Too bad, there were only 3 seasons about fictional Canada's ICS which handles immigration and customs issues. The drama is well acted and written with a great and talented cast. I loved Jonas Chernick in his role. Catherine Disher is fantastic as "Maggie Norton." The cast also includes the great Nigel Bennett who is in several episodes. The Immigration and Customs Service of Canada sometimes works with investigative authorities to help stop criminal acts. The cast is mixed and diverse in characters. They work well together like a fine oil machine. The drama can be highly dramatic and sometimes light in nature. They handled immigrants who are often illegal possible terrorists or smuggled through like cattle into Canada. I love the filming and usage of Toronto's sights and locations. There were only 3 seasons but they are all worth watching and can see it on American television though late at night by chance. It is worth watching though.
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Sylviastel2 April 2014
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backworld15 May 2020Found this series on Prime...It is Canadin & I liked it...until...they added an American FBI agent to come in & push everybody around...she was NOT needed to make this series interesting & enjoyable..Canada makes good product with their movies & tv series...don't need to stoop to adding American agents - doesn't make it any better...just annoying. PS> I live in the US
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Plex TV is still buggy so it took a lot of patience to restart each episode multiple times when it froze on Ad breaks, the show was worth it, very interesting until the entire series ended on a cliff hanger, no closure or even an attempt at closure, perhaps they were expecting another season but not a good way to end a good show.
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nick-stepchuk29 February 2008I saw the first episode of 'The Border' a few days ago, and about 5 minutes in, I knew that I'd be watching it through to the Series finale.
This is probably the best Canadian show that has ever been made in the history, of history. 'The Border' is 24, CSI, and Law & Order all combined into one non-stop, heart pounding, thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat the entire time, and once those action packed 55 minutes are up, your left begging for more.
Another thing I really enjoy about this show is how fresh it is seeing Canada on TV instead of yet another American cop drama. The cities are Canadian, The people are Canadian, and watching this, being a Canadian myself, I can almost relate to the characters which makes the show all the more great.
Also, what is really fantastic about this show is hearing Canadian terms like Cabinet Minister, CSIS, and the drinking age of 19 and not 21, orders that come out of Ottawa, not the infamous Washington, and not to forget the oh-so-subtle "eh" every now and then.
So, if your looking for a completely new television experience to get yourself wrapped around every Monday night, and if your tired of the same old boring American cop shows that usually ends up just blending in with every other cop drama on TV by the end of the first season. 'The Border' is the show for you! -
suiyankae5 November 2020Good action and if guys Yu can continue it be really good coz l like these series
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clagodna8 January 2009I've watch this from the beginning and enjoyed every episode. This is one of the best series to come out of Canada. They picked the perfect cast. Everyone seems fit into their part just right. I also like that they're treating Mike Kessler's love life in a grown up way. It's nice to see adults act like adults. Nigel Bennet is the perfect bad guy. After seeing him play the hero, Da Vinci, it's definitely an about face for Nicholas Campbell to play such a failure.
The only thing I haven't liked is the story line that's giving Gray Jackson no option but to break the law and become a dirty cop. I've seen it in other programs and I have a hard time believing that someone like that has no other options than to fall in with the bad guys. I hope there's a better reason for what he's been doing when the next season starts.
I absolutely can't wait for the next season. The ending for the second season still has my head spinning. One of the best cliff hangers I've ever seen. I've got my ideas about what happens and I hope I'm right. -
noelretz6 January 2009When watching this show I was amazed how they can produce a series that looks so "real". The actors are so convincing at it feels like they filmed people who are really doing their job. It is a series that can really give you a feeling that you are watching something that is not based on fiction. There is a perfect balance between action and emotion. It is nice that they did not only focus on actions from the main players, but also on the emotional side. It gives the series a human touch. I would recommend this series to everyone. It is unfortunate that the seasons are only 13 episodes long, but the quality makes up for it. Can't wait till season 3 starts. This is definitely in the same league of "Lost" and "24".
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kklk-1987228 January 2018I wish i would have known that the show was not renewed for season 4. I would not have watched season three final show which ended in a cliff-hanger. THIS IS WHY I STOPPED WATCHING NETWORK SHOWS BECAUSE THEY ALWAYS ENDED IN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PLOT AND THEN DIDNT COME BACK NEXT SEASON.
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freedomrings4614 September 2012Whoever the idiot was that decided to cancel this series should be on the unemployment line by now. They have the instincts of a gnat.
The final episode of season 3 was a real cliffhanger - especially for those who cared about Jackson and Carver (like me). Also wanted to see more on Agent Bates of MI6, with her special style.
Zoe is one character I won't miss - she was just tiresome with all her little "dramas". But Slade was outstanding and Jonas Chernick did a great job making a 'stereotypical' character interesting and not boring to watch.
The only thing the show was starting to lack was taking advantage of the unique placement - Canada. Would like to have seen more on "life in Canada". Even though they're just north of us, most Americans know little about Canada - this show could have been an opportunity to change that. With all the "noise" in our world today, it takes time to get noticed. The show's producers should have had a little more patience and I predict it would have had a good long run and would have been a hit.
Its a real shame it was canceled. -
bdevilder29 May 2015What is up with the over done shaky camera. Had to stop watching it. Sooooo over done. Plus the acting is so amateurish. How can anyone say that this is the best that Canada has produced. Way over the top with the acting surely Canada can do much better than this.
Who said whoever the idiot was that decided to cancel this series should be on the unemployment line by now. They have the instincts of a gnat. Has got to be kidding or is one of the producers... It's absolutely bad camera, bad acting, bad delivery from all. Shame I was looking forward to this series, but alas the direction and acting has let it down. -
ddammer11 April 2008I agree, quite possibly one of the best TV shows to come out of Canada, along with Intelligence. Very well put together, suspenseful and great to watch. I hope they come out with a DVD box set. Ranks right up there with 24 and others like it. The acting ia great, the characters are great, well thought out story lines, flows well. Only thing I can think of that would make it better is to make full length seasons, 22 episodes rather than 13. If you watch and like this, then get a hold of some copies of Intelligence, there are two seasons of that out there, I think they are on ep 13 of the second one also, which is the last one for the season. Both are great shows, must watch TV for sure.
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bj-0418416 January 2018This is a very exciting and well executed series with interested characters. The last episode of season 3 leaves the viewer with a cliff hangar and that is the end of the season and the series. So unfair to the faithful viewers.
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rickracer-0727016 January 2023I didn't read any reviews prior to watching on Prime. Now that I'm done, reading the reviews. Disagree with most of the negatives, and maybe not the "best" Canadian show ever. However, I was hooked after a couple of episodes enough to watch the whole series in a about a month. Some complaints were about a jerky camera, never noticed. Another complained about American actors, well this is about border security, kinda hard not to have interactions with the U. S.
As far as characterizations, the only one I found a little tiresome was Slade, the computer geek. A little too typical as someone who is childish with little social awareness. Not uncommon in many dramatic series. I regularly look for dramatic shows from other countries for the change of pace from typical US fare, and a look into their way of life. The major spoiler is probably well known, but I'll leave that to others. -
ProfSpielberg19 January 2014Since I enjoyed/found amusing "Canadian NYPD Blue" (aka "Da Vinci's Inquest" which the ABC-Disney affiliates play in the middle of the night) I thought I'd give this a try -- what a howler. Can't really say if the actors playing these stressed-out customs agents are to blame when their lines invariably sound like "CSI"/"Criminal Minds" Mad Libs. Every male in the cast spends the whole show on macho posturing with copious pretend-threatening of non-scary hoodlums' lives (exception being the token computer geek whose braggadocio manifests somewhat differently) though the most absurd role by far is the butt-kicking British spy babe. A few characters who aren't government employees are just really dull instead. This being a Toronto setting bureaucratic turf warfare is the #1 plot staple, because apparently these agencies are just too uniformly competitive and efficient for their own good, unlike every other government. Another recurring theme/cliché I picked up is that Mounties are feared + respected worldwide for their elite training and tactical prowess, lol
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actskidmore21 May 2018I'm gutted that the producers have not decided another, maybe final, season necessary. If they were going to finish the series they should have made it final and not a cliffhanger. Really enjoyed it though but not a happy viewer.
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iamcanadiantoo3 February 2008This is perhaps the most unrealistic series on TV. It's called The Border but filmed totally in Toronto (about an hour from the nearest border). About an 'elite' force called ICS (Immigration and Customs Security). Appears they are trying to match the popular CSI shows but it doesn't work. They're using old Canada Customs symbols on the uniforms. There's one point where a truck is stopped at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie before it goes to the US and there are cars stopped behind the truck while it's inspected. That wouldn't happen. There are situational and factual errors too numerous to mention. The story lines are weak and unimaginative.
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liberty-3512418 November 2021This is one of the better TV series I have seen. The acting was great in the many diverse emotions of the variety of situations. The plots are realistic, and the problems of bureaucracy's image versus true investigative work is well-reflected as a real problem between the factions. I am amazed that Amazon only gives it Average. One star less for cultural wasteland of predominant casual intimacy, but high-pressure jobs may influence this situation more than I am aware. I could wish there were more married events, though, because that is more the world I want to be real.
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jwsmsmith-2467512 January 2023Great Story and acting! My only complaint is that I didn't have enough Dramamine to handle the camera work.
The premise handles what many of us believe to be true, that all governments in the American Continent have a great deal of corruption. Those good women and men of integrity fight desparetly, and passionately to uphold the law with moral conscience, but there is more evil than meets the eye. It resonates with many of our era who believe that this is what our Nations have come to.
The ideas that the 'ends justify the means' and that truth is relative, lies at the foundation of this great show. I hope you enjoy! -
moethemom11 July 2022This shows characters were amazing. Events changed their lives and how they changed and grew was very well done. The storyline itself throughout the series is great. Fast moving show.
My only disappointment was in season 3. The last episode left a lot of unanswered questions. Who lived? Who died? Where did each remaining character actually end up. Obviously, the series was cancelled but not concluded. Basically it was a part one of two, and did not film the end.
Ends though my research shows the show was canceled, the series should have wrapped it up with one or two more episodes. -
tinabugvi11 May 2022I think it had potential. The filming style literally makes my eyes tired. Most of the characters are abrasive & unlikable. As a bonus they seem to dislike Americans.
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maneetmusic6 March 2021The Border is probably one of the best Crime Dramas ever made. It's well scripted, the screenplay is well knit and paced, the characters are well written, the setting of Toronto is fresh, and the plots are varied and amazing.
Managing this consistency for 3 seasons is a Directorial achievement.
I have watched most American, British, German, Australian, Scandinavian & some Indian dramas. In my opinion The Border is right up there with NCIS and that without glamourising certain actors.
I think this show deserved at least 10-12 seasons.
Also, a bit miffed that they left the last episode the way they did. -
bazcaz11 June 2021Came across this and the premise looked good,three episode in and that's it for me, mainly because the lead actress looks more like a glamour model(and dresses that way) than a detective, and the computer geek would have to be one of the most obnoxious characters of all time,shame really but it just does not ring true to me....give it a miss, A generous 3 from me!!
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quarterwavevertical23 October 2018"The Border" is one of the all-time worst TV series ever made. As a Canadian, I find so embarrassingly bad that it makes shows like "This Hour Has 22 Minutes" seem like Shakespeare.
First of all, the whole premise isn't original. It merely copies other shows, such as the BBC's "MI-5" (as it's called here in North America), complete with some supercomputers, big screen TVs, and superhuman good guys who never seem to get caught.
The series doesn't show Canada in a very good light. People who don't live here might get the impression that the country's lawless and little better than the wild west or a land of international intrigue. (One would almost expect Harry Lime, as portrayed in the movie "The Third Man" by Orson Welles, to pop up and discuss Swiss democracy and cuckoo clocks before disappearing down a city sewer.) Sorry, but Canada isn't like the Casablanca of Rick Blaine or Victor Laszlo, nor is it Dodge City or Cold War-era Berlin. Also, Canadians aren't all renegade drug lords nor political extremists and not all high-level government official speak English with a French accent.
The main Canadian characters are dreadful. They all seem to have a shady past or a skeleton in the closet, such as the former Mountie. I'd hate to think that national security depended on people like that. Also, since when do foreign agents from other NATO countries and, supposedly on our side, come and go as they please in and out of Canada, with no questions asked, unless they happen to be the agency chief's girlfriend? Are this country's boundaries so porous that this can happen without anyone in that security service knowing?
I found the character of the resident techno-nerd to be quite irritating. He's a buffoon who'd rather be at home playing video games in his parents' basement than doing his job for some super-secret government agency. I shudder to think that the fate of the nation might rest in the hands of someone like him. Also, Grace Park acts like she's still playing a Cylon on the re-booted "Battlestar Galactica", as her character of the American DHS agent is completely lacking in emotion.
Avoid this series. If, however, you want to see a good spy show, I highly recommend the British-made "The Sandbaggers" from about 40 years ago. It's quite realistic and shows how an intelligence service is actually run.