Burden of Truth is a Canadian legal dramatelevision series, starring Kristin Kreuk, which premiered on CBC on January 10, 2018. The series was created by Brad Simpson, and is executive-produced by Kreuk, Ilana Frank and Jocelyn Hamilton. In the US, the series is part of The CW's summer programming slate. One of the issues addressed in the series is institutional racism towards indigenous people.
Plot
Corporate attorney Joanna Hanley returns to her small hometown of Millwood, Manitoba in order to represent a large pharmaceutical company against a group of sick girls, but starts to see that these girls need her help.
Cast and characters
Main
Kristin Kreuk as Joanna Chang, an attorney from Toronto who has come back to the town she grew up in to defend a pharmaceutical company against a group of sick girls. However, she stays both to uncover the bigger conspiracy hiding the true cause of the girls' sickness and to find out the truth about why she and her father left Millwood in the first place. She changes her surname to her mother's maiden name by the final scene of the first season as a result of a better understanding with each other, and her estranged relationship with her father.
Peter Mooney as Billy Crawford, the lawyer representing the girls and later Joanna's partner in uncovering the conspiracy. He is the uncle of Molly Ross, one of the first girls to get sick. It is revealed in Season 2 that he has strained relationships with his father and his brother Shane. By the start of Season 3, he and Joanna become partners with the newly formed Crawford Chang and domestically.
Star Slade as Luna Spence, Joanna's assistant and half sister as well as Molly Ross's girlfriend
Meegwun Fairbrother as Owen Beckbie, an indigenous cop and Luna's ex-stepfather. By the start of Season 3, he was promoted to Millwood's Chief of Police.
Paul Braunstein as Sam Mercer, Millwood's Chief of Police corrupted by his own racism towards indigenous residents which puts him at odds with Owen. By the end of Season 2, he is stripped of his duties, dismissed from the force and sent to prison for incarcerating Luna on false charges in connection with the murder of David Hanley. Released from prison at the start of Season 3, he engages in blackmail which was discovered by Molly and Owen.
Sara Thompson as Molly Ross, one of the sick girls, Billy Crawford's niece and Luna's girlfriend
Anwen O'Driscoll as Taylor Matheson, one of the sick girls and Ben Matheson's daughter
David Lawrence Brown as Ben Matheson, father of Taylor Matheson, one of the sick girls and the owner of the town's mill.
Michelle Nolden as Teddie Lavery, Joanna's mentor and boss at Steadman Lavery
Sera-Lys McArthur as Kodie Chartrand, Joanna's indigenous childhood best friend who is threatened with separation from her two daughters
Dayle McLeod as Katherine “Kat” Carmichael, a recent law school graduate who was the only one of Crawford Chang's two original Associates to be retained. So impressed by Joanna that she gave up more lucrative opportunities to work with her, she later developed a close relationship with colleague Luna.
Rebecca Gibson as Wendy Ross, Billy's sister and Molly's mother
Jerni Stewart as Lisa Mitchell
Montana Lehmann as Allie Nash
Alex Carter as David Hanley, Joanna's father and a partner at the law firm she worked for at the start of the series. Estranged from Joanna and revealed to be Luna's biological father, his murder was one of the primary storylines in Season 2.
Andrew Chown as Shane Crawford, Billy's brother
Raymond Ablack as Sunil Doshi, a young lawyer at Steadman Lavery
Episodes
Season 1 (2018)
Season 2 (2019)
Season 3 (2020)
Production
Noelle Carbone and Adriana Maggs were the original showrunners but left the series. Ten one-hour episodes were ordered. It was filmed in Winnipeg, Manitoba in summer 2017. The series' original setting was supposed to have been in Eastern Canada but was changed to Manitoba because of lower production costs. Location shots were filmed in Selkirk and Sanford, with several shots in the Riverside Grill. In outdoor shots, traffic on the Selkirk bridge is visible, as is the Landmark Cinemas Garry Selkirk theater. The series was renewed for an eight-episode second season on April 4, 2018. The series was renewed for an eight-episode third season on March 25, 2019 and returned on January 8, 2020. On July 21, 2020, the series was renewed for an eight-episode fourth season.
Broadcast
In April 2018, The CW network acquired the series for a planned run in the United States in mid-2018. The series debuted on the network on July 25, 2018. The network aired seasons 2 and 3 in the summers of 2019 and 2020.
