User reviews

Fantastic Aussie television that grabs you from the get go. Great cast, especially the newbie detective (Charlie) who is also oh so easy on eyes!

I loved that is focussed on internationals students studying in Aus as well as the fact that it was filmed in Sydney (with some very nice cinematography to boot).

Add in some plot twists which I did not see coming and I'd say this is a really enjoyable ride.

Recommended!

I loved the cast and story. I just wish it had more seasons.

It's weird that all the other reviews so fare are either 10s or 0-3 and the comments either damning or lauding, it just seems to be a normal detective thriller to me. Maybe it's the cross-cultural Chinese foreign student element that creates the huge reaction but since SBS specializes in multicultural progamming you'd think viewers would expect that. A normal well plotted twist-and-turn detective thriller for mine.

When I started the 1st (of only 4) episodes, I thought it was a mistake. It looked to be really cliche, and the characters seemed like "TV characters". You know: characters who don't behave in ways that actual humans do out here in the real world. By the 2nd episode, the unexpected plot twists, which kept this long-time TV viewer guessing, overshadowed that. Gained 2 stars simply for very creative plotting. I'm not disappointed that there won't be (AFAIK) another season, because the characters aren't compelling enough on their own and I don't think lightening could strike twice in terms of a really creative plot.

Rachel Griffiths is as always entertaining but unfortunately the script was not up to her level. The writer just wasn't up to pulling all the strings of this tale in a realistic way.

Many of the reviews - unfortunately by Americans - try to place this in an environment they understand - existing US gangster and cop shop shows.

Don't.

It casually introduces other elements - like overseas students trying to pay their university fees by working in corner convenience stores. Being exploited and underpaid is a running theme that many reviewers missed, relative to why one of the students ultimately goes missing. No spoiler there.

It also introduces (in a backhand way) Chinese prejudice against gweilos: when this same Chinese student is dating a man originally from Iran. And not telling her parents back in China.

It contains more twists than the usual cops and robbers inhabiting pay TV. Rachel Griffiths is outstanding, as are some of the minor actors playing overseas students. It needs quite a grasp of Australia and Sydney, particularly.

This one hooked me in right from the beginning - great cast (love Rachel Griffiths), directing, and the twisting plot turns that kept me guessing. It's a real, gritty crime thriller that showcases Sydney's multi-layered, cultural diversity - well done SBS!

A couple of the main actors and one or two supporting actors are decent; and the overall story is interesting because of the complexities involved. E.g. There are multiple crimes, with some overlap in key areas; and often the next bit of evidence leads to a new potential suspect, and eventually you get to see how most are involved in some way, whether directly or indirectly.

Unfortunately, several of the supporting actors are really terrible. And, even worse, they seem to do such a bad job because they're Aussies and Kiwis with foreign heritage, but who have been cast as overseas students. They play overly-stereotypical roles and have to put on accents and mock the grammar of speakers of English as an additional language. It would've been so much better if they'd been allowed to play second or third gen locals instead.

Still engaging enough a watch overall, though.

Rachel Griffiths and Yoson An turned in good performances, but the plot is thin to say the least, the other characters one dimensional, terrible wooden acting, (the accents were cringeworthy). We watched all 4 episodes, so something got us hooked - cinematography was good - but director and scriptwriters should be ashamed to have wasted such great talent.

Australian drama is back at the level it should be. Well written crime drama. Well done SBS.

Rachel Griffiths kept me in this to the end. Im inclined to like Oz/Nz prods but this one not so much. Supporting cast is undistinguished. For a 4hr procedural it circles around just a handful of characters. Victims lamely interfere. Oh please! But it stars Rachel Griffiths and that covers a bit for weak plotting, dialog and lesser actors.

This is a head scratcher! The plot was reasonable, the cast was okay, the filming wasn't annoying. I was hoping to enjoy it but it fell short. I just can't quite put my finger on what was missing. Perhaps the direction and the lead character played by Rachel Griffiths........I just don't know! I'm normally not a fence sitter and can rattle off all the pros and cons with ease but urgh.......I just don't know why this show failed to impress. In a word "one dimensional " , or two!

I was getting into this until the Iranian dude somehow got amnesia, but then the plot thickened after seeing the reason why he may have turned into the stupidest person possible in this 4 part Lifetime crime thriller, where finally after watching 10s of U. K. crime miniseries this year, these coppers have both guns and pepper spray?! That's what saved this for me, for it beguiles me that these fictional shows have cops running after serial killers into back alleys without a weapon, many times they have to look for something after they've closed in on a dangerous suspect that's already murdered several people. It ruins the moment, which is why I always take a point off no matter how good that series was like "The Devil's Hour" when unarmed cop DI Ravi Dhillon (Nikesh Patel) runs into an abandoned building, then dark alleyways after killers leaving his cellphone in his vehicle, as well, ends up getting the crap beaten out of him because he's an idiot with a badge. Since they're fictional movies, then give coppers weapons so they don't look like grade school hall monitors chasing after murderers, geeez! The first time I really noticed this was while watching "Endeavour", I couldn't believe this is really how British detectives track murderers all the way up on a roof to apprehend them? Lol. I stopped watching it because of this, but eventually I got worn down as I began to fall in love with the quality of British television crime shows.

Okay, so back to the show, Sergeant Gibbs (Rachel Griffiths) character, with her lollipops, i guess is supposedly a female Kojack or what, but based on her slow speech sounds like she's been sucking on thc infused lollipops, it's a bit annoying being she's too young to be acting like the seasoned detective Kodak was, and what's with every Asian cop being this fragile rookie character afraid of his or her own shadow? I can recall 3 lower ranked coppers like that, 2 were women. At least this series didn't make it appear like their population has a 40% Black population, where it appears every 3rd character stems from Sub-Saharan Africa in so many of these U. K. series, and some Australian shows too, and this is coming from, I know it's cliche to say, a Black person, lol. I just want to see the proper % of the type of people who authentically resides in those towns and cities. But where were the Aboriginal actors here, I saw only 1 actor Matt Babel as SWAT captain Matt O'Reilly. Oh, well.

That police badge flinging incident inquiry moment was stupid.

Again, great, cops had weapons to fight crime, but the series came across like an afternoon Lifetime series with the typical brainless college kids running around getting in the way.

This show ticks all the standard detective show boxes. Very cliche, silly at times and a little slow moving. . But..if you fast forward through the dull scenes it entertains for a while. Watch while you fold laundry and browse your phone.

Strong characters, drama, story, and acting. Beautifully backdrops made this better then a 6.

I'm surprised at all of the people who did not love this Mini series. I was extremely disappointed that it wasn't turned into a regular running series. The relationship between Grace and Charlie was amazing by the end and could have easily carried into a regular series. Crime series in any way are pretty much cookie cutter in a lot of ways but this one took the cookie cutter and twisted it a bit so you didn't know a 100% where it was going and that's another thing that I loved about it. I'm really sad that all I got was for episodes. I think the producers need to rethink their decision not to make another run is other run of this show.

This is really bad. It just doesn't add up. Why did the female police constable think she had done something wrong, when attempting to help someone being threatened with a gun. The foreign actors were so bad, all of them. The play school scriptwriters could have done better.

Some moments are quite basic, but the plot is very well designed.

I like the acting. Certain drama moments really worked well. And the mystery unfolds at a solid pace.

I do not understand the negative reviews. The series is no less than a solid 6.

I try to support Aussie film/TV so tuned in to this offering even though I was already mightily put off by the promo of a scene with Griffiths muttering "Don't be dramatic" to a colleague. By the same token that very thing also drew me to it, because I could not believe the acting could possibly be THAT BAD. Turns out I was right the first time. Rachael Griffiths plays a thoroughly annoying character, with her dead-pan voice and OTT smart-arse dialogue. The acting all round is woeful but it is mostly Griffiths' contribution to this uninspiring steaming pile of crap that totally turned me off.

Well done to all who have put their talents to work in this production. This goes along with some of the best British produced shows of the same genres and for someone to say it was like an American production is an insult. If I do have a negative (and I have to hunt for it) is being filmed in Sydney so many of the land marks around Sydney are being used. Many productions I have seen shows Banangaroo as a back drop. Maybe use some of our provisional towns would not only make a change but may help some of our small struggling towns.

Clearly one of the best Aussie detective dramas I have ever seen. Flawless acting and an excellent script. Plenty of twists in the storyline keep you guessing deep into the series.

What more can I say other than it feels like. It tries too hard to tick all the SBS boxes. I'll give ep 2 ten minutes to make me watch more . It's a shame.

Film rise always knocks it out of the park. How come so many good shows quit after you're hooked?

Some really good actors doing a poor job. The writing is terrible. I mean like in american network tv kind of bad writing. The plot, the dialogue, the repeated accidental telling the boyfriend how to interfere with the investigation kind of plot contrivances. Really how bad can it get here.