TL;DR – This might be one of the most absurdly fascinating, profane, and profound shows I have watched.

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this series.

Deadloch Review –

I always wonder how profoundly Australian things translate to a more global audience. Can you make the jump across the ocean without getting hacked to pieces? Well, anything is possible in the era of Bluey, but today might be the biggest test yet.

So to set the scene, Deadloch is a small coastal town on the tip of Tasmania in Australia. Once the purview of loggers and fishing, it is going through a sort of renaissance as those from the big cities look for a country escape. There, two teens, Miranda Hoskins (Kartanya Maynard) and Tammy Hampson (Leonie Whyman) stumble across a naked body missing a tongue washed up on the beach. The Mayor/Doctor Aleyna Rahme (Susie Youssef), is upset because the Winter Festival is about to start, and Phil McGangus (Shaun Martindale) and the old guard are upset that a good-old-boy is dead. The local police force Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins (Kate Box), Abby Matsuda (Nina Oyama), and Sven Alderman (Tom Ballard) are stuck in the middle, made even worse when the brass sends in detective Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami) from Darwin who just wants to close it and leave. It is a recipe for disaster, which is when a second body appears. Now we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there may be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

I have been intrigued by this show because the creators Kate McCartney & Kate McLennan, are one of Australia’s premier comedic talents. Working on seminal Australian comedic works from the last decade, The Katering Show and Get Krack!n. But how would they bridge the gap between the show’s comedic and more horrific sides? Well, the answer was copious uses of See You Next Tuesday and grounding it in a plausible scenario, even if they take it to extremes.  

Small-town dynamics is a territory that Australian Cinema is good at exploring. See The Dressmaker or The Dry. But this is a lens I have not seen before, or at least not to this level. The tension is between those who have lived in the town for generations and are now being outpriced in their own homes by people looking for a better life from the city. This tension is playing itself across Australia at the moment and rings true here but probably not to the extremes that we see here.

The characters and their wild extremes help propel you through the story because you don’t know what expletive laden curve ball will come at you next. Every single person is going to 120%, and it is a wild ride to watch. I was concerned that the relationship between the two leads was too fractious to survive the whole season without becoming frustrating to watch. But just when I was reaching the point where it was going beyond, they switched the entire show up, and it is so much better because of it. Kate Box and Madeleine Sami make such a good team both when they are fighting and then when they are working together.

Deadloch is a show built upon its sea of unforgettable supporting characters. Big Eyes and Sven provide the perfect Ying/Yang of indifference and talent that you love every minute they are on screen. Cass (Alicia Gardiner) is an excellent example of someone who is friendly and always helping but is also profoundly selfish, and I am glad she got called on it. The town matriarch Margaret Carruthers (Pamela Rabe) likes pulling all the strings and giving everyone tubs of lard. Oh, and James (Nick Simpson-Deeks), James is the worst, like the literal worst. At some point, we have all met a James in our lives, and they suck.   

At its heart, Deadlock is a murder mystery, well, a murders mystery, no, wait, actually a murders mysteries. Did I see the murderer coming before the final episode? Absolutely not. But it is the strength of the show that I was captivated by every twist and turn, so much so that I might find the time to watch it again to see how it goes now you know who did it. They craft this mystery with these core moments, like six surprise bodies, that propel the story forward like a narrative slingshot. Some tangents appear that you never know if they will be the key, but there is always a resolution to the important things. This is a show that understands the importance of Chekhov’s Tiger Snake.  

In the end, do we recommend Deadloch? Absolutely. Look, the language will be an understandable barrier for some and does not gloss over some of the uglier sides of life. However, when it is firing on all cylinders, you can’t help but get caught up in its wake like a sloop on the open water.        

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 Deadloch 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 Deadlock
Directed by – Ben Chessell, Beck Cole & Gracie Otto
Written by – Kate McCartney, Kate McLennan, Kim Wilson, Christian White, Madeleine Sami, Anchuli Felicia King, Kirsty Fisher,
Created by – Kate McCartney & Kate McLennan
Production/Distribution Companies – Amazon Studios, OK Great Productions, Guesswork Television & Amazon Prime
Starring – Kate Box, Madeleine Sami, Alicia Gardiner & Nina Oyama with Holly Austin, Tom Ballard, Astrid Wells Cooper, Duncan Fellows, Kris McQuade, Shaun Martindale, Kartanya Maynard, Mia Morrissey, Naarah, Pamela Rabe, Katie Robertson, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Hayden Spencer, Leonie Whyman, Susie Youssef, Harvey Zielinski, Stephanie Jack, Matt Burton & Harry Radbone
Episodes Covered – Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7 & Episode 8