海角大神

It was his 16-year-old granddaughter who asked just the right question.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 your superpower?鈥� she asked Alfred Molina.

Mr. Molina plays Chief Inspector Armand Gamache in the new TV series 鈥淭hree Pines,鈥� out Dec. 2 on Amazon Prime Video.

The British American actor had, by his own account, been 鈥渨affling on鈥� to his grandchildren about the complexities of the character, based on the award-winning detective books set in rural Quebec by Canadian author Louise Penny.

Then he found her answer. 鈥淓mpathy.鈥�

And so it is that Mr. Molina, best known in America for his role as the villainous Doctor Octopus in the 鈥淪pider-Man鈥� franchise, has taken on a role that was originally conceived by Ms. Penny as the embodiment of goodness and decency.

鈥淎nd that鈥檚 modeled right from the bat,鈥� says Ms. Penny of a mystery series that鈥檚 always been far more than a whodunit. 鈥淎nd I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a time that we鈥檝e ever needed that more.鈥�

From the very first scene of the eight-episode series, the cameras narrow in on Inspector Gamache鈥檚 eyes, eyebrows furrowed, looking out at a protest in front of Quebec鈥檚 police headquarters. Officers are shoving a group of Indigenous women who demand the police look for a missing girl. Finally, he can鈥檛 take the abuse of power. He walks outside and pulls the officers off, driving the girl鈥檚 family home and launching one of the major throughlines of the series, which run alongside the 鈥渨eekly murders鈥� that he and his team set out to solve.

Through it all, says Mr. Molina, Gamache is 鈥渟eeking to understand why people behave the way they do, which I think is a kind of offshoot of goodness in a sense.鈥澛�

鈥淚t is understanding that all of us are capable, given a certain set of circumstances, of doing something terrible. ... So he鈥檚 much more interested in why things happened rather than how, where, and when.鈥�

Far from worrying about whether 鈥済oodness鈥� is interesting enough for audiences, Mr. Molina says Gamache鈥檚 humanity has made it one of the best roles he鈥檚 played.

Fans around the world are waiting with equal anticipation 鈥� and dread 鈥� to see how the TV show compares to the beloved characters of their imaginations who populate the fictional town of Three Pines in now 18 books. Ms. Penny鈥檚 latest, 鈥淎 World of Curiosities,鈥� also came out this week to rave reviews. (The Monitor highlighted it as one of November鈥檚 best books.)

The author鈥檚 many fan pages are full of speculation about whether the televised 鈥淭hree Pines鈥� is too dark 鈥� it can be, according to Ms. Penny 鈥� or whether Gamache can match their expectations without being himself Quebecois. Mr. Molina intentionally decided not to feign a French accent so as not to pretend to be representative. He didn鈥檛 know the books before he was asked to play the role but now counts himself a fan.聽

鈥淚 don鈥檛 watch adaptations because the books are always better,鈥� says Chief Inspector Gamache fan Karen Scott from Oshawa, Ontario, who doesn鈥檛 have an Amazon account but says an author endorsement would make her sign up. 鈥淚鈥檒l watch it only if Ms. Penny endorses it.鈥�

The perfect chief inspector

Ms. Penny says that watching 2 million of her words and the last two decades of character development translated to the screen 鈥� especially Gamache, whom she modeled after her late husband, Michael Whitehead 鈥� was fraught.

鈥淚t was awful, awful, awful,鈥� says the award-winning author. 鈥淏ut the cardinal sin and something that would have been unrecoverable would be miscasting Gamache. They had to get that right.鈥�

In the end, she says, Mr. Molina was perfectly cast.

The TV 鈥淭hree Pines鈥� (rated for ages 16+ by Amazon)聽is different from the welcoming village of found family she created, 鈥渂ut the good far outweighs what I would consider to be the flaws,鈥� she says.

Fans will also be offered a completely new storyline and perspective that appear nowhere in the books. The Indigenous story 鈥� from that first scene 鈥� and a murder case that revolves around Canada鈥檚 brutal history of residential schooling for Indigenous children are central to the series.

Not only does the storyline bring Canada鈥檚 current reckoning to an international platform, but it鈥檚 also done with nuance and authenticity 鈥� thanks to work the team did with Indigenous actors, the director Tracey Deer, and consultants. In the series, Sgt. Isabelle Lacoste is played by Elle-M谩ij谩 Tailfeathers alongside Mr. Molina, who says learning this history was a listening process.聽聽

It鈥檚 the reason Amber Dowling, an entertainment writer in Canada, gave the show a rave review in Variety. 鈥淭hey actually take their time and they incorporate it; they layer it in. It鈥檚 not just one story,鈥� Ms. Dowling says in an interview. 鈥淭he Indigenous throughline, I feel, is the big story. That鈥檚 the story that鈥檚 informing the main characters. And I feel like the murders of the week are what鈥檚 informing the town characters.鈥�

When Ms. Penny was trying to publish her first book, she was told that no one would want to read a crime novel set in Canada. In the end, what readers often say they love best is its celebration of Quebec (Ms. Penny was named to the Order of Canada in 2013 for her contributions to Canadian culture).

In the adaptation, produced by Left Bank, which also produced 鈥淭he Crown,鈥� fans will get to revel in that. They will recognize the pretty Eastern Townships outside Montreal where Ms. Penny lives, the characters, and their gathering spot at the local bistro, where a sense of community is cherished more than in the rest of North America. And viewers will also see a Canada that has abused and terrorized Indigenous populations, a damning look that is too often swept under the rug.聽

鈥淚f we lose sight of goodness ...鈥�

Ms. Penny says the series in the end achieves what she set out to achieve 18 years ago. 鈥淭he thing that keeps coming back and that is for me the spine of the books, including [鈥淎 World of Curiosities鈥漖, and the TV series, is the quote from [the poet W.H.] Auden to Herman Melville.鈥�

It inspired the entire series, and she quoted it once to the Monitor in a profile in 2018, but after so much has happened 鈥� the pandemic and dangerous political polarization 鈥� it feels even more pertinent. 鈥淕oodness existed: that was the new knowledge. His terror had to blow itself quite out / To let him see it.鈥�

鈥淭he books and the TV series are about terror,鈥� Ms. Penny says, 鈥渂ut they are equally about goodness.鈥�

And Gamache is the perfect vessel for that message. 鈥淗e understands that there鈥檚 a duality, that we鈥檙e all complex,鈥� says Mr. Molina. 鈥淏ut if we lose sight of goodness, not just as a characteristic, but also as something to be aimed at, something to be hoped for, then we kind of lose a lot of our own humanity.鈥�