codebreaker

Endgame Aired From March 14, 2011 - June 13, 2011 On Showcase

About the Show:
He was born in the Soviet Union but escaped when the Berlin Wall came tumbling down. He rocketed to international chess stardom after winning a string of tournaments, all played at blitz speed. Arkady Balagan soon became World Champion and one of the most legendary chess players of all time.

Balagan came to Vancouver, the hometown of his fiancée, Rosemary, to take part in a tournament. Rosemary was going to lunch with an old friend. As they waved goodbye, a vehicle drove up. He watched as Rosemary died in a hail of bullets.

The local police said it was a case of mistaken identity. Balagan became traumatized; convinced he was the real target. It was Vladimir Putin's revenge for Balagan having given millions to the pro-democracy forces in Russia.

The potent combination of guilt, grief and fear made Balagan unable to leave the hotel. And so he was stuck inside for months, eventually running out of money. A boy is missing and Balagan makes an off-hand observation that turns out to be true. Soon one of the fathers, under suspicion from the police, is pleading with Balagan to help solve the crime. Bored with his life in the hotel, broke, and eager to help, Balagan agrees and to his own surprise, he soon figures out who has the boy.

Thus he earns a reputation for solving mysteries and figuring out the impossible. Each week, people come with problems that have stymied the police, or problems that they cannot even bring to the authorities.

He has two confederates who do his leg work - Sam, a grad student and chess fanatic, and Alcina, a hotel maid from Guatemala. Danni, the hotel bartender, is his source for information and contacts, as well as an ear for his theories.

But the trick is that though Balagan cannot leave the hotel, he solves the puzzles in his head. Literally. He can imagine events, interview the living and the dead, go over every permutation and combination of events. He imagines it one way, then another; and we have the privilege of entering his mind and seeing it all with him, until finally he figures it out.

During all of this Balagan is also trying to figure out who killed Rosemary and why. With the assistance of her sister, Pippa, he explores many theories, but to no avail

Cast:

Actor’s name	Character’s name
Shawn Doyle	Arkady Balagan
Patrick Gallagher	Hugo Lum
Torrance Coombs	Sam Besht
Katharine Isabelle	Danni
Carmen Aguirre	Alcina Albeniz
Melanie Papalia	Pippa Venturi
Veena Sood	Barbara Stillwell

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codebreaker

Episode 1: Opening Moves
Balagan's first case is launched when Danni pleads with him to find a missing boy and, in a race against time, he enlists Sam and Alcina to help.

Episode 2: Turkish Hold'em
A daring robbery during a high-stakes poker game forces Hugo to ask Balagan for help, prompting the chess master to create his own complex plot to trap the culprit.

Episode 3: The Caffeine Hit
Hired by a desperate amnesiac, Balagan begins to unravel the man's complicated identity while battling with Pippa over the investigation into his fiancée's murder.

Episode 4: The Other Side of Summer
In order to help his former mentor on the police force, Hugo is forced to ask Balagan for help in solving a baffling decades -old cold case about a missing teenage girl.

Episode 5: I Killed Her
A mysterious doctor tells Balagan that he is responsible for the murder of a woman found in the hotel pool during a Psychiatric Conference, drawing Balagan into a complex and dangerous game.

Episode 6: Fearful Symmetry
Enlisted by a terrified family to help solve the inexplicable bombing of their car, Balagan is sidetracked by an unexpected match with a 16-year-old world chess champion.

Episode 7: Gorillas in our Midst
Smitten by a beautiful Chinese cryptologist, Sam convinces Balagan to try to solve an intricate puzzle involving a vital secret and an attractive, conniving female journalist.

Episode 8: The White Queen
When the imperious heiress of the Huxley Hotel empire descends for an inspection, she coerces Balagan into helping her find her son, who has mysteriously disappeared.

Episode 9: Huxley, We Have a Problem
A boisterous reunion between Balagan and his longtime buddy, a Russian cosmonaut, is interrupted when an aerospace engineer plunges to his death and Balagan's friend is accused of the murder.

Episode 10: Bless This Union
When the hotel safe is robbed during an extravagant Indian wedding celebration, the distraught couple asks Balagan to help recover their stolen gifts- but is it an inside job or the work of professionals?

Episode 11: Mr. Black
Balagan is forced to match his chess skills against a computer when his anonymous online opponent reveals that he is playing for lethally high stakes - the lives of a group of innocent hostages.

Episode 12: Polar Opposites
A rock star rock star hires Balagan to find $200,000 stolen from him - a mystery that also involves colourful groupies, a missing polar bear, and the kidnapped grandmother of Danni's estranged husband.

Episode 13: Deadman Talking
After Balagan investigates the sudden death of a hotel security guard, he is forced to face his worst nightmare.

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