Endgame (2011– )

Endgame is an original drama series centering on brilliant chess master, Arkady Balagan. Traumatized by the murder of his fiancée, Balagan has become a prisoner in his luxury Vancouver ... See full summary »

Creator:

Avrum Jacobson

Stars:

Shawn Doyle, Patrick Gallagher, Katharine Isabelle

3 nominations.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Shawn Doyle	...	Arkady Balagan (13 episodes, 2011)
Patrick Gallagher	...	Hugo Lum (13 episodes, 2011)
Katharine Isabelle	...	Danni (13 episodes, 2011)
Carmen Aguirre	...	Alcina Albeniz (13 episodes, 2011)
Melanie Papalia	...	Pippa Venturi (13 episodes, 2011)
Lisa Ray	...	Rosemary Venturi (13 episodes, 2011)
Torrance Coombs	...	Sam Besht (13 episodes, 2011)
Veena Sood	...	Barbara Stillwell (11 episodes, 2011)
Gary Gill	...	Gurjit Bhatti (7 episodes, 2011)
Colin Lawrence	...	Det. Jason Evans (6 episodes, 2011)

Storyline

Endgame is an original drama series centering on brilliant chess master, Arkady Balagan. Traumatized by the murder of his fiancée, Balagan has become a prisoner in his luxury Vancouver hotel, terrified to step outside. To pay his bill, Balagan starts solving mysteries - using an unlikely band of hotel employees and chess fanatics to do his legwork. Arrogant, brilliant and charismatic, the Russian-born Balagan uses the skills that made him chess champion of the world to solve the crimes that mystify others. He imagines events, interviews the living and the dead, and runs conflicting scenarios - all in his head. And we get to watch right along with him as he solves crimes that baffle the police. In Endgame, we see genius at work.

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Plot Keywords:

chess master | agoraphobia | bathrobe | living in hotel | eccentricity | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Also Known As:

Le fou de l'hôtel

Filming Locations:

Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

CAD 4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thunderbird Films, Front Street Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Besht (Sam's last name) is the common name by which the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism, is known.

User Reviews

Brilliant concept, great execution!

I am hard core chess fan and reasonably strong player and I always wished our game gets media attention and recognition it deserves. Here comes Endgame. The show is not really about game of chess, but rather about Chess grandmaster who applies his analytical skills to solve crimes. The brilliance of the show, is the way they display this thinking process. Arkady, the grandmaster imagines potential suspects as pieces on the chess boards, he actually talks to them to question and analyze their motives.

Shawn Doyle who is playing the main role- I absolutely love this guy.

From a chess fan standpoint, I greatly appreciate the fact that show producers went to a great length to reproduce quality chess content, in those occurrences where chess has actually being used. It references Donald Byrne - Bobby Fischer game of the century as an example. It warmed my heart to see real position from Kings Indian defense to be played in one of the episodes and fashionable chess equipment (like Chronos and Saitek Competion chess clocks). Compare this to some other shows where chess board placement is typically wrong. Guys- remember, white square on the right side of player with white pieces.

For someone who was born Russia, it is obvious the show was made for Western audience and full of Russian stereotypes. Arkady drinks vodka right from the bottle, talks about Putin wanting to kill him, often says "na zdorov'ja" (instead of na zdorov'ie), dances "gapak", etc. Still all those Russian shortcomings simply add charm to this show.

I hear the news that for some reason that is simply beyond my understanding there maybe no second season. That will be very sad. The story of the main hero has just been briefly touched upon and all the fans are anxious to find out more about him. I really hope that network gives the show another chance.