There are things we might expect from Canadian TV shows.

They includes optimism and idealism. Even amid tragedy, the �Flashpoint� cops remain calm and cool.
Now comes a new show, which goes in the opposite way. �'Durham County' is much darker,� said Hugh Dillon, who stars in that show and co-stars in �Flashpoint.�
The mood of �Durham County� is signaled instantly. We're in suburbia, but nearby are the woods and overhead are massive power lines.
�It's foreboding,� Dillon said. �The power lines are huge � It all makes you feel quieter and smaller.�
This is the world Mike Sweeney (Dillon) moves back to. His wife Audrey (played by Australian actress Helene Joy) is fighting cancer; they've returned to their home town with their teen daughter.
This is supposed to be a soothing place for a new life, but there are ominous signs � the power lines, the trees, the scheming teen boys, two murder cases � and the fact that Mike's high-school nemesis (Justin Louis) lives across the street. Mike � who has dark secrets of his own � is overwhelmed.
There's a tough, working-class feeling to the show, something Dillon can associate with from his boyhood in Kingston, Ontario. �It's the prison capital of North America,� he said. There are nine prisons in all, one going back to 1835.
His dad worked in an aluminum factory, his mom was a teacher and his siblings were quite a bit older. Dillon tried acting and music, then scored as singer for a rock band, the Headstones.
This was rock success � a major-label (MCA) contract in 1993, nominations for two national Juno awards (best group, best rock album) in 1996 � complete with a down side. �It gives you so much access to drugs and the life is so brutal,� Dillon said.
He did rehab twice. He also became an actor, drawing praise for �Hard Core Logo� in 1996.
Most of his success was confined to Canada, until the writers' strike spurred crossovers. �Flashpoint� (with Dillon as Ed Lane) has filmed 18 episodes for its third season; CBS has ordered nine of them, as a mid-season replacement.
He was already doing that show when he was called for a meeting with the women who are the �Durham County� producers. �It felt like 'The Witches of Eastwick.' All of a sudden, you're very self-conscious, because they are so smart and charismatic.�
He took the role, wedging one show into breaks from the other. So far, he's done two six-episode Canadian seasons of �Durham County� and is starting a third.
In the U.S., that gives the little Ion network 12 episodes. Americans can step into a darker side of the Canadian experience.