Pine Gap

Very enjoyable story with strong characters who make you care about what happens to them. The broader plot is credible and the atmosphere of small town Alice is intriguingly portrayed. The personal loves of the characters interweave really well with the plot and keep you interested and guessing. I often don't bother with second seasons, but I probably will with this one, even tho season 1 is nicely complete in itself.

I have only seen the first two episodes, so this review is about a work in progress. I felt that the geopolitical context was timely and relevant for anyone living in or near one of the "five eyes" countries. The storyline is good, if somewhat predictable with regards to the Chinese bogeyman, but the tensions between American and Aussies are culturally accurate, if at times a little crude. The romantic sub-plot is too obvious and somewhat contrived, but I guess that's par for the course if the series takes a couple of unexpected turns (not likely so far, but who knows?). If you enjoyed Berlin Station, you may like this one as a remote controlled / drone version along the same kind of spy series. Not perfect, but still very watchable. And there are some spectacular views of the Australian outback.

I'm not sure where the criticism comes from on this series. The comments critical about realism forget that this isn't a documentary. If that's your criteria then good luck with any series. It's a well crafted intrigue with solid characters with a great mix of an overarching major plot points with excellent subplots. Episode 5 and 6 are a fabulous wrap up that leaves you guessing until the final minutes.

Not sure why Pine Gap is getting bad reviews. The topic is perfect for the current political climate, the acting is sensational and the location scenes in Alice Springs and surrounds is stunning. I'm aware that life inside Pine Gap is likely to be tedious data gathering performed by a bunch of 'yes' people but that would make for tedious viewing. I like that series writers have created such dynamic, diverse, intriguing characters who have opinions about real things. (In the real world they world they would never have been allowed to work in 'intelligence'). I hope there will be a new series.... feel that there are still many loose ends.

I enjoyed it. It was long enough to be binged through but not slow paced so you'd get bored. There are enough elements there to keep you guess. Overall story is layered and strong, good background. Strong stakes. Smart bad guys and an interesting dilemma overall.

Few things, I suppose were a bit corny but I realize you can't have a plot with no holes or devices to get to it. I could care less about geopolitical agenda, because this is a tv series, not life. If you want to watch nice political/spy drama, then you'll never enjoy anything edgy.

Hopefully there will be season 2. I felt acting was good. Casting was well done.

8/10.