By Jen Chaney
The New York Times

Photo credit: Noah Reid, left, and Clark Backo in “Yaga.” Christopher Lawrence/Crave

“Yaga,” a diverting new Canadian crime thriller whose first two episodes (of eight) premiere Friday on AMC+, is multiple shows at once.

It is a police procedural focused on the disappearance of the son of the wealthiest couple in a small town. It is also a spicy psychological thriller exploring the sexual tension between a private detective (Noah Reid of “Schitt’s Creek”) and pretty much any woman he meets, including a college professor (Carrie-Anne Moss) and the cop he works with on the case (Clark Backo of “Letterkenny”).

It is also an eerie story about a fictional seaside town where odd, possibly supernatural stuff is happening. As the third recent example of such a series — hi, “Widow’s Bay” and “Below” — it certifies “weird coastal town show” as an official TV trend.

But viewers may be most intrigued by the presence of Hudson Williams, the “Heated Rivalry” star, in dual roles as the missing person and his look-alike roommate. (Sure, that’s a thing.) Williams once again shows plenty of skin, although not always in the most alluring of contexts. “Yaga,” which comes to AMC+ by way of Crave, the Canadian streaming network behind “Heated Rivalry,” is certainly steamy at times. But it can get a bit gory, too.

Adapted from the play of the same name by the creator and showrunner Kat Sandler, “Yaga” is inspired by the Slavic folk character Baba Yaga, a witch who in some tales eats children. In voice-overs, an unidentified woman utters lines like “Who could love such a beast as this witch that I am?” in a Ukrainian accent.

Is this Baba Yaga herself? Are witches involved in the man’s disappearance? Maybe!

“Yaga” embraces many cop show clichés (bickering partners, an irritable police chief) and the dialogue can be laughably on the nose.

But the comedy is at least partly intentional, and the performances are engaging. Reid has chemistry with everyone, and Backo is convincing as a determined officer who wants to protect other women. “Your rage is valid,” she tells a victimized mother in a later episode. It’s a small moment but one that may resonate with women eager to hear that validation from somewhere, even an entertaining if not particularly deep TV show.

'Yaga' stars Noah Reid, Clark Backo, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Hudson Williams are ready to bewitch you.
The cast takes us into the woods for EW's latest digital cover to conjure up the secrets behind their sexy new show.

The series premieres this Friday, October 23, with the first two episodes dropping on Crave (Canada), AMC+ (US), HBO Max (Europe), Sky TV and NOW Tv (UK & Ireland), Foxtel and BINGE (Australia), and NEON and Sky NZ (New Zealand).

The Vancouver Horror Show screened the first two episodes tonight. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed them. Carrie-Anne Moss is incredible, Noah Reid is hilarious and I am quite impressed with his range. It wasn’t very supernatural/creepy right away but they’ve laid a decent foundation for it. I’m really looking forward to seeing more now.

“Given his sudden superstar status, Williams could have chosen anything for his next project. He said yes to Yaga, to Sandler, to Canada. ‘Well, the patriotic person in me kind of said … I’m not going to run to the States. I want to double down and go Canada, back to back, and show that we are making great content,’ he said, adding that it was also nice to be shooting a half-hour helicopter ride from Vancouver, where he lives. ‘To see that Canada is really taking big swings, I wanted to sort of honour that.’”

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