A couple hockey players came up to the produce stand the other day, as the first episode of Letterkenny aired six years ago.
In the 60-plus episodes that followed that introduction, Letterkenny has featured a wide range of Wayne's neighbors, not all of them hockey players, from the show's fictional Ontario town. The last episode of the 10th season indicated that the fan-favorite character had left and that the spotlight would be on the secondary role of Keeso in Shoresy.
It only takes a single season to transform Shoresy from a joke to a hockey hero.
Shoresy brings back Jacob Tierney, the director of Kinkenny, to direct the show, which is about a lead who tries to turn around the fortunes of a struggling school. In order to stop the general manager from dissolving the team, Shoresy vows to recruit a team of misfit former pros and local brawlers.
Shoresy is forced to deal with a new responsibility that requires more than a knack for nasty insults: inspiring the team.
It's amazing how much the two of them can pack into just a few episodes. Shoresy offers a single, season-long narrative that chronicles the characters' efforts to turn their team around. It's a pivot for the Letterkenny creative team that has pulled off wonderfully, and feels even more impressive considering the cast, which is largely composed of newcomers to acting.
The show features several former NHL and minor league players in its recurring cast, with some making their acting debut in Shoresy, and the show's creators do a remarkable job of fitting them into the action. Although Shoresy isn't as funny as Letterkenny, it still has an intimidating pace with the scripted back-and-forth between characters.
Shoresy deserves a lot of credit for building on what Letterkenny already does well, with representation of both strong female characters and a wide range of cultures present in and around cities like Sudbury.
Shoresy has a roster that is in line with what you are likely to see in so many minor league teams in Canada. The team is made up of players from various Indigenous groups, French-Canadians, and characters from other cultures and corners of Canada. It is a great example of the subtle sensitivity and authenticity at play in that the diversity on the team isn't played up by the characters or the story itself, but rather exists as the natural state of things.
Playing Shoresy's best friend on the Bulldogs, Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat does an admirable job of keeping pace with Keeso in the frequent scenes they share, and the same can be said of Blair Lamora and Keilani Elizabeth Rose, who portray Nat. All three actors have limited acting skills, but don't seem to have a problem with it. Tasya Teles is fun to watch as the long-suffering general manager in The 100, just like Kaniehtiio Horn is fun to watch as Tanis inLetterkenny.
Even with the wide range of actors, experience, and background represented in the cast, it's Keeso who truly sells Shoresy as something special.
Over the course of 10 seasons, we have seen more dimensions to his stiff Letterkenny character, Wayne, but in Shoresy, we really see some range to his performance. Shoresy gives us a full picture of the man in six episodes, from his childhood to what makes him cry, and even from behind the door of a locker-room toilet.
It doesn't take long for Shoresy to go from being a faceless maestro of trash talk to a character who gives you plenty of reasons to root for him.
The first season of the series ends too soon, which is the biggest flaw. It's easy to not notice how attached you are to Shoresy and his supporting cast because of the brisk, funny pace that Keeso and Tierney keep. When the credits roll on the final episode of the season, you are left wondering when you will see more of the gang, the full measure of how good the series is.
If we are lucky, this will be the last we see of Shoresy and the Dogs. Six episodes isn't long enough to get to know this group of absolute legends, and there's plenty of time to run up the score.
The first two episodes of Shoresy will premiere on May 27.
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