The Castaways

Episode 1 is nothing to write home about and if I'm honest, and it wasn't Easter, I would not have watched any further. As it is, I found myself starting to watch episode 2 in the hope that this would get better. I mean, who doesn't like a good old fashioned marooned on a desert island story, especially when it has characters who survive a plane crash! Background stories were vaguely interesting but didn't really add much to the plot. There are a few annoying scenes when one thinks for heavens sake, you're on an island and need to be in survival mode and not rock the boat the more you find out about your fellow survivors.

Anyway, it didn't get any better but I found myself watching it all.

If you have nothing better to do and appreciate Sheridan Smith (even though I did find her annoying in a couple of scenes, but overall, terrific actress), maybe you'll like it more than the 6 stars I gave it - which was being generous!

Whilst looking for something to binge I stumbled across The Castaways. The plot looked interesting, so I thought I would give it a go.

The first episode is interesting, even the second. However, then things just get a little too 'out there' for me. Maybe convoluted is the better term of expression.

You start to feel invested in the characters, then something happens and you are like oh okay, but it is not in a good way, it feels like the director/author has just thrown everything at the screen hoping it will stick. You start to dislike everyone involved and I battled to watch the end. Shame.

It's like if Neighbours and Lost had a love child. There isn't much more to say about it than that. The only difference being that Lost started good and ended poorly. This just started mid and stayed there. I guess Sheridan Smith got a free holiday out of this, it's certainly not her best work. It's definitely best to suspend disbelief on this one, don't expect anything from it and you might end up enjoying it or at the very least enduring it for the occasional bit of good story. Apparently I need to use six hundred characters for this review but there just isn't any more to say. So I'll leave it there.

This first 3 and a half episodes were really quite good but the as they start to wrap things up it goes downhill faster than the plane in episode 1.

I used to like Sheridan Smith but she looks ridiculous since she has had he teeth done (all the publicity behind the show seems to be about her tattoos having to be covered up each day though).

As is the law with modern tv dramas these days, all white men are weak, adulterous or evil and it is quite obvious who will be making it successfully to the end of the series.

I have seen the actress who plays Erin in a couple of things now and she might well become a bigger star as women get more ballsy roles these days.

Lovely scenery. Just a shame how it all ends.

It's all Greek to me except the bits which were actually filmed in Fiji.

The scathing reviews of this show are a bit over-the-top I must say. It's not that bad, in fact, I would even go as far as to say its good. Not brilliant by any stretch, but at less than 5 hours in total, it's decent enough to waste away an evening or two with some mindless escapism. Now I haven't read the book, nor was I aware of it's existence until now, so this review is based on being standalone and will not be compared to the literature.

The story interchanges between "then", which is about Lori, who is stranded on an uninhabited island following a plane crash. And "now", which follows her sister Erin, a journalist who's obsession with finding Lori has understandably taken over her life. Months have passed since the plane fell from the sky and marooned a handful of survivors on the island and over the course of the story we learn that there are several survivors who have a good reason to never be found. Things go missing, mystery traitors sabotage progress, and despite apparently being a team, the isolated group start to turn on each other until the now and then catch up with each other as we enter the climax of the story. All along the way, Erins investigation drives the plot and reveals the secrets of the past.

There's nothing here that is groundbreaking, the dialogue can be iffy but the actors mostly play their parts well and the mystery elements keep you guessing throughout. The main downside for me was the little things that take the realism away. They settle in to life on a desert island remarkably easily, with little struggle and are mostly perfectly presented throughout. No sunburn or tanning to be seen, never do we see them struggle for food or water and the rate they seem to learn how to twine, thatch and build from the islands limited resources is quite remarkable.

That all being said, the story and mystery is entertaining enough to make this worth a watch, even if you do have to suspend your disbelief sometimes and ignore the odd plot hole. As long as you don't go in expecting Emmy worthy television and are prepared for some mindless entertainment, then you won't be disappointed.

6/10.