Deep Water

It's Australia Day. Police detectives Tori Lustigman and Nick Manning are assigned the murder of Haris Rexhaj in his Bondi beach condo. He's a young gay Muslim. Tori suspects the homophobic neighbor but her superior directs them to the gay lover Rohan Assad. Rohan fears being deported to Iran. Further investigation uncovers a possible serial killer targeting homosexuals using a gay dating app. Tori is a single mom and new to the force from Goulburn. She is still haunted by a childhood incident with her gay brother.

This is a functional crime drama. There is a bit of ripped-from-the-headlines flavor. It does need a few more ingredients to extend this drama into a compelling 4 hour watch. Tori's childhood incident could have been heightened by doing a flashback. Her recollection of the incident is probably an emotional high point. The other part that needs expanding is the villain of the piece. It needs to make the supervisor a bigger character and more culpable. The story needs more drama and a bit more flavoring.

It is natural that Australia, having lengthy (dependent) ties with the UK, aspires to imitate/repeat the latter's success in the field of crime thrillers, stocking it with local nature and habits, sometimes without having any influence to the course of events or effect on scenes. A lot of is also visible in Deep Water where tautness and smoothness are overshadowed by personal issues with references to the past and leisure activities on the beach.

Well, the beginning is intriguing, but the motives and many suspects are revealed too soon, the characters are somewhat arid, the police has seemingly no ranking order in place, and the background of the principal wrongdoer is too trivial and vague for the offences he committed. So the 4 episodes a' 50 minutes are too long and hectic; moreover, I was not pleased with the final events and events leading up to them. In the wide world of English-speaking crime drama series, Deep Water is hardly the one to be classified as "must-watch".

DS Tori Lustigman (Yael Stone) has returned to her hometown of Bondi to join the police for just in time to catch the brutal murder of a young man who happens to be gay. Her new boss is eager to put the murder down to the act of a spurned lover, but Tori believes the truth goes deeper, connecting it to a string of "gay bashings" stretching back to the 80s. The problem is that no one wants her to take it further, no matter what the evidence tells her. Her own partner wants the case puts to bed, but Tori is a force of nature in her own contained way. Too contained, perhaps. The anger and frustration she holds in is bound to come out in uncontrollable bursts.

Being new to the Bondi police force she hasn't had a chance to be intimidated by the criminal element and the power brokers who may have held an "unhealthy influence" over lawful enforcement over the years. Where no other officers have been able to solve what may in fact be a long series of murders, she may be the only one crazy enough to push forward through all obstacles thrown up in front of her and her reluctant partner.

Yael Stone is excellent as a detective just barely under control, a loving mother, daughter, friend, and grieving sibling. Daniel Spielman is chillingly repulsive as a Nazi-tattooed suspect. Viewers' sympathies have to go out to Noah Taylor as Tori's long- suffering partner Nick, resisting having her back at every turn. One of the most memorable members of the cast is one who gets perhaps the least screen time -- Otis Pavlovic conveys a sweetness and Tori's son with none of the resentment of the modern teenager, even when she appears to overreact to circumstances. The performance is natural and easy, with the connection between the mother and son feeling real. The cast is full of too many talented actors to continue to single them out, but there's nary a wooden boy or scene chewer in the bunch.

So, overall? In the current environment the matter is all too relevant, not a lesson in political correctness. Political profiling, police shootings, hate crimes, racism, and bigotry exploded in the news every day; this story could not be more timely. Put it all together and it made for fascinating watching. It pulled me in so much that I was disappointed to find that there were only four episodes and no word if this was a one- off, or if it would return.

Well, here's hoping.

How is this diminutive detective (played by Yael Stone) supposed to run down bad guys in boots with 3 inch heels. Why couldn't the director just accept she's only 5 feet tall and let her wear sneakers? Is there some sort of cinematographic rule against letting short people be short? Ironic because the director seemingly has no problem repeatedly filming closeups of her dwarfish, stubby fingers.

Deep Water is, for the most part, an engaging Australian crime/thriller series with a qualifier.....

In my opinion there's a discernible thread of rather brittle, well worn political correctness that would have best been discarded in favour of a more down to earth approach. The key character is buttoned up to a degree that undermines the simple, flawed humanity we all share. Instead she comes across as a poster boy (oops I mean girl) for the kind of saccharine, intolerant, tolerance, we have all been force fed by big government and its mainstream media stooges, over the last 20 or so years.

Her colleague, who seems infinitely more real as a person, is often a sounding board for her somewhat prickly "tut-tutting". Its a shame what, I feel, is a timid, almost apologetic, approach to scripting, has been adopted. Mainly because, in all other respects, Deep Water is a very engaging, intelligently written and well acted mini series.

In summary another decent Aussie series that has an important message about intolerance which, I believe, would have benefited from a more open and down to earth approach. Still a worthy watch. Eight out of ten from me.