Black Snow

I needed something to fill the "walking dead" gap in my life and since none of the spin offs or other series are currently airing, I thought I'd give this one a shot. So basically, I watched it because nothing else better was on.

This show explores a 1994 unsolved murder of a high school girl in Australia, after the time capsule is opened in 2019 and new evidence of her murder is uncovered. A troubled cold case FBI agent (Fimmel) asks to be assigned to the case and the show follows him re-opening the investigation and some old wounds in the process.

I'm American and wasn't familiar with the plight of the Australian South Sea Islanders and had to look up how to refer to that group of people to not be offensive or insensitive. Compelling stuff to learn about and interesting that the U. S. isn't the only nation that had a past with nefarious dealings when it comes to capitalism.

I wasn't familiar with any of the actors, though I had caught glimpses of Travis Fimmel when my family watched Vikings, (I didn't watch). The way Fimmel portrays the troubled agent is weird at times. He or the character vacillates between awkward and annoying to dark and troubled. He does this eye bug thing and moves his head in a weird way sometimes when he's being intense, that conveys the emotion but makes me think he's drunk.

Some of the acting is good, some not, I do find that I'm starting to like the Izzy Character and the teens from the 90s more than the adult versions. The kid who plays Hector as a child reminds me of me when I was that age so I added him to my favorite actors list

I say, if you liked "Twin Peaks (seasons 1 and 2), murder mystery and don't have any other shows to watch right now, get into this one. It may pan out to be more interesting for now, it's worth watching even though it's a little "made for TV" in appearance and acting and there are a bit too many bomb shells and red herrings for me to believe anything that starts to show up as a lead. We'll have to see.

UPDATE: This resolved nicely and came together. I liked it more as it went on. Go ahead and watch this knowing there are some issues with acting but the story resolves nicely.

Two things need to be made clear off the top. First, Australia continues to be world-class in the production of series drama, and Black Snow is no exception. Two, Travis Fimmel is one of those rare actors whose breakout performance (as Ragnar) was so strong that he may be spending the rest of his career trying to prove that Vikings was no accident. In this production, he wears horn-rimmed glasses and has a number of quirks. However, as a successful "cold case" detective -- one who solves cases no one else can -- his boss cuts him a lot of slack. As expected, this gives him room to use his considerable skills to flesh out a character that keeps the attention for the full length of the series. The story is a police procedural -- something the Aussies excel at, check out MYSTERY ROAD -- that is sparsely directed, yet effective at maintaining the suspense. Recommended. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

An interesting backdrop and plot, Travis Fimmel acts his part well adding a touch of class that exposes some of the others.

The character Hazel is written in such an annoying manner, I learn't to really dislike her and wanted to skip her angry monologues.

The scenery is spectacular and technically this is a good production, in 2 other areas though it falls down.

The big one is the support actors, keen to be 'good' they way over act, their movements are too fluid and their speech is wooden, some of the lines are delivered like bricks being dropped from a second story, at times it is like one big Year 12 play.

Next is the occasionally bizarre soundtrack, the 'spooky' music is overdone and every now and then a noise just occurs against the vibe of a scene, it's an attempt to jolt the viewer (I think) but often it just sounds odd and amateurish.

Loved Travis in this! My favourite of his work so far.

Real Aussie style drama, loved the backdrop country Nth Qld and the really nicely tailored imagery and camera work. Story line was simple but captivating, I literally had no clue who it was till the end, love it when that happens!

Character development was well done and the timeline jumps were easily defined, even though this had the potential to be problematic as there was a constant back and forth, it was handled very well. I watch it all the way through on New Year's Day morning after watching the first sunrise for 2023!

A great way to start a new year. Great work.

In 1994 seventeen year old school girl Isabel Baker, a member of the South Sea Islander community, was murdered in Ashford, a small town in northern Queensland. Twenty five years later a time capsule containing letters written by school children is opened and read. Isabel's letter talks of serious issues in the town and fears that it could get her killed. James Cormack, a cold case detective asks to be put on the case. When he arrives in Ashford he gradually uncovers secrets and lies. Friends and family are amongst the suspects.

I thought this was a really interesting series. It has a great central mystery where just about everybody could be considered a suspect of the murder or possibly covering it up. The effective use of flashbacks means that we see the events of 1994 around the time the truth becomes exposed in the present. The location is great with vast sugar cane fields dominating the landscape creating a fine atmosphere. The cast does a fine job; this includes members of the local South Sea Islander community who aren't trained actors. The story also highlights the history of this community; something I was entirely unaware of before. Overall I'd definitely recommend this to fans of murder mysteries.