New Gold Mountain

This was not quite what I expected, I guess something more deadly serious and lecture-y, but it was actually really engaging, funny a lot of the time, but also really tense. The characters are all interesting and act in ways that surprised. Reminds me quite a bit of Deadwood in a good way, which was a mix of serious and fun. Doesn't have the same American style dialogue, but had a kind of slightly theatrical vibe like Deadwood. Also: had to LOL at bad reviews and ratings. People complaining about the "sound" (ie Chinese accents), and complaining about having to read subtitles. I think there are a lot of people who just don't like Chinese point of view and just come on to attack what it stands for.

A story of loyalties and lust, how both can be turned against you, and how each can betray the other. Loyalty to family, brotherhood or regime, and lust for sex, riches, or fame. The series is slow to start but the intrigue builds from one episode to the next and the final episodes are gripping. I have some misgivings about the direction of Leonie Whyman in her role as the character Hettie, a woman of indigenous heritage who speaks in truncated sentences as though she is not well-versed in the language, yet Whyman delivers Hettie's script with a well-spoken accent - the words and the accent don't match. There is also the predictable, mollifying finale.

Was looking forward to watching this series and stuck with it, but only just.

The script, and subsequently the spoken language, feels like it was written for high school students. In fact, it could easily have been developed to supplement the Australian history component of the Australian Curriculum.

Not enough mystery and not enough explanation of the Chinese culture of the time. Although it was interesting that the PC brigade hadn't put their stamp all over it with the language used to describe the different cultures in the story. Some of the Australians were far too over the top and much of the swearing felt like a 15yo was at the core of the written dialog.

Knowing the series was filmed at Sovereign Hill should have meant authenticity. Unfortunately being filmed somewhere that is basically a theme park of sorts, visited by many Australians, made the series feel like it was filmed "at Sovereign Hill", meaning it felt like it was on a film set rather than natural.

Hopefully Australian productions will continue but with a bit more thought about the intended audience.

An intriguing story, very watchable and gripping. I liked the incorporation of Western and hardboiled crime mystery elements in a setting I'd never seen before. It's a fresh perspective and a nuanced look at a part of history that often gets brushed over. Gorgeous visuals too.

Finally a show that represents the diverse stories that make up Australian history!

Acting is superb and it's a great slow burn!

Subtitles are not an issue for me. Everyone except our First Nations people have come to Australia from somewhere else at some point.

It's more unusual to me to expect that everything be in English. And I say this as someone whose first language is English.

Australians are not only white, English speaking people. As I said earlier this definition excludes the original owners of this land, the First Nations people.

Australians come from all over the world, speak many languages and come from many cultural heritages. It's about time we start opening our minds to this reality.

There are so few diverse faces and stories on TV. Telling these stories are so important to humanise the 'other' and help people understand that their story is not the only one that exists.