“The Survivors” is a recently released Australian series that is thoroughly engrossing. Fifteen years ago in a Tasmanian beach community, two of the town’s most promising young men were killed in a storm when their boat flipped over. They were on a mission to rescue Kieran, the younger brother of one, who was trapped in a cave as the tide was coming in and the waves were about to sweep him out to sea. The townspeople, especially the parents of the two young men who died, have never forgiven Kieran for living. He moved away immediately after and is only now returning for a visit with his partner Mia and their new baby. But feelings still run high and Kieran can see he made a mistake in returning. Adding to the tension in town is the arrival of a stranger, Bronte, a mystery podcaster who had come to try to solve the disappearance of Gabby, a 14-year-old who disappeared the same day as the accident. Gabby, Mia’s best friend, went missing and no one has ever made an attempt to find her. Her mother has never given up hope, but the local police let the case drop and the town has forgotten her. Bronte is convinced that she can discover what happened to her that day. Allegedly on the trail of new information, Bronte’s battered body is found on the beach.
Based on a novel by Jane Harper, Tony Ayres and Alberto Di Troia skillfully draw you into the multiple threads of this complex story. Weaving flashbacks into the narrative to show both how much and how little has changed in 15 years, the motives and possible guilt of multiple members of the community are realistically enough presented that you become convinced each was capable of doing something dangerous or illegal. This is a streamlined, very effective series that is able to tell its complex story in six episodes. There are no real red herrings to bloat the narrative, just possible and probable cause.
“The Survivors” is helped immensely by an extremely talented cast, most of whom will be unfamiliar to American audiences. Charlie Vickers plays Kieran, around whom most of the mysteries revolve. Damien Garvey plays his father Brian, a former pillar of the community whose dementia leaves him unable to defend himself. Yerin Ha, Mia, might be more familiar to American audiences because of her roles in the recent seasons of “Bridgerton” and “Dune: Prophecy.” Her somewhat plain appearance serves to emphasize her inner beauty and empathy. The standout performer is Robyn Malcolm as Verity, Kieran’s toxic mother and loving wife to Brian. The depth of her antagonism toward her son is clearly a measure of self-loathing that risks losing everything she has tried to maintain. Verity is truly a study in character development, something that ends up being one of the major strengths in this excellent production.
Now streaming on Netflix.
“Sirens” is a big fat soaper with sophisticated trimmings and aspirations. Make no mistake, it’s absorbing from beginning to end with beautiful people and ominous underpinnings. Devon, a hot mess of a 30-something and recovering addict, has been taking care of her father, Bruce. In the throes of Alzheimer’s, he refuses a care facility even if they could afford one. Sister Simone left long ago and hasn’t returned despite pledging to help with Bruce. What Devon does know is that Simone is living a luxurious life far from the family home in Buffalo and it’s time for her to come back and help.
Tracking Simone to the private island of billionaires Michaela and Peter Kell, Devon hops on various modes of transportation, none convenient, and spontaneously makes her way through the estate’s intense security and crash lands at a most inconvenient time. Simone is Michaela’s closest associate and personal assistant. She has adapted well to the wealth that surrounds her, even lassoing one of the billionaire guests. Preparations are being made for a major photo shoot and party to celebrate the end of what one might call a rich adult summer camp, but has all the trappings of a cult. Smiling widely with false sincerity, Michaela invites Devon to stay. But the more Devon sees of her sister’s codependent relationship with the mistress of the lair, the more convinced she is that Michaela is leading a cult.
Will she be able to rescue the sister who doesn’t want to be rescued? What’s going to happen to dear old dad? And, more importantly, what is the endgame for each of the protagonists? “Sirens,” ingeniously written and well-directed, would probably work no matter who played these deliciously devious characters, but it is helped immensely by having Julianne Moore as the ethereal, manipulative Michaela. Her husband, appearing sporadically but significantly, is played by Kevin Bacon. Milly Alcock, playing Simone, is that combination of innocence, blind belief and opportunism. And leading them all is Meghann Fahy as Devon, a train wreck waiting to happen. The five episodes will zoom by.
Now streaming on Netflix.
“Grosse Pointe Garden Society” on NBC/Peacock is particularly yummy. Told in a deliberately confusing flashforward/flashback style, this is a fun soaper in the tradition of “Desperate Housewives.” Everyone is beautiful, the relationships are incestuously close, even if they’re not familial, the stakes are ridiculously low until they are ratcheted up with a murder. The hook? The viewer has no idea who has been killed because there are a number of worthy candidates among the enemies of our desperate housewives, and the deliberately confusing storytelling timelines always bring you right back to square one as candidates are eliminated and new ones suspected.
Grosse Pointe, the Beverly Hills of Michigan, is a town of the “haves” and a few isolated “have- nots.” The Garden Club is a hotbed of rivalries, jealousies and social climbing disguised as that “chance to give back” to a community that has already gotten far too much. Every year they prepare for two events, their annual fundraiser and the garden design competition. The club is run with an iron fist by Marilyn; she brooks no opposition. When suddenly Birdy Bradley, rich, rude, with no socially redeeming values, is thrust upon the Garden Society to fulfill her community service for her latest DUI, the chemistry of this tight-knit group begins to fray. Catherine, Alice and Ben don’t know what to do with her. But each is also an outlier in Grosse Pointe for one reason or another. The marriages of Catherine and Alice are rocky, and Ben is a single dad trying to retain custody of his kids. They all harbor deep, dark secrets and those secrets are what allow them eventually to embrace Birdy who, when push comes to shove (and there’s lots of shoving), is a whole lot of fun with too much time on her hands and plenty of money to share.
The episodes are written with flair, humor and just enough mystery to keep you guessing as to who they killed (accidentally or otherwise) and who is sleeping with whom. Totally lacking in deeper meaning and subtlety, this is definitely a relax and enjoy type of series. And enjoy it, I think you will. It took me by surprise and soon I was engrossed. Starring Melissa Fumero, Aja Naomi King, Ben Rappaport and AnnaSophia Robb, expect salacious sex, evil mothers-in-law, duplicitous husbands (and wives) and a manipulative stepdad. Everyone has higher aspirations, but then again, doesn’t everyone? Spoiler alert: NBC has canceled the show and there will be no Season 2. So who’s dead? Who cares?
Streaming now on Peacock.
“Those About to Die” shows the ancient roots of soap opera. Granted, the true foundation would have been the Greek Tragedies, but this one is based in ancient Rome during the Flavian Empire, a period that saw a civil war following the suicide of Emperor Nero. Supported by the Roman armies, Vespasian became the fourth emperor in almost as many years, although his reign was relatively short, from 69 CE to 79 CE. His two sons succeeded him. It’s a fascinating time in history when the Romans were staking a foothold in Great Britain and conquering Jerusalem; Mount Vesuvius erupted and plague infected Rome. The series gets a surprising amount right about this time period, although there are plenty of embellishments and the killer finish is entirely made up.
This series is a romp, full of blood, sex, naked bodies, gladiators, slaves conspiring with and against their owners, gambling and general corruption. There would be something for everyone if only it weren’t so awful. I have very little doubt that creator Robert Rodat was aiming for “Game of Thrones” but landed so far off the mark that this really terrible series has more in common with those “sword and sandal” Italian adventure movies of the 1950s that starred bodybuilders. While the plotting of “Those About to Die” can be ingenious, the writing borders on dreadful. It’s questionable if a really good actor could compensate for the dialogue that is, on occasion, jaw-droppingly bad. But the answer to that question is rather self-evident because the great Anthony Hopkins plays Emperor Vespasian who, lucky for him, dies in an early episode. The permanent expression on poor Hopkins’ face says “what on earth am I doing here?”
Yes, this is a really dreadful series but, and it’s a big but, it is one of those train wrecks that is so bad it’s funny. I am embarrassed to say, but I thoroughly enjoyed some of the episodes because I wanted to see if they could lower the standards that had already been set. They did.
Streaming now on Peacock.
