Hudson & Rex Season 8, on Up Faith & Family

Apparently, in St. John’s, Newfoundland, half the cops are named Hudson. It makes it easy to keep the same title when Rex the police dog gets a new partner. Frankly, it hardly seems to matter to the canine copper, because he knows he is the true star of Hudson & Rex, the Canadian remake of Pope Benedict’s favorite series, Kommissar Rex. It is a new Hudson and the late Diesel von Burgimwald’s nephews, Dillon and Dante, have taken over the role of Rex, with his cousin Dreamer performing some of the stunt dog work, but the formula remains the same in season eight of Hudson & Rex, which premieres tomorrow on Up Faith & Family.

Reportedly, many Canadian fans did not exactly warm to the new Hudson, Det. Mark Hudson, who replaced Det. Charlie Hudson, no relation. But seriously, who is paying attention to any of the Hudsons? Rex, the wildly photogenic German Shepard, is uncannily intuitive, yet never cloying. That is your show, right there. It clearly inspired fellow Faith & Family series Blue Skies. Admittedly, none of the humans are particularly interesting in the first two episodes of season eight, but anyone would be a fool to try to compete with Rex. It is better to just play it straight, hit your marks, and collect a paycheck for eight years running.

The season premiere, “Into the Wilds,” showcases Rex’s tracking nose, when [Mark] Hudson and Rex search for a witness hiking a mountain trail, before an assassin finds him first. It also gives Hudson a chance to demonstrate some of his military training. Frankly, this could have been a really grabby procedural episode, if it had been somewhat grittier, but showrunner Sherry White and writer Peter Mohan would never go there. This show is as “family friendly” as modern television gets. Unfortunately, the main villains, gangster Jason Trainor and his dimwit son Tylor, played by guest-stars Dylan Roberts and David Klein, are about as menacing as Laurel and Hardy.

Season two’s second episode, “Runaway Witness,” focuses on Rex’s empathy. When a whistle-blowing attorney is abducted in broad daylight, an autistic boy, Brian Jansen, witnesses the crime, but the trauma stimulates his flight impulse. Of course, Rex tracks him down and helps calm the boy, so he can identify the suspect. Nolan Oehr’s portrayal of Jansen is quite impressive and writer Cal Coons deserves credit for making the bad guys lawyers instead of the usual anti-business stereotypes. Still, the whole point of this episode is obviously to show of Rex’s ability to sooth distressed people.

No matter which Hudson might be Rex’s partner, this is a series my 10-year-old self would have seriously dug, so it should not make any concessions to older, more jaded viewers. Admittedly, Luke Roberts is a still a bit stiff as the new Hudson, but he has a credible cop presence. More importantly, the von Burgimwald German Shepards’ handlers guide them to some highly charismatic canine performances.

There is no arguing Rex is a charmer. The writing is extremely safe and conventional, but the writers and directors know how to showcase their real star, while maintain a healthy pace. Nobody could not recommend Dillon, Dante, and Dreamer after watching them at work, but their series Hudson & Rex is clearly best suited for kids and pet-doting seniors (even more so than Blue Skies, which had a more low-key vibe). Fortunately, there’s a place for that, evidently on Up Faith & Family, where season eight premieres tomorrow (6/11).