TL;DR – An interesting show with compelling characters that gets stuck in backstory rather than making the most of its central thesis.

Disclosure – I watched this on SBS On Demand.

Warning – Contains scenes which may cause distress.

The Airport Chaplain Review Introduction

When I watched God Complex, I was instantly hooked by one of the more interesting premises on television this year. How would the titular Airport Chaplain work in a system full of tension, staff and management, the frustrations of passengers, or the different requirements of different faiths? Now that I have watched the whole season, I am both impressed and a bit frustrated with how it all played out.

So, to set the scene, it is a chaotic day at Victoria Airport: planes are being delayed, a flight from Shanghai has been circling for half an hour with a dead body on board, and there is a security incident happening. It is one of those days when you need a fixer to help smooth these things over, which is a good thing: Airport Chaplain Tobias Wallace (Hugo Weaving) is on the case. Now, from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole, so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

Crashing Tension

Where The Airport Chaplain worked the best was when it was exploring the competing pressures that hit like waves. The higher-ups wanted to both reduce wait times on baggage and cut costs on handling. These are good discussion points because they are not easy fixes, and it gives space for characters such as Mira (Shabana Azeez), Lex (Erroll Shand), and Cath (Claudia Karvan) to shine. We see that again when the airport has to deal with an alt-right provocateur and the very uncomfortable conversations that it brings up. Airports work best when you feel things are seamless, but a lot of work goes into making that happen, and it was good to peek behind the curtain here.

Order v Chaos

The narrative throughline throughout the season is order and structure that Mira is wanting to bring to the airport and the necessary chaos that Tobias brings to help grease the gears that make the airport flow. Their two styles could easily complement each other or cause great conflict, and there is a coin flip constantly going all season to see where that dichotomy will land. Then there is also that collateral damage that will be done on the way through. It helps that all the characters in the show, such as Johnny (Thomas Weatherall) and Bo (Echo Palo), are interesting, so you want to know more about them, and you do care when they get shafted. As a viewer, you know that the answer is that Mira needs to accept a bit more chaos in her life, and that Tobias needs to be reined in a bit with some order, but we have the liberty of knowing that because we can see the situation from a bird’s-eye view. A good example of this is when the series is exploring domestic abuse within the airport context.

Chaplain?

Unfortunately, if there is one area where that show does fumble, it is the central premise behind its title. Watching the first season, there was only one episode, Running, outside of the premier, where Tobias being a chaplain was integral to the story. For most of the runtime, he could have been a social worker, a crisis worker, a psychologist, etc. While they slapped the title on his back, it never felt like it fit. I know that they wanted to give Hugo Weaving something to sink his teeth into. Still, the backstory they chose was more of a hindrance for the story because there is no way he is not fired after taking kids off-airport without parental approval; given how child safety works, that would not even be a discussion for the airport; it would not even be a choice. It just felt as if they had missed the brief in places where it could have really used it.              

Recommendation

In the end, do we recommend The Airport Chaplain? While unfortunately, the series did show some issues as it steamrolled towards the end. I did like the characters, the setting was interesting, and the central conflict had a lot of potential. Though I do hope we see them actually use the role of chaplain if we get a second season. Have you seen The Airport Chaplain yet? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Bluesky at @Tldrmovrev, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

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Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Airport Chaplain
Directed by – Bonnie Moir, & Tig Terera
Written by – Elise McCredie, Sarah Bassiuoni, Mithila Gupta, & Vidya Rajan
Created by – Elise McCredie & Jude Troy
Production/Distribution Companies – Wooden Horse, VicScreen, Screen Australia, Netflix & SBS
Starring – Hugo Weaving, & Shabana Azeez
With – Claudia Karvan, Erroll Shand, Thomas Weatherall, Priscilla Doueihy, Arka Das, Fanny Hanusin, Kavitha Anandasivam, Jackson Tozer, Hamish Michael, Echo Palo, Elias Anton, Claude Jabbour, Victoria Haralabidou, Tessa de Josselin, & Rob Collins
And – Diana Popovska, Harry Greenwood, Michelle Perera, Aria Mac, Justin Wang, Edwina Wren, Jonah Wren Phillips, Audrey O’Sullivan, Toby Truslove, Gisele Field, Zane Blumeris, Thom Green, Nicole Nabout, Darcy Moore, Iolanthe, Kevin Khan, Matisse Laida, George Oates, Eddie Tuckerman, Isabella Cyrillo, Stella Do, Shapoor Batliwalla, Julie Nihill, Harpreet Singh Walia, Giorgia Kennedy, Cassidy McCredie Pledger, George Mason, Brenda Harding, Stevie Denton, Michael Logo, Marta Kaczmarak, Miles Paras, Ras-Samuel, Getahun Solomon, & Miranda Anwar
Episodes Covered – God Complex, Declaration, Excess Baggage, Forever My Friend, Upstairs Downstairs, Life is War, Running, & Prepare for Landing