin (Rémy Girard). Dupin is a legend, very grumpy, but hiding a soft heart. He may or may not be on the take from the mafia.
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Our Take on The Sketch Artist
The Sketch Artist is a likable show. The team has good chemistry and the crimes are interesting. The creators do not shy away from gory imagery, including quickly flashing photos of torture scenes from the dark web in case 2. As with any character, such as Éve, who has extraordinary abilities, viewers have to suspend disbelief. Facial compositing, like most things these days, is now computerized, so Éve scrolls through digital features to create a likeness. The animation that the show uses to demonstrate her work is interesting and fun to watch. I like shows that use 2 episodes to complete a mystery, as 45-minutes is just too quick, and can get formulaic. 90-minutes allows for some character development and a few twists. If you appreciate a well-made, good-looking show with dark overtones, then The Sketch Artist is for you.
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