Released on Prime Videos on December 2nd, 2022, Three Pines is a mystery series set out to solve four murders. Each is explored over the span of two episodes. The show has a curiosity-filled main guy, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, who can observe what others cannot.
The detective crime series was not renewed for a second season, and thus, it continues to maintain its miniseries title. The series has Alfred Molina as the chief inspector, Armand Gamache, and Rossif Sutherland as Jean-Guy Beauvoir. Actor Tantoo Cardinal as Bea Mayer and Clare Coulter as Ruth Zardo.
The show follows the professional life of Armand Gamache, a proud member of the Quebec Provincial Police Force who sees those things that others unconsciously decide to miss. He reads between the lines and explores the cracks and loopholes in things and stories, he finds the cruel in good and evil in apparently normal things.
The mini-crime show is based on and inspired by writer Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache, which is an eighteen-part book-novel series with the first book released in 2005. The series has received immense praise for being an intelligent collection of murder mysteries, with some even calling it a treat for fans of Agatha Christie’s books.
The story definitely has a particular eerie vibe to it that adds to the mystery theme a mystical factor, thus elevating the experience for the viewers. Most of the series’ filming took place in Montreal and Quebec, Canada, which is also where Penny’s books take place. Fans of the show can find below a list of all the fantastical places where the show was filmed.
Three Pines’ Filming Locations
Quebec, Canada
The calm and quiet city is one of Canada’s thirteen provinces and where a significant portion of the show is shot. Sure, the place in the series is called Three Pines, but that is not a real place in Canada or anywhere.
To be even more specific, the events in the series take place in Saint-Armand, a small municipality in Quebec. The location screams sunny, happy days, but the makers of the show have definitely managed to make it worthy of a murder mystery.
University of Montreal, Canada
The police station that frequented the show so often was the Faculty of Law building located inside the University of Montreal in Montreal. The University is located near a beautiful catholic shrine called Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal, the dome of which was also captured in a few scenes in the show.
The faculty building is known to be built in a brutalist architectural style of the 1950s, which puts emphasis on outright showing the materials used for the building rather than covering it up with some design or pattern.
Jacques Cartier Bridge, Quebec, Canada
A lot of the time when the show shifted scenes to Montreal, the camera panned over to the Jacques Cartier Bridge crossing from the Saint Lawrence River, Montreal to the South shore at Longueuil, Quebec. The Bridge is representative of the history and architecture of Montreal and was opened in the 1930s. The iconic landmark is a hotspot for tourists visiting the area and offers a great sunset view.
Saint Armand, Canada
While we already mentioned that this location was in the show as the Three Pines town, it has to be mentioned again because of the many iconic but relatively smaller locations that the actual town encompasses that were also included in the show.
The actual town had a small convenience store that had to be refurnished and revamped for it to be turned into Olivier’s Bistro, a restaurant in the show. The series also had a curling match sequence that was shot at Central Square near the Notre Dame De Lourdes church.
Right next to the completely renewed general store was also Myrna’s Bookstore, which in reality, was an ancient Nelson Masonic lodge. The actual location of Saint Armand is also what inspired author Louise Penny to write her crime novels.
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