Network: AMC
Episodes: 10 (hour)
Seasons: One
TV show dates: August 11, 2013 — October 6, 2013
Series status: Cancelled
Performers include: Mark Strong, Lennie James, James Ransone, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Sprague Grayden, Athena Karkanis, Billy Lush, and David Costabile.
TV show description:
A contemporary story of murder, deception, revenge and corruption, this drama begins with the murder of a cop by a fellow Detroit detective. Initially, it seems to be the perfect crime. Ultimately, the murder pulls him into the heart of the Detroit underworld.
Homicide detective Frank Agnew (Mark Strong) is used to taking on his own burden and the burdens of others. Haunted by a tragedy in his recent past, Frank is vengeful when his new love is abruptly taken from him by a corrupt associate. Although he’s usually straightforward, Frank allows his desire for vengeance to lead him to commit a rash act that puts him at the mercy of fellow Detective Geddes.
A smart-but-slippery veteran homicide detective, Joe Geddes (Lennie James) helps Frank commit an act of vengeance. Frank soon realizes that Geddes may have been playing him all along. He may quite possibly be a corrupt cop himself, one who has murdered to mask his own misdeeds. Geddes may now have Frank firmly in his power.
The commander of Frank’s precinct, Lieutenant Charles Dawson (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) has survived the dirty arena of Detroit crime and politics for 25 years. Dawson intends to stay on top during the latest corruption probe. However, when one of his cops is found dead with a mutilated corpse nearby, he faces scandal and demotion. Dawson puts Frank, his most trusted detective, in charge of the investigation — not realizing that Frank is closely tied to these deaths.
A beautiful and highly intelligent detective, Dani Khalil (Athena Karkanis) is a “bright light” on the force. Obviously fond of Frank, she’s anxious for him to get over a past loss and find happiness — possibly with her. Frank’s uncharacteristically jumpy behavior during his present murder investigation makes Dani suspect that something’s not right with him.
A member of the Detroit Police Department’s Internal Affairs Division, Detective Simon Boyd (David Costabile) is a man on a mission — to find a cop killer. He is officious and believes he’s the smartest guy in the room. He’s willing to be agonizingly patient, knowing that eventually he will capture his prey.
Damon Callis (James Ransone) is a fierce, intelligent and ruthless crime lord who is tired of playing second fiddle to Alexander Skelos, Detroit’s reigning mob boss. He’s conceived an elaborate scheme to wrest power from Skelos. When the corrupt cop that he bought is found dead, his entire network becomes at risk.
Damon’s wife Maya (Sprague Grayden) is every bit as fierce, intelligent and ruthless as her husband. She wants to extend their hold on Detroit’s rackets with several new drug and prostitution “franchises” citywide. She keeps her volatile husband on point, and is always scouting murderous new associates to help her implement her schemes.
One of them is Nick Paflas (Billy Lush), a combat veteran with a psychological disability and who exudes violence and vulnerability at the same time. With nothing to lose, he rises quickly to become Damon’s second in command.
Episode #10 — Surrender
At police headquarters, Frank tells Geddes and Lt. Dawson that he refuses to accept Sean’s confession. In an interrogation room, he tears up Sean’s detailed, hand-written confession, then grills Sean with questions about Brendan’s murder. Sean answers everything perfectly.
In his office, Lt. Dawson tells Frank he can’t ignore Sean’s confession. Frank then glares at Geddes. “You didn’t have to do it you know. She loved me, she wouldn’t have talked,” he says, referring to Katia. Boyd barges into the office and arrests Frank for carjacking the woman at the airport.
Skelos is picked up by his driver. At a stoplight, Damon and Nick rear-end Skelos’s car, then hop out and shoot Skelos and his driver dead.
In a holding room, Boyd accuses Frank of killing Brendan over a girl. “There are deals that could be cut,” he suggests. Frank demands to see his lawyer and A.P.A. Curtright.
At her sister’s house, Maya swears that she’s finally leaving Damon for good. “If you even think about taking the kids back, I will rip your life apart,” her sister threatens.
At the trap house, Sean walks Dani, Geddes and Lt. Dawson through the events surrounding Billy Hobson’s murder and shows them the sink where he claims to have drowned Brendan. Dani is skeptical.
Frank asks his lawyer to represent Sean. He then tells A.D.A. Curtright that Boyd’s investigation could lead to the Lady Belle case falling apart. Curtright agrees they should wait for the Lady Belle conviction before addressing Boyd’s murder accusations.
As Frank leaves the office, Boyd angrily tells him he should have cut a deal. Frank violently shoves Boyd into a wall.
Frank finds Maya at her sister’s house and tells her Sean confessed to murders he didn’t commit. He convinces her to be Sean’s alibi by threatening to arrest her in front of her kids.
Damon and Nick put Skelos’ body in the trunk of his car, then drive it to auto junkyard, where Gus promises to scrap both Skelos’ vehicle and the car they used to rear end him. Damon and Nick head to Flint to lay low.
On the steps of the courthouse, Lt. Dawson tells the press he’s confident they have the right man. Nearby, Frank’s lawyer tells him they can help Sean if they’re able to convince the judge Sean isn’t competent enough to enter a guilty plea.
Mrs. Hobson interrupts Lt. Dawson’s press conference, waving the photo of Damon that Frank gave her. “Tell them what you told me,” she demands, looking at Frank. Frank ignores her. In front of reporters, she calls the D.P.D. “nothing but liars.”
Inside county lockup, Maya asks Sean why he’s confessing. “You’re the one who put me here,” he says, blaming her for getting him hooked on coke and giving up on him. She tells him to go to hell. As Sean is led away, he tells his guard not to admit any visitors or lawyers.
At Geddes’ house, April informs Geddes that her mother wants her to move back in. “Your mom is right, you’re better off with her,” Geddes responds.
Damon calls Maya to tell her Skelos is dead. Still angry at Damon, she mentions that Sean confessed to Billy Hobson’s murder. After the call, Damon confidently tells Nick that he and Maya will come back to him just like she always does.
Geddes visits Frank at home and tells him Boyd called an emergency meeting for the next day. Frank reveals he’s had Brendan’s prepay phone all along and says they’ll need to make it traceable to Sean.
Later, Frank plants the prepay phone in Sean’s folder in the evidence room.
The next day at the mayor’s office, Boyd tells Curtright and Deputy Mayor Cook that Frank and Geddes killed Brendan. He lays out his case, including new evidence from the coroner about the degree of digestion of Brendan’s last meal that puts his time of death in doubt. Dani reveals that she wore a wire to record Frank talking about Katia, who Boyd thinks lured Bobek to his death. Lt. Dawson reminds everyone that they have a suspect who’s already confessed, along with a prepay phone linking him to Brendan.
“You wore a wire,” Frank says, confronting Dani during a break. “You’re a coward,” she counters.
As Damon crosses the parking lot of his motel in Flint, two masked men pull up in a car. One of them gets out and guns Damon down, then takes a photo of Damon’s body with his mobile phone.
Back at the mayor’s office, Curtright apologizes to Frank and Geddes and says there’s no reason to doubt Sean’s sworn statement. Boyd laughs in disbelief as the room empties. “You know I’m right!” he screams repeatedly while angrily slamming a laptop computer against the conference table.
Frank visits Sean to say good-bye. “I told you, I’m no good,” Sean says.
At police headquarters, Frank tells Lt. Dawson to “step forward and take a bow” when the Lady Belle verdict comes in. As for the family members he called about the falsified suicides, Frank suggests they pin the suicide declarations on Brendan. He then agrees to go on psych leave.
As he leaves, Frank tells Dani, “You’re a good cop. If I was you, I’d pack my sh-t up.”
At home, Boyd pours a drink and despondently watches the security cam footage of Frank and Geddes from Brendan’s house.
At Reverend Lowdown’s house, A-K shows Lowdown the photo of Damon’s dead body. When Lowdown asks if there are any cops who might give them heat about the murder, A-K mentions that Maya knows Frank. Lowdown considers that for a moment, then smashes the phone.
Maya crosses to the window as Nick pulls into the driveway in Damon’s car. When Nick exits the vehicle and buries his face in his hands, Maya collapses to her knees, realizing Damon is dead.
At home, Geddes tells April that her place is with him. “What about your big case?” she asks. “It’s over. We got him,” Geddes says.
Frank identifies Katia’s body at the coroner’s office and asks to make funeral arrangements. “What’s the name of the deceased?” the coroner asks. Frank has no answer.
Description courtesy AMC.
First aired: October 6, 2013.
What do you think? Do you like the Low Winter Sun TV series? Do you think it should be cancelled or renewed for another season?
I just want to say I agree with every positive post above. Well stated. LOW WINTER SUN was a brilliant show. I was hooked from episode 1! Can anything be done to get it back?
This show was so good. I’m disappointed that they have cancelled it. It seems like they keep the dumb ones over smart ones. I was looking forward for another season. I agree that Duck Dynasty and Honey Boo Boo get to stay on.
I understand that I am just a single person. I don’t have the power to change the networks decision to cancel this television gem. I can not argue against statistics, and therefore I can not argue about ratings. But what I can say with the utmost confidence is that, even though Low Winter Sun lacked the care and effort it so obviously deserved in the marketing department (evident in people’s ignorance of its existence), both the show’s writing and acting went beyond par in today’s current television environment (evident in people’s reaction to show as it’s exposure has grown). Take… Read more »
Happy Labor Day:
I saw “Low Winter Sun” for the first time, and it was like a I could not get enough of this show, EXCELLENT from acting to bad guy to what Detroit al about….The cast should be re-hired, pull them out of there present contract and get this TV show back up on the
air, For Once AMC got a winner! Do the right thing…Put it back on…
a killer series , excellent originality , right up there with the best of them. i guess they think it`s probably too sophisticated for the masses for another season . they may be right. way too bad.
I can not believe this was cancelled. AMC why???????
I can’t believed they canceled this after one season. I never watched a cop drama cuz it was fake. Living next to Detroit it was too real. The stories are realistic and the actors were good. Honestly depicts the area and how it is here. Such a shame.
Why would you cancel such a great show. If you like cop dramas, this one would’ve been all that if it was still on. So much BS on tv, and so little on that’s good. Cancel this and keep “Here comes Honey Boo-Boo”? Sounds like some BS. Please bring this show back!
I really enjoyed this show!!!! They need to bring it back! Does anyone know if they will?
Bring back this show because I really enjoy it.
Incredibly nauseating to think there was no audience for “Low Winter Sun”, but there’s one for “Comic Book Men”…Really? “Low Winter Sun” was an incredible series, I watched all but one episode, and that was only due to a commitment out of town I had to keep. Other than that, I was right there watching it. This, the “Kojak” series with Ving Rhames, the new version of “Ironside” with Blair Underwood & the 2000 remake of the classic series, “The Fugitive” with Tim Daly & Mikelti Williamson, all were wrongfully canned by their respectfully stupid networks. AMC, fortunately for them,… Read more »
Damn shame this show was cancelled, it was excellent. Why are shows like this getting canned and garbage like ‘Duck Dynasty’ and “Honey Boo-Boo” are being renewed? Pathetic, just pathetic…
AMC has a couple of gems in its’ lineup, like “Better Call Saul”
and of course “The Walking Dead” …But even they have made some imprudent choices. If they had to get rid of a show, it should have been “Comic Book Men” instead of “Low Winter Sun.”
I hte that Low Winter Sun was not renewed…looked forward to seeing it. It was a great show and better than most!!!
So sorry to see an emotionally charged adult themed show cancelled. It drew me in from the first episode and I was hooked. The fine acting and complex script always kept you thinking. Great cast who played well off one another’s characters. So sorry it has been cancelled, but kudo’s to the writers who made it happen for the short term. It was a great show, but not fluffy and feel good enough for most adults because it showed the darker side of some cops lives.
@Sharon: My sentiments exactly..Well said…How is that FX was able to keep “The Shield” on the air for 7 years, and this show was in a way, reminiscent of that series, and AMC, for the life of me, I can’t understand, didn’t keep this one on. Wish another network had picked it up like CBS did with “In The Heat Of The Night” after stupid NBC dropped it …Quality television series are few and far between, and I was really enjoying the essence of “Low Winter Sun” AMC didn’t give it a chance, but they’re renewing ‘Comic Book Men?’ Really?… Read more »
I am heartbroken that such a finely tuned series such as “Low Winter Sun” has been cancelled. You must be kidding! It is one of the best shows on AMC…..even though I love “Hell on Wheels” and “Mad Men”, I looked forward to each week’s show of LWS. I hope that the “powers that be” will have second thoughts about cancelling this show! I can only hope!!
Low Winter Sun was brutally brilliant & sexy! I’m mad about it!
Are you kidding me and that was a great show