Deadloch

Yes, a breath of fresh air - an Australian show that should offend pretty much everyone. Deadlock is a comedy/parody that skewers police procedurals, forensic scientists, small town life, arts festivals, food culture, straight life, alternative life...the list goes on. And with all that there is a pretty reasonable murder mystery. For overseas viewers the lead detective is from Darwin - Australian Deep North like American Deep South - so she is not overacting. The use of swear words is the most clever I have seen. Not like most streaming shows where f... is used because the writers are on strike and no-one can think of anything else to say. Worth having the subtitles on to see how clever. The acting is excellent and really accentuates the characters foibles - a must watch show. Anyone for a jar of "olive tamponade"?

We found this one by chance and had low expectations going in. We were pleasantly surprised by this quirky and rather engaging series that keeps you guessing. At times we even laughed out loud. For those giving negative reviews, my only advice is to lighten up! This isn't trying to be high art or high drama.

The backdrop alone is worth your time if you want to see a bit of Tasmania. Love the accents and the way the Darwin detective does evolve over the course of the series. We have watched five of the eight episodes and we plan to watch till the very end because we have enjoyed spending time in this boondocks of a town, Dead Loch.

I HATED the first 2 episodes. Seriously, I wanted to kill Eddie myself. By the 3rd episode, I was hating it less, by the 4th episode, I liked it and by the end I LOVED it. I even grew to love Eddie. I read someone else's review who called her the new Jar Jar Binks and I agreed for the first half of the season. But she ended up growing on me. So, I'll not hash out the plot here, but this show kept me guessing to the very end. I can usually eye the murderer from the beginning, but I could not when watching this show. So, my advice is stick with it to episode 5 and you'll be hooked. We ended up watching it over 2 nights we were that into it. It ends up being a great murder mystery.

I'm doing this review after the 3rd episode, but I must say I'm looking forward to the rest. I confess watching for Kate Box, who, in my opinion, is one of those rare actresses who always plays her roles perfectly. I'd also recommend Wentworth (even if she only comes towards the end, as the whole series is a masterpiece) and Rake. From the reviews, I understand that it's not for everyone. The most important thing for this series is to take it for what it is: a comedy. I made the mistake, it seems like many others, of believing it was a drama with comic elements, and I have to say that the first few minutes consisted of arduous viewing. It was only after the sequence of police cars dramatically heading in one direction before turning around to continue their journey just as dramatically, that I changed my view of the series. Indeed, the characters are practically all caricatures: the wife of the main character, usually a man but still, who is bored to death and spends her time worrying about whether her wife has eaten properly; the teenagers who wander around finding all sorts of corpses and clues; the coroner and his music that tires everyone; the younger polices who can't tell their left from their right, and so on. In short, Deadloch pokes fun at the clichés of police intrigues- because is it really true that only women poison...? - and serves us a humorous series in which we can still look for a culprit.

I think this is probably quite marmite but personally I absolutely love it. It's sort of an Australian even-more-sweary Hot Fuzz? Madeleine Sami's character is definitely very loud and annoying but she is very clearly meant to be so; I think she's brilliant and it's a great counter-point to some of the more subtle humour in the show, which mainly comes from Kate Box's general air of competent resignation. The supporting cast are all excellent in their own ways too. It sort of gently takes the p*ss out of a lot of modern, very right-on culture but in a friendly way. I think this is a show that will become a cult classic - at least for me anyway! I can't wait for the next episodes.