TL;DR – Twenty years is a long time and while it is good to be back in Pearl Bay, some of the characters dragged us back to the 20th century.
Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars
Review –
Let me take you back in time, a whole twenty years ago, which seems a lifetime
now that I think about it. It was a quieter time in life, we had not yet dealt
with either the millennium or even the Willennium yet. However, down here in Australia
everyone and their mum’s was riveted by the story of the lost magistrate and
her Diver Dan. A lot has changed in those preceding years, both in the real
world, and the fictional one of the show, and it will be interesting to see if
lighting can hit twice again.
So to set the scene, we open in with Laura Gibson (Sigrid Thornton) who is volunteering
somewhere in Africa and not getting along with everyone, or anyone. She is
throwing herself into her work to kind of distract herself for the fact that
her marriage is tenuous at best, her daughter is in and out of trouble and that
her career is not really going anywhere. After upsetting enough people the aid
agency firers her and has her visa cancelled so she is forced to fly back to
Australia to get it sorted out. With some time to kill, she decides to come
back to Pearl Bay to visit her other daughter Miranda (Brooke Satchwell) who
still lives there. Only to find out a lot has changed, such as her house got
washed away.
Where
a show like this will excel or fail is in its characters, you either want to
hear their stories or not. Well in the first episode it was a bit of a mixed
bag with some interesting performances and some baffling ones as well. To begin
with, Brooke Satchwell is an instant presence in the show commanding every
scene she is in. I really liked the banter she has with Anna (Katrina Milosevic)
who is another of the highlights of the show. Add to this Darren McMullen doing
his best Ursula Andress or Daniel Craig, which I am sure will get more than a
few people’s attention. One area that really didn’t work for me was the main character,
Laura Gibson. I know that they are setting her up as being in a rut and that
coming back will be rejuvenating for her. But in this episode, she was almost Gilmore
Girls movie frustrating. As well as this, I am sure comically evil Bob
Jelly (John Howard) was amusing first time around, but here he felt like a
character from a different era, and not in a good way.
The story so far feels a lot like it is part Legacy filmmaking and part grabbing at
all the current concerns for island communities. This blend created a really
interesting set up for the show because it was able to get rolling a lot of the
building drama that will likely be the focus of the season. It also never hurts
to have a torrential thunderstorm to mix things up. I was good that the show is
exploring the environment and climate change but contrasting it with the need
for small communities to have jobs and a future. It helps that they are filming
the show in a really gorgeous location which elevates everything that is going
on. But on that note, we know it is nice, so maybe dial back a bit on the establishing
shots.
In the end, do we recommend the relaunch of SeaChange? Yes, we would, even with its issues. It is a bit rough around the edges, but when it works, it works really well. It also does everything a pilot needed to do, gives us our main characters, hint as to the main focus of the series, and give you the sense as what you can expect to come in the future.
By Brian MacNamara: You can follow
Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV,
he’ll be talking about International Relations,
or the Solar System.
Have you seen SeaChange yet ?, let us know what you thought in the comments
below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can
follow us Here. Check out all
our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy
day.
Credits – All images were created
by the cast, crew, and production companies of SeaChange
Directed by – Wayne Blair
Written by – Deb Cox
Created by – Andrew Knight & Deborah
Cox
Production/Distribution Companies – ITV Studios Australia, Every Cloud Productions & Nine Network
Starring – Sigrid Thornton, Brooke Satchwell, John Howard, Kerry
Armstrong, Kevin Harrington, Katrina Milosevic, Darren McMullen, Dan Wyllie,
Alex Tarrant, Kate Lister, Wayne Blair & Kamil Ellis
