Crossing Lines Information

Crossing Lines is an English-language German television series created by Edward Allen Bernero and Rola Bauer. The series premiered on June 9, 2013 at the screening for the Opening Ceremonies of the 53rd edition of the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo, marking the first time the festival opened with a television series. Its first television broadcast came in Italy on June 14, 2013, on the public broadcaster's channel Rai 2. Crossing Lines premiered in the United States on NBC on June 23, 2013. Bernero and Bauer serve as the show's executive producers.

Plot

Former NYPD officer Carl Hickman's life has fallen apart after he was injured on the job; he has become addicted to morphine and is working as a garbage collector at a carnival in the Netherlands. He is recruited to join the International Criminal Court's special crime unit, (a fictionalized unit). Based in The Hague, it investigates crimes (some serial, others not) that cross international boundaries. The unit includes an anti-mafia covert specialist from Italy, a tech specialist from Germany, a crime analyst from France, and a weapons specialist and tactical expert from Northern Ireland.

Cast

• William Fichtner as Det. First Grade Carl Hickman, formerly of the NYPD (USA)
• Marc Lavoine as Det. Major Louis Daniel, ICC/DCPJ (France)
• Gabriella Pession as Sgt. Eva Vittoria, Europol and formerly NOCS (Italy)
• Tom Wlaschiha as Sebastian Berger, Berliner Polizei (Germany)
• Moon Dailly as Det. Sgt. Anne-Marie San, Police nationale (France)
• Richard Flood as Det. Tommy McConnel, Police Service (Northern Ireland)
• Donald Sutherland as Michel Dorn, ICC (USA)

Production

Crossing Lines was co-commissioned by France's TF1 and Sony for their AXN network of channels. This is Tandem's first one-hour drama series, having previously produced miniseries, as well as their first project since being acquired by StudioCanal in 2012. The first season was filmed in Paris, Nice, and Prague, with filming wrapping in February 2013. Locations in Prague were used for parts of Paris, Italy, the Netherlands, Berlin, and Vienna. Audio post-production was done by SoundSquare in Prague while video post-production work was done by Universal Production Partners. Approximately "?10 million was spent in the Czech Republic on the production of the first season.

Bernero said that the show would "feel familiar and help viewers find their orientation, but the European locations will make it feel fresh and very new".

Reception

Tom Conroy of Media Life Magazine found the European flavour of the show, seen in such things as travelling by train to various cities, to be a refreshing change from the norm of American shows. He felt that Donald Sutherland was cast purely for the name-recognition factor and that he was given some lines in which he philosophically talks to pigeons as a means of justifying the cost of casting him. Overall Conroy found it an "unimaginative procedural" that, despite its title, "generally colors within the lines". David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle also found the location to be what sets Crossing Lines apart from every other show on American network television. He felt the presence of Donald Sutherland was a benefit to the show. Joanne Ostrow of Heritage Newspapers felt the show to be a "contrivance for foreign sales more than a serious drama".

Crossing Lines has been criticised as misrepresenting the International Criminal Court's nature and purpose, which, in reality, only has jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. The International Criminal Court lacks an organization comparable to the special crime unit, and has no police force of its own. Kevin Jon Heller, Associate Professor & Reader in international criminal law at the University of Melbourne, noted the show creates unacceptable misconceptions about the court's power and the way it operates, which is dependent on states consenting to its jurisdiction through ratification of the Rome Statute and cooperating with the court to provide resources required to perform investigations and prosecutions.

Without all the shooting, "Crossing Lines" is more closely related to the special crimes investigations unit of the first International Criminal Tribunal at The Hague in the Netherlands. These crime investigators from all over the world do indeed operate across national jurisdictional lines in connection with major crimes such as murder, rape, torture, and kidnapping that occurred in the territory of the former Yugoslavia. John Cencich's "The Devil's Garden: A War Crimes Investigator's Story" (Potomac Books Washington, DC) demonstrates how police investigators from Berlin, France, Belgium, Scotland Yard, Italy, the United States, and many others worked pursuant to the authority of the United Nations Security Council, without relying on national police forces, to investigate and bring to justice some of the world's worst criminals.

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	U.S. airdate	U.S. viewers (millions)	Viewers=4.37	ShortSummary= Four women have been killed, their bodies left in wooded areas of parks in major European cities. Investigators, including wounded former American police officer Carl Hickman, team up to find the killer. The team checks out the latest crime scene and finds a shoe which may help identify a victim. The coroner discovers wounds on the victim which hint at the killer toying with his intended prey. The shoe is traced to a store where the killer abducts Agent San, while Hickman is out in the car taking care of his morphine fix. The killer is able to slip through a roadblock because his car has American Embassy plates. The team learns that the killer was at the recent crime scene and later identify him as Gerald Wilhoit (Eddie Jemison), from a video of him purchasing a dog he had killed at the park. They also determine that he has taken San to a Berlin park. He wounds her and tells her to run, but she doesn't. She stands up to him, buying her team time to find their location. Hickman chases after him when Wilhoit mortally stabs Agent Pride (Genevieve O'Reilly). Hickman is unable to shoot him, due to his incapacity to load his gun's chamber with his wounded hand. Daniel shoots him instead, and Hickman takes that gun to avoid an international incident.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}	Viewers=3.71	ShortSummary= As the ICC team recovers from Agent Pride's death, a millionaire real estate developer in Amsterdam is poisoned and his Van Gogh painting stolen. The team's research finds two other similar cases over the past year from other countries. At the victim's apartment, a scan reveals the ingested poison to be Polonium-210, also known as "The Terminator.." Image captures from cameras show the woman who entered with the victim to be Irish national Nicole Ryan (Erin Richards). Hickman finds the fake Van Gogh painting. When a previous victim's veneer is traced to a warehouse, the team finds two of Ryan's cohorts. One of them mentions "The Russian," a man who had Ryan poison her victims to see if the polonium worked. The other gives up Ryan's next target in Prague. Eva poses as a server at an art gallery. She has a geiger counter in her earpiece that alerts her when near Ryan. The team surrounds Ryan holding a glass of champagne. She reveals that her male victims seduced young women, and then she drinks the poison. Meanwhile, Dorn talks with Daniel's wife, Rebecca (Elsa Mollien), to learn more about what happened the night their son died from a car bomb.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}	Viewers=2.90	ShortSummary=The team uncovers a murder ring involving European truck drivers. A mechanic involved disables family vehicles in order to force parents to fight each other, with the orphaned children being cared for by the mechanic's wife. Sebastian works with his former partner Kathrin Eicholz (Florentine Lahme) who offers her own son to play a role in the bust, which Tommy and Eva act as parents. Hickman and Daniel notice a resemblance between the boy and Sebastian and ask if the boy is his, but do not receive an answer.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}	Viewers=2.84	ShortSummary=Hickman and San are on the French"Italian border, investigating Phillip Genovese, the person who injured Hickman. In Cannes, billionaire Lev Marianski's (Karel Roden) son, Maxim (Arthur Jacquin), is taken hostage, his security detail and girlfriend Laure (Fanny Krich) are shot and killed. Hickman and San learn of the case while visiting the police station. San remembers a similar case in Florence a few months prior. At the crime scene, Hickman suggests a professional hit"?the shooting victims were double tapped and the killers left with Maxim in a hurry. Maxim's divorced parents arrive at the scene. Hickman notices Lev's nervousness and gets him to admit that a kidnapping insurance policy, which covers any ransom demands, was placed on his family. Lev also admits that Maxim had a tracer microchip implanted to get a discount on the policy. Berger traces the microchip to the local family villa. They find it, excised and bloody, sealed with a note mentioning future contact. The team sets up camp at the villa for any such contact. Vittoria is sent to Florence to check for connections between cases. Daniel gets a call from Dorn, asking why the team is investigating his contact regarding Dimitrov. Daniel realizes Lev is the contact, as the Marianksi financial records are being checked out and the abductors are Russian. Meanwhile, the kidnappers prepare Maxim for a video link to the parents and then call with their demands, "?10 million in ten hours. Lev pleads for more time. The link is severed by an explosion at the villa.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}	Viewers=2.83	ShortSummary=The explosion was contained to the house's security room, but knocked out the power. The team meets outside with the parents. The kidnapper's liaison (Nadine Warmuth) monitors them from a nearby security camera and is told to call Lev Marianski. From the speaker of his phone, she mentions having everyone's attention. Hickman realizes they are being watched. The team uses the local police station as a hub. The kidnappers become distrustful of each other, yet enter the next stage of the plan by putting Maxim in an airtight container with a limited supply of oxygen running into it. In Florence, Vittoria meets with the only witness from the previous similar case, an art school's guidance counselor, Katya, who we know is the liaison. Katya cuts the meeting short and appears to be withholding information. Vittoria follows her to discover the video link between the kidnappers and the Marianskis. The two women fight and Katya is shot and killed. Daniel gives the ransom money to a motorcyclist, while McConnel follows it in a helicopter. The team watches, via the video link that Vittoria keeps active, as the kidnappers prepare to set Maxim free. However, armed gunmen arrive and kill the kidnappers. Maxim remains locked away, his oxygen tanks depleting. After the cyclist is picked up but cannot help with details, Hickman questions Maxim's mother about the kidnapping. She confesses to it, out of hatred for Lev and overhearing Katya's previous plot, but doesn't know Maxim's location. Berger uses the IP address of the kidnappers' computer, along with images seen from the outside, to send McConnel to save Maxim just as he runs out of oxygen. Later at Hickman's trailer, Shari (Klára Issová) tells him that Genovese has left the area, but should return. They kiss.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}	Viewers=2.97	ShortSummary= Dorn asks Daniel if the Marianski kidnapping had anything to do with Dimitrov being his source. Louis insists that only the ex-wife was involved. Daniel asks about Hickman and San says he is on an errand. Hickman is at The Hague's bank to ask the manager, Mr. Stoke, about an account with the passcode "carnival." Hickman eyes some nervous customers and calls the office to request an open line. As he does this, a robbery ensues by people dressed in animal masks. They collect the hostages's cell phones, including Hickman's, which severs his line to the office. Then, the bank manager is strapped with a bomb and shoved out the front door. The bomb is detonated. Sebastian finds tunnels run all over the city from under the bank. The team realizes the robbery was a cover to stage a prison break using the tunnels. All involved are eventually captured. Daniel asks Hickman about some drugs found on him by the robbers. Hickman claims it is Lidocaine. Dorn and Daniel also discuss Rebecca, who tosses her phone off a bridge when Daniel calls her.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}	Viewers=2.51	ShortSummary= In Italy, drugs and money are stolen from the Conti Cartage warehouse rather than its olive oil. The thieves escape with Conti's daughter Angela (Matilda Lutz) in her car. Conti's men leave a trail of terror in public shootouts with the thieves throughout Italy and Slovenia. Berger and McConnel survey a Slovenia scene and deduce that someone was not being intentionally targeted. While one of Angela's captors, Paulo (Christian Burruano), is tended to in a hospital, his brother Antonio (Allan Cappelli Goetz) tells her about her father taking his family's land in order to manufacture drugs rather than olive trees. Nicola Conti (Duccio Camerini) was never criminally charged for it. He is arrested after his men, now intent on killing both Angela and Antonio, are tracked into some woods. Vittoria connects with Angela, as her own parents were killed for doing business with Nicola. Meanwhile, Rebecca suggests to Daniel they finish the entrapment of the Russian and getting on with their lives, including their divorce.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}	Viewers=2.06	ShortSummary=Hickman and Berger are called by Inspector Seeger (Lara Rossi) to identify a body. Hickman believes it to be his missing girlfriend, Shari, but it turns out to be the bank manager from earlier robbery. Hickman is arrested for beating her to death. His previous activity with the victim has been tracked, including an empty briefcase found behind his carnival trailer. The briefcase is thought to have contained "?100,000 illegally taken from the bank. In the morgue, McConnel is allowed to look at the body. He says Hickman could not have beaten the victim with both hands, due to the injured right hand. An imprint from a ring with the monogram "G" was also found in some wounds. Daniel tells this to Hickman, who knows it belongs to Genovese (Kim Coates). Daniel also tells Hickman that he knew of Hickman's past with Genovese and asks him not to become a vigilante in the search for Shari. Hickman quits the team. He returns to the carnival and enters a funhouse. Inside, Genovese assaults him while admitting to killing the bank manager for stealing his money. He claims to have shot Shari in order to make it look like a murder-suicide and leaves Hickman handcuffed to her near the gun and a syringe. Meanwhile, Berger's computer and equipment has been hacked, for which he blames Vittoria's former employers. Dorn gets even closer to finding Dimitrov, but is ambushed. He calls Daniel to say Dimitrov knows their plans. Daniel arrives home to a ransacked apartment and finds his wife Rebecca is missing.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}	Viewers=2.06	ShortSummary=Seeger and McConnel arrive at the carnival to free Hickman and call an ambulance for Shari. Hickman gets into a gunfight with Genovese, ultimately wounding him. Both Shari and Genovese are taken to a hospital. Hickman apologizes to an unconscious Shari and goes to Genovese's room, where he tells Seeger and McConnel about Genovese using the traveling carnival for child trafficking. On the way back from Italy, where they are told San is missing, Berger and Vittoria are stopped by a roadblock. A burned car is pulled from a ditch. Vittoria believes it to be San's car and calls McConnel, when she can't reach Daniel. Berger wishes to have his equipment and Vittoria tells him of the deal she has been given "? he can have his equipment fixed but his personal files will be released to the public. He agrees, if it helps find San. McConnel remembers an unidentified burned body in the morgue where the bank manager was. He and Hickman leave, while Seeger monitors Genovese. In Paris, after not finding Daniel nor his wife, Dorn gets a phone call to meet with Dimitrov (Marcel Iure?), who tells him Rebecca was the target of the bomb that killed the Daniels's son. She had helped send Dimitrov's brother-in-law to prison after the Budyonnovsk hospital hostage crisis, where Dimitrov's wife and two daughters were killed. Dorn is given 24 hours to free the brother-in-law, if the Daniels are to be seen again. At the crash site, Berger's equipment reveals footprints heading away from the crash. They follow them and, it is believed, find San. Hickman arrives back at the main office to look for any information about San. After Dorn calls him to collect the team, Genovese, who escaped from Seeger, calls him, saying he cannot wait for round two.	LineColor= 7CB9E8 }}

Broadcast

Crossing Lines airs in Germany on Sat.1 on Thursdays at 9:15 pm, in the United States on NBC on Sundays at 10:00 pm (currently in off-season), and in India on AXN on Fridays at 10:00 pm. Although slated to air in Canada on CBC and in France on TF1, no airdates for these countries have yet to be given.