2016–2021 · Based on 5 seasons through August 26, 2021 ·
Private Eyes is a Canadian comedy-drama series about ex-pro hockey player Matt Shade teaming up with tough private investigator Angie Everett to solve crimes across Toronto. The show runs five seasons and sixty episodes as a light procedural with humor, cases of the week, and personal stories about family and relationships. Later seasons include a recurring lesbian romance between supporting police characters Danica Powers and her girlfriend Kate Bashwa plus a prominent quirky Asian-Canadian assistant role for Zoe Chow.
Community feedback
Was our 29% Woke rating accurate?
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Breakdown
These are the editorial factors and ratings behind our score for Private Eyes.
Woke representation / casting
Main leads are white in a classic buddy partnership with banter and chemistry. Supporting cast includes prominent Asian-Canadian quirky assistant Zoe Chow and a recurring lesbian romance between police officer Danica Powers and her girlfriend/wife Kate Bashwa in seasons 4-5. Toronto setting makes ethnic diversity plausible, but the queer relationship is explicitly shown as a personal arc for supporting characters. Not heavily marketed or central to cases.
35%
Woke political dialogue
Production
No explicit activist, DEI, or identity-political speeches found in episode summaries or reviews. Dialogue centers on case solving, family conflicts, and light banter.
0%
Identity-driven story themes
Core narrative is procedural crime cases with humor and personal subplots like custody and ex-relationships. Later seasons develop a side lesbian romance for recurring cop character, which receives standard treatment as personal life without broader ideological framing or messaging.
28%
Western institutional / cultural critique
Early episodes have standard PI-police tension with an antagonistic detective. No reframing of institutions through lenses of patriarchy, systemic racism, capitalism, or modern identity critiques. Cases resolve through individual investigation.
0%
Woke character or canon changes
Not relevant. The series loosely adapts G.B. Joyce's Brad Shade novels by adding a female PI partner and agency structure for television format. No evidence of race, gender, or identity-driven reinterpretations of source material or real figures.
0%
Anti-woke backlash and complaints
Searches of news, reviews, and social media found no notable anti-woke or right-leaning complaints accusing the show of pushing DEI, identity politics, or activist agendas. Reception focused on entertainment and lead chemistry.
0%
Creator track record context
Creators Tim Kilby and Shelley Eriksen have credits on standard Canadian procedurals with no public activist or identity-first patterns documented. Directors and writers include low cached scores for some (e.g., Derek Schreyer 11, Jackie May 16) and conventional TV professionals; a few have work on diverse historical stories but overall limited modern identity-driven emphasis.
18%
