Episode 361: Supinder Wraich

Supinder Wraich returns to the YVR Screen Scene Podcast to chat all things Allegiance, the wildly popular CBC crime procedural that is both filmed and set in Surrey, British Columbia. Supinder is Sabrina Sohal, a brilliant and empathetic detective in the serious crimes unit of the CFPC who is simultaneously a bright light in her department and a serious threat to anyone who traffics in corruption.There’s a lot to love about Allegiance. It’s a showcase for Vancouver actors, from veterans like Vincent Gale to Stephen Lobo, to emerging talents like Hudson Williams (yes, Shane Hollander of Heated Rivalry fame). It explores pressing issues like mental illness, addiction, income inequality, xenophobia, and the impact of gang violence on communities and families, without being preachy about any of it. It centres beautifully diverse Surrey as a main character in its own right. Its foundation stone is an intelligent and compassionate women of colour who is at once vulnerable and extremely capable. In short, Allegiance shows us what’s possible when we centre hyper-local stories and Canadian talent. Allegiance’s third season kicked off in January, and has already served up heart-pounding episodes that touch on drug cartels, serial killers targeting marginalised women, domestic violence, and migrant workers. In this funny and fascinating interview with Sabrina Rani Furminger, Supinder reflects on Sabrina Sohal’s journey to date, and also heads down some roads we haven’t gone in our previous episodes, namely: the shows that raised us (remember Passions?), what she remembers about working with Hudson Williams in one of his first television roles, and where Sabrina Sohal ends and Supinder Wraich begins. Episode sponsor: Fish Flight Entertainment