Stars Supinder Wraich and Enrico Colantoni preview a second season of their B.C. cop show that sees the dynamic duo split up — facing new challenges with new partners
It’s a time of transitions on Allegiance, the police series from creator Anar Ali, set in Surrey, B.C. In her first year as a cop, Sabrina Sohal (Supinder Wraich) did so well on the CFPC that she has been promoted to a six-month stint with Serious Crimes — but her ascent has not been without its challenges. The show started with Sabrina’s politician father, Ajeet (Stephen Lobo), being falsely accused of treason, and she spent much of that first season trying to prove his innocence, while exposing those who framed him.
With all charges against her dad now dropped, but a lingering sense that there is still a powerful enemy within law enforcement that has it out for the Sohal family, Sabrina goes into season two with confidence and caution. “What she’s been able to accomplish in season one, there’s a sense of knowing what she’s capable of when she goes into Serious Crimes,” says Wraich. “But it’s also a new world and there’s this element — because of what she’s learned of who to trust, because she’s seen behind the curtain — that she’s almost living in a more dangerous world than she thought she was.”
This new chapter begins on a shocking note that is guaranteed to reverberate throughout the season. “We really look at death across these episodes,” says Wraich. “Especially in the police force, for individuals who see it so the rest of us don’t have to bear it — and the effect that can have, and the weight that you have to carry when you are witness to it again and again.” Adds Enrico Colantoni, who in the first season served as Sabrina’s supervising officer Vince Brambilla, introducing her to the murky realities of policing: “There’s no such thing as job security . . . except for [Wraich].”
How much Sohal and Brambilla will end up working together remains to be seen. After establishing their professional partnership as the heart of the show, the two are now separated by her promotion. “It means that those scenes that I have with Supinder are much more precious,” says Colantoni. “It’s heartbreaking, essentially, but there are bigger things happening to her as a character.” Indeed, for the veteran patrol officer, there is almost a parental pride in watching his mentee rise so quickly through the ranks. “I don’t think anyone has seen what Vince saw in the first season,” Colantoni explains. “Now we get to see it, this exceptional person that’s coming into her own. And where we end up in season two? Oh, that’s when you see the lioness. You will see the power of Sabrina Sohal.”
The Serious Crimes Unit will also present Sabrina with new colleagues, chief among them her new partner Zak Kalaini (Samer Salem), who initially comes across as a bit of a foil for our protagonist. “He’s this more experienced character who has a very different approach to policing than Sabrina does,” says Salem. “But it’s beautiful to see, throughout the season, how they start to steal and borrow from each other’s style and kind of make concessions as to where the other person might have the better approach. I think they’re very similar, actually, even though they’re painted in the beginning as being these opposing forces.”
Joining the cast, who were already firmly bonded, was surprisingly easy for the Expanse actor. “These guys invited me in and made me feel at home straight away,” he says. “It’s been such a dream of a team to work with — from the actors to the writers to the crew. It’s funny, even at our wrap party, one of the crew members came up to me and said, ‘You, Supinder and Rico made it feel like a family.’ Sometimes, there’s a dissociation between the actors and the people behind the camera, whereas [here] it was very, very tight-knit, which I loved.” For TV veteran Colantoni — an alum of Veronica Mars and fellow cop show Flashpoint — it’s the tight work environment that makes this experience so enjoyable. “The final result is so out of our hands,” he says. “We were blessed that people are watching it and people like it, and keep coming back, but the joy and the reward for me is just going to work with these knuckleheads and really building a community.”
Speaking of community, the diversity that Allegiance gets to present is something that those involved with the show are thrilled has resonated with viewers. “I really love that each episode is grounded in something that’s real, and that it’s Canadian issues that we are exploring,” says Wraich. “And I think, for the Sikh Punjabi community, that I can speak on, there’s really this sense of pride about this cast, this series, the elements of the community that we touch on and talk about. In season two, there’s even more of that. There’s a Punjabi wedding that we go to. Even the fact that we speak Punjabi on the show, it’s been so important to me, and I’ve heard from so many people how healing it is and how powerful it is to hear our language spoken on the CBC in a series of this size. It has an immense impact.”
Allegiance airs Wednesday, January 15, on CBC