If you can forgive me looking at one aspect of this show right out of the gate, if there is one thing this show does excellently, it is to produce a feeling in a consistent manner. That feeling is one of isolation, of detachment, of lack of options and of an almost total acceptance of all of it. It is a powerful sense that is there from the first opening scene right through to the end and it is what I take away from the 7 episodes because it is what I liked most about it. At times it seems to be all the show itself is interested in, and as such it produces this aching, still, empty feeling in a way that I was surprised by how well it reached me mostly watching the show on a small screen in my front room. The remoteness of New Zealand plays a part in this and the landscape is well used as a static, silent background rather than being lovingly swooped over as many a production would have done.
The problem I had with the show is that this is far and away the best thing about it, and that it does seem to care less about other aspects of the show. Unfortunately one of these is the narrative. Well, not so much the narrative itself, because a lot of it is compelling as a story, but it is the delivery of it that hurts. Major events happen and occasionally seem to be forgotten; scenarios and people exist without context at times; credibility is stretched to breaking regarding some things, and generally the show is not really effective at delivering a tense, dramatic story because it seems to have no interest in doing that or being that type of show. Again, I liked what it wanted to be instead – but we still have all this plot kicking around which feels consistently neglected.
The cast match the direction of the show well, which again hurts the delivery of the narrative but adds to the sense of isolation and detachment. Moss is good at this and I really felt for her throughout. Mullan brings his usual intensity to his role and as much as I was surprised to find him here, he did well. Young Joe does well as Tui even committing herself in the delivery of some of the less convincing aspects of the later episodes. Hunter throws herself into her role, although personally I found her character and her whole camp to be something that didn't ever really work within the narrative. Wright, Wenham and others are solid throughout, but in some occasions I felt like this was not the crime show they thought they would be in. I've only been to New Zealand once (and as an older man, did not live there for 6 months like everyone else and their dog), so I am not the best to comment on accents – but with all the Australians, Americans and Scots in the cast, it should be no surprise that the accents are a bit varied.
For me the atmosphere and the feeling within the show carried me a long way, while the deficiencies in the delivery did not totally stop me being engaged in the narrative. That said, it is hard not to see the weakness from my point of view, although credit to the show for the way it knows what it wants to be and gets it right from its own agenda – even if I think it would have been a better show if one aspect done very well didn't negatively impact on other aspects.
The problem I had with the show is that this is far and away the best thing about it, and that it does seem to care less about other aspects of the show. Unfortunately one of these is the narrative. Well, not so much the narrative itself, because a lot of it is compelling as a story, but it is the delivery of it that hurts. Major events happen and occasionally seem to be forgotten; scenarios and people exist without context at times; credibility is stretched to breaking regarding some things, and generally the show is not really effective at delivering a tense, dramatic story because it seems to have no interest in doing that or being that type of show. Again, I liked what it wanted to be instead – but we still have all this plot kicking around which feels consistently neglected.
The cast match the direction of the show well, which again hurts the delivery of the narrative but adds to the sense of isolation and detachment. Moss is good at this and I really felt for her throughout. Mullan brings his usual intensity to his role and as much as I was surprised to find him here, he did well. Young Joe does well as Tui even committing herself in the delivery of some of the less convincing aspects of the later episodes. Hunter throws herself into her role, although personally I found her character and her whole camp to be something that didn't ever really work within the narrative. Wright, Wenham and others are solid throughout, but in some occasions I felt like this was not the crime show they thought they would be in. I've only been to New Zealand once (and as an older man, did not live there for 6 months like everyone else and their dog), so I am not the best to comment on accents – but with all the Australians, Americans and Scots in the cast, it should be no surprise that the accents are a bit varied.
For me the atmosphere and the feeling within the show carried me a long way, while the deficiencies in the delivery did not totally stop me being engaged in the narrative. That said, it is hard not to see the weakness from my point of view, although credit to the show for the way it knows what it wants to be and gets it right from its own agenda – even if I think it would have been a better show if one aspect done very well didn't negatively impact on other aspects.
