Reel Beach: Television series I Will Find You hits the ground running
By BERNIE FLETCHER
Toronto is the great pretender, standing in for cities like Boston and New York.
In the opening scenes of the new Netflix thriller I Will Find You a little boy and his parents are happily playing together in an idyllic setting in Boston. The actual locations are Woodbine Beach Park and Edwards Gardens.
People love a good mystery, which has made Harlan Coben a best-selling author. The eight-episode adaptation of his book I Will Find You has found its audience, becoming the most watched Netflix original series this year soon after its arrival just before Father’s Day.
The timing was right because the plot is about a father’s devotion to his son and a search for the truth about what really happened to his boy.
Coben wanted to start his story in “a very dark place”. David Burroughs (Sam Worthington) is in “the worst place imaginable”. He’s in prison for the murder of his young son. David is shown evidence that changes everything…his son may well be alive.
“Because the past never changes…until one day it does.”
With the help of the prison warden (played by Toronto’s Peter Outerbridge), David breaks out and is on the run.
There are twists and turns and more cliffhangers than the Scarborough Bluffs. There’s an exciting chase over rooftops in New York City which was filmed around Front Street in downtown Toronto.
Another popular film location was the Comrade Bar on Queen Street East near Broadview Avenue.
When I was young, my favourite show was The Fugitive with an innocent man on the run after being convicted of a murder he didn’t commit. I Will Find You is more action-packed but also more far-fetched.
It helps to have a willing suspension of disbelief. Just go along for the escapist ride!
This series shares some film locations with Reacher, including the Kingston Pen and the Escarpment House in Caledon (also seen in The Testaments). Sorry, the mansion is off the market after recently selling for $24.5 million.
Was Reacher a Beacher?
Rumour has it that Alan Ritchson lived in the Beach while filming Season Three last summer, and that he worked out at the YMCA on Kingston Road.
Ritchson was spotted filming at the beach and also jogging shirtless along the Boardwalk at Kew Beach. He was nice enough to pose for photos with fans.
Ritchson was also seen at Branson Hospital in North York. No word on whether he was there filming or visiting a friend or putting someone in the hospital. Just kidding, I don’t want the big guy mad at me. I don’t look good in a hospital gown.
Watch for Reacher Season Four to premiere on Aug. 12 (Prime Video). Season Five just started filming in Toronto. The spinoff Neagley will be released on Sept. 16.
Also on Prime Video (Oct. 31) is The Terminal List starring Chris Pratt with filming at Kimberley Junior Public School at Main Street and Swanwick Avenue.
It’s a sign of the times that the Toronto Maple Leafs will no longer be on CBC on Saturday Night. Broadcast television is shrinking.
Most of the film production in Toronto has shifted to streaming services. Book adaptations are well suited to a limited series so enjoy the binge-watching, but you’ll have to pay extra for it!
