Top Of The Lake - General Discussion

[attica]

On 9/13/2017 at 10:21 PM, Razzberry said:

I know this wasn't a police procedural, but it wasn't supposed to be a comedy either.   I was rolling when Alexander jumped on Robin and attempted to bite her face off.

I dunno. There were so many really bonkers elements,  I think it must have been intentional! Miranda is a comic character,  her affair with Adrian was a mismatch made in heaven. The professorial parents with their hero-journey theories. The wedding in jail. The backstage goings on at the brothel. Pixie. Kidman's wig! The doofus homicide detective hitting on Robin. Only the serious-sounding soundtrack suggested it wasn't slapstick.

[dubbel zout]

1 hour ago, attica said:

Only the serious-sounding soundtrack suggested it wasn't slapstick.

Except when the music was jaunty, but that usually accompanied the worst stuff.

[spankydoll]

I enjoyed this season wart and all. Gwen and Nicole are worth watching hour after hour. But seriously what in the hell happened at the end? Why all of the stealth with the suitcases and storage unit? What happened to Cinnamon? Where the fuck were all of the baby mamas off to?  Still shaking my head. 

[hoodooznoodooz]

1 hour ago, attica said:

I dunno. There were so many really bonkers elements,  I think it must have been intentional! Miranda is a comic character,  her affair with Adrian was a mismatch made in heaven. The professorial parents with their hero-journey theories. The wedding in jail. The backstage goings on at the brothel. Pixie. Kidman's wig! The doofus homicide detective hitting on Robin. Only the serious-sounding soundtrack suggested it wasn't slapstick.

Maybe it was a comedy. The punchline was that it wasn't a homicide.

[Razzberry]

Robin could've blasted him off her face like a pitbull and no one could blame her.   Instead she just kind of shrugs it off.  I wish *I* could. lol

[dubbel zout]

Everyone was walking on eggshells with Alexander because of his relationship with Mary. It was ridiculous. He cracked me up, though, when he was spouting his bullshit. He was a gross, dangerous predator, but I totally enjoyed it when he pushed Pyke and Diana's buttons. Those two were as dangerous to Mary in there own way as Puss was.

[stinkogingko]

I didn't see the first season, so no idea if Robin was a better detective then. I can't believe she couldn't figure that Miranda had a surrogate. A 35-year-old woman so worried about her fertility and smoking and drinking through her first pregnancy? But then none of the police seemed remotely competent. The ME also doesn't realize the victim was a surrogate when the DNA doesn't match. Hilmarson is terrible at every step. And there's no way the whole squadron wouldn't have realized what was up with Adrian and Miranda.

 

I think the acting was very good, and both Moss and Kidman did great things with ridiculous parts. Robin was gang raped as a girl and gave up the baby. Three later miscarriages. Drugged and raped by her boss. Dumped at the altar. Unsupportive family. Skeevy workmates. Nearly murdered by her ex boss. Nose  nearly bitten off. Daughter repeatedly wandering into danger and no one with the wits to restrain her. Susan Lucci had less material to work with.

 

I know we're supposed to hate Julia  but she was the one person who seemed appropriately alarmed at the situation, even if her handling was wrong.  Pyke's passivity got to be ridiculous and his affair with Robin seemed like a really bad idea at the time.

 

Are we supposed to think Mary is mentally ill? I was enraged by her behavior at the end. I think she must have known for some time what was going on; she certainly had to have known when that little shakedown notice was filmed. She doesn't leave Alex because he's a thief or a  exortionist or maybe even a murderer. She just leaves because he doesn't really love her. I think the casting of Alex missed the mark:  he was suitably creepy but no charisma to explain why so many were in thrall to him.

 

And so so many plot holes. Was that red-haired doctor in on it? Was that woman at Cafe Stasi Alex's wife? When did Brett turn lunatic gunman? Why bury himself in the sand? Why didn't someone call the airport the minute they realized Mary's passport was gone?

 

But the acting was first rate.

[Paloma]

On 9/13/2017 at 7:14 AM, hoodooznoodooz said:

What do they plan to do with all those babies when they're born? Sell them?

Based on what Alexander was saying in the video, it seems that he was going to sell the babies into white slavery (sex trafficking), with the money supposedly going to support the the mothers and their families and villages. This plan was also supposed to be revenge for white people using poor Asian women as prostitutes and surrogate wombs--although I'm sure Alexander didn't really care about that and was really doing it for the money (presumably he would get the lion's share of the high price for these babies) and because he enjoyed bringing misery to others who were "better" than him.

Overall this season was very disappointing, with the last couple of episodes just ridiculous. Aside from the unbelievable coincidences and the over-the-top annoying characters, I was screaming at the TV for the police to start acting professionally and do something to catch the bad guys instead of wallowing in their personal soap operas. If there is a third season, I won't be back.

[Guest]

For the most part, I really enjoyed this.  I didn't analyze much of the story, obviously.  I watched season 1 but didn't remember enough about it to really understand the wedding flashback (why was she going to marry him in the jail?) and the attack of the S1 villain was just silly fun.  

I totally didn't get the beach scene.  Brett was hiding there all day, just hoping no one would ever move that beer box?  Like he was going to reside there from then on or what?  I also didn't get why Bootie was left on the street.  Well, I didn't get a lot of things.  

I liked the characters and actors and I found the Mary thing horrifying, since I have a daughter that age.  

[dubbel zout]

3 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

(why was she going to marry him in the jail?)

Because that was their wedding day, and I guess she didn't want to postpone until he got out. 

[Paloma]

4 hours ago, Winston9-DT3 said:

I liked the characters and actors and I found the Mary thing horrifying, since I have a daughter that age.

Although my daughter is now twice Mary's age, I remember that rebellious stage vividly. (Luckily, my daughter's rebellion was mostly in attitude, not actions.) In the earlier episodes of this season I couldn't stand Mary or her parents--especially her seemingly pretentious and know-it-all mother--but gradually I began to recognize the pain that Julia felt as a mom losing her little girl and the unfairness of so much contempt being directed at mom after a lifetime of devotion to her daughter. 

 

23 hours ago, stinkogingko said:

I know we're supposed to hate Julia  but she was the one person who seemed appropriately alarmed at the situation, even if her handling was wrong.  Pyke's passivity got to be ridiculous and his affair with Robin seemed like a really bad idea at the time.

Exactly! Julia was at least sometimes actively trying to stop this tragedy while Pyke was (I guess) hoping to win Mary over by being the "good" parent, the one that is more on her side. Naturally, Mary took advantage of this. Interesting that at the end Mary was accepting comfort from Julia rather than Pyke--although I did not find that believable in light of Mary's earlier attitudes toward them.

[msrachelj]

i didn't watch season one so maybe that adds to my confusion but my god, this was really strange. why were all the cops laughing at robin all the time. what the hell?!

the daughter needed mental help asap. her pig of a "boy"friend should have been arrested for rape. or was she of a legal age? her father seemed like a pussy around him. my father would have had him killed! so many strange things going on.

what was going to happen to all the stolen babies in the sex workers? are they going to sell them? i can't believe all this was legal. 

i watched the whole thing but there was so much that was unbelievable. especially, as someone else posted, the big coincidence tying robins daughter and the murdered girl together. and who murdered her? after all this, i don't remember the outcome! very strange. very unreal. 

i believe elizabeth moss won the emmy for this? btw. i was taken out if it by the scientology aspect.  elizabeth and nicole working together but not being able to talk to each in real life since nicole left the cult. i guess acting together gets a pass? screwey. i wish season one were on tv ( i can't access online series, has to be on my direct tv) i'd like to compare.

[Paloma]

44 minutes ago, msrachelj said:

the daughter needed mental help asap. her pig of a "boy"friend should have been arrested for rape. or was she of a legal age? her father seemed like a pussy around him. my father would have had him killed! so many strange things going on.

what was going to happen to all the stolen babies in the sex workers? are they going to sell them? i can't believe all this was legal. 

I think the daughter was of legal age to have sex (she was 17) though apparently had to wait until 18 to marry and/or drop out of school. But it still seemed hard to believe that the boyfriend couldn't be arrested for anything, especially after he bit Robin.

I think the stolen babies were going to be sold into sex slavery eventually, which would obviously be illegal, but it was explained that it wasn't illegal for the surrogates to leave the country with them and to keep the babies--what was in their wombs belonged to them. Also, any agreement that the would-be parents made with the surrogates was apparently illegal and therefore unenforceable.

[msrachelj]

11 minutes ago, Paloma said:

I think the daughter was of legal age to have sex (she was 17) though apparently had to wait until 18 to marry and/or drop out of school. But it still seemed hard to believe that the boyfriend couldn't be arrested for anything, especially after he bit Robin.

I think the stolen babies were going to be sold into sex slavery eventually, which would obviously be illegal, but it was explained that it wasn't illegal for the surrogates to leave the country with them and to keep the babies--what was in their wombs belonged to them. Also, any agreement that the would-be parents made with the surrogates was apparently illegal and therefore unenforceable.

that's  right! how the hell did he get away with biting her nose? such a lot of bull shit on this show . now i'm getting mad!

omg. poor babies. really, no recourse? i guess that is one downside to legal brothels..

[dubbel zout]

39 minutes ago, msrachelj said:

omg. poor babies. really, no recourse? i guess that is one downside to legal brothels..

It had nothing to do with the brothels being legal, it was about surrogacy being illegal.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

Because that was their wedding day, and I guess she didn't want to postpone until he got out. 

Thanks. I didn't even remember her being engaged at all, so I didn't know if there was some shotgun urgency or what.  But I read the EW recaps of this season and I guess not.

2 hours ago, Paloma said:

Although my daughter is now twice Mary's age, I remember that rebellious stage vividly. (Luckily, my daughter's rebellion was mostly in attitude, not actions.) In the earlier episodes of this season I couldn't stand Mary or her parents--especially her seemingly pretentious and know-it-all mother--but gradually I began to recognize the pain that Julia felt as a mom losing her little girl and the unfairness of so much contempt being directed at mom after a lifetime of devotion to her daughter. 

 

My daughter is a lot like Mary in her idealism and social justice bent, like so many teens are.  And the Mary actor looks just like a 20 y/o niece of mine, so it was powerful from that aspect, too.  And I myself picked some HORRIBLE boyfriends in those years.  I mean, not Puss-level horrible, but pretty close!  So the whole parenting nightmare felt very realistic to me.  

It struck me as odd that Julia lashed out at Robin about Mary hating Julia, given Robin had nothing to do with that.  Though I guess they did tie it at least partly to Robin not replying to the letters.   But I kind of sided with Mary because Julia was pretty dislikable all on her own, from what we were shown.  

1 hour ago, msrachelj said:

that's  right! how the hell did he get away with biting her nose? such a lot of bull shit on this show . now i'm getting mad!

I think he only got away with the biting because pressing charges would've driven a wedge between Mary and Robin right then.  Didn't Mary beg her not to?  I would not have had it in me to not beat the shit out of him AND arrest him, in Robin's shoes.  But I didn't roll my eyes too hard at it in the show, for some reason.  I guess because all along Robin was shown as trying to put Mary's feelings first.

[attica]

2 hours ago, msrachelj said:

i believe elizabeth moss won the emmy for this?

She won for Handmaid's Tale, not this.

[snowwhyte]

I thought the plan with the surrogates was just a way to get the parents to pay more for the babies. They went back to Asia to make it more difficult to find them and sent the parents the video to extort them to pay the new price with the threat that if they didn't pay the babies could be sold to someone else. 

The series had very little focus on the crime that it was meant to be about. I expected the final episode to be the reveal about what happened to Cinnamon and instead it was just the reveal that she killed herself because she was unhappy with her life and Puss and the people who ran the brothel dumped her body supposedly to avoid the authorities becoming aware of their illegal surrogacy ring. Although, given the fact that they had two police officers using their illegal services maybe they shouldn't have bothered.

[msrachelj]

3 hours ago, dubbel zout said:

It had nothing to do with the brothels being legal, it was about surrogacy being illegal.

but if the brothels were illegal they wouldn't have been able to take off and at least there would have possibly been (more time) and a way to save at least some of the babies while the legalities were being dealt with.

[dubbel zout]

The show made a point of explaining this pretty explicitly: As far as the law is concerned, the babies are the pregnant women's, not the biological parents. 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, attica said:

She won for Handmaid's Tale, not this.

I was just thinking that in all the roles I've seen her in-- Mad Men, Handmaid's Tale and Top of the Lake-- Moss is kind of playing the same type of person.  She's the capable, aware, strong woman in a man's world (or field) run by a boys' club, though less so in this than the others.  

[LotusFlower]

8 hours ago, msrachelj said:

i believe elizabeth moss won the emmy for this?

She won a Golden Globe for the first season.

[spaceghostess]

Meh, I missed The Lake, TBH. The New Zealand travel porn was one of the main attractions of season 1 for me. Season 2 seemed filmed deliberately to make Sydney as generic as possible. Take away the accents and it could have been LA or any number of other beachy city locales. Also, the way Johnno was hustled off so ignominiously? I just didn't buy it at all after the intensity of their relationship. It felt like a cheap and clumsy way to make Robin single.

Mary's hard lean into rebellion got on my last nerve and made me dread the prospect of my almost-twelve-year-old turning seventeen. The Alexander/Puss actor did a great job making my skin crawl, though, so kudos to him. I wanted to KILL the cafe-porn-John-nerds every time they were onscreen, and the waitress who appeared not to know/care what they were doing made it even worse. I wanted so badly for that one guy to fall victim to grisly murder. Overall, this season pushed it too far with the misogyny tropes. So many of the guys were creeps that even Pike--who maybe wasn't supposed to be a creep?-- was a creep to me because he slept with his adopted daughter's birth mom when he knows Mary is all kinds of fucked up already. But the medical examiner, I loved. He was the best all the time.

It was fun to see Gwendoline Christie in this, even if the role wasn't worthy of her. I'm another one who thought Robin's brother was gay, so I was like, "What the hell?" when it looked as if he and Miranda had hooked up.

The ending with the surrogates was so grim. I'd like to think Puss just moved them to extort more money from the "parents", but the fact that he literally took all the moms out of the country makes me believe those babies are doomed. :(

Kinda hoped it was Johnno knocking on Robin's door in the end. I know, I'm the lamest. 

Edited September 21, 2017 by spaceghostess

[spaceghostess]

On 9/16/2017 at 8:01 AM, Paloma said:

I had also forgotten who she was supposed to marry but was reminded in the flashbacks shown early in season 2 that it was Johnno.

 

Nah, Robin wasn't supposed to marry Johnno in Season 1. They reunited after not having seen each other for 15 years, but when the series began she was engaged to a guy named Steve in Sydney who we never saw onscreen. He got tired of her leaving him hanging and ended the relationship. Robin was fine with it, as she and Johnno were going at it hot and heavy by that point.

[Paloma]

5 hours ago, spaceghostess said:

Nah, Robin wasn't supposed to marry Johnno in Season 1. They reunited after not having seen each other for 15 years, but when the series began she was engaged to a guy named Steve in Sydney who we never saw onscreen. He got tired of her leaving him hanging and ended the relationship. Robin was fine with it, as she and Johnno were going at it hot and heavy by that point.

The thing with Steve rings a bell, but that leaves me confused about the timeline--specifically, how much time went by between the events at the end of Season 1 and those at the beginning of Season 2. I'll have to re-read the episode summaries from Season 1.  

[MaryWebGirl]

2 hours ago, Paloma said:

The thing with Steve rings a bell, but that leaves me confused about the timeline--specifically, how much time went by between the events at the end of Season 1 and those at the beginning of Season 2. I'll have to re-read the episode summaries from Season 1.  

I think it's about 4 years later.

[Paloma]

52 minutes ago, MaryWebGirl said:

I think it's about 4 years later.

Thanks, I just looked at a couple of reviews and that seems right. I guess I was confused by the flashbacks in Season 2, which gave me the impression that the events in those flashbacks had occurred much more recently--I don't know why.

[MaryWebGirl]

10 hours ago, spaceghostess said:

I wanted to KILL the cafe-porn-John-nerds every time they were onscreen, and the waitress who appeared not to know/care what they were doing made it even worse. I wanted so badly for that one guy to fall victim to grisly murder. Overall, this season pushed it too far with the misogyny tropes.

The gross guys in the cafe trading reviews of hookers actually mirrors a prostitution ring that was just busted in Seattle, so while revolting it was sadly realistic.

http://projects.seattletimes.com/2017/eastside-prostitution-bust/

I finished the sixth episode on Tuesday and sat down last night to watch the "final" episode only to find out that was it! There were so many dumb loose ends I thought there was another one for sure there was another one. I agree with everyone that a lot of the basic ideas were interesting (physical exploitation of poor women, mentally fragile teen girl manipulated by old slimeball), but the plotholes were just too big to overlook. I think all of the actresses did a good job with what they had (even minor characters like the madame), but the male characters were such flat stereotypes I usually just wanted them off my screen so we could get back to the women.

[spaceghostess]

On 9/21/2017 at 0:25 PM, MaryWebGirl said:

The gross guys in the cafe trading reviews of hookers actually mirrors a prostitution ring that was just busted in Seattle, so while revolting it was sadly realistic.

http://projects.seattletimes.com/2017/eastside-prostitution-bust/

I finished the sixth episode on Tuesday and sat down last night to watch the "final" episode only to find out that was it! There were so many dumb loose ends I thought there was another one for sure there was another one. I agree with everyone that a lot of the basic ideas were interesting (physical exploitation of poor women, mentally fragile teen girl manipulated by old slimeball), but the plotholes were just too big to overlook. I think all of the actresses did a good job with what they had (even minor characters like the madame), but the male characters were such flat stereotypes I usually just wanted them off my screen so we could get back to the women.

Gah, why am I not surprised re: the prostitution ring? So grim--but then, this show has never exactly been a laugh riot (gallows humor notwithstanding).

Just like you, I was all raring to go for episode seven--Who was knocking at Robin's door? Would she continue her affair with nebbishy Pike? Would Miranda recover? Would we ever see New Zealand again--only to have my balloon deflated when Hulu rolled me into episode one of something called "Cardinal". I'm pretty pissed off that they effectively slammed the book shut on the actual Lake, as I'd love it if Robin had a reason to go back there (maybe with Mary in tow) should there be a third season. 

[Guest]

I assumed it was Pyke at her door at the end.  In the scene before, it seemed implied he was still very into her and happy for the excuse to drop by that night, despite Julia's trying to chase Robin off for good.  

[RedheadZombie]

Can anyone advise where I can watch this show?  My DVR was set for a series record, but it only picked up one episode that was 2 hours 39 minutes, and entitled "Chapters 1 & 2".  I'm guessing this might be the first two episodes, but they're not titled properly.  

[BlackberryJam]

I watched it on Sundance, but you might want to try BBC Iplayer.

[MaryWebGirl]

@RedheadZombie you can sign up for a free trial of Hulu and watch it (that's what I did).

[RedheadZombie]

1 hour ago, MaryWebGirl said:

@RedheadZombie you can sign up for a free trial of Hulu and watch it (that's what I did).

Thank you!

On ‎10‎/‎14‎/‎2017 at 10:34 PM, BlackberryJam said:

I watched it on Sundance, but you might want to try BBC Iplayer.

Thank you, too!

[MaryPatShelby]

On 9/15/2017 at 9:57 PM, Razzberry said:

I watched the face-biting scene again just for laughs, but it's just dumb, and out of left field.  

Not only that, it was basically never mentioned again, except for a throwaway line from I think Pyke, something like "how can she still want him after what he did to you?" Just like the attack in the empty room in the courthouse never got mentioned again, nor was there any real resolution (at least to the viewer) of it. (Like, was the guy shot by police?  Arrested?  Charged with a crime?)

Despite the above, and despite plot holes so big one could drive a truck through them, I did overall like this season and am glad I watched it.  I have not seen the first season though, so once I get around to that I may think differently about this one.  

[watch2much]

watched all episodes in 3 days.  was really enjoying it....until the last....then I cursed myself for wasting my time.  Loved Miranda, though.  

[MaryPatShelby]

On 7/24/2015 at 6:57 AM, Mama No Life said:

Ok, someone help me out.  I watched episode one.  It was okay...didn't LOVE it but some shows burn slowly, so I tried ep 2. Couldn't finish it.  Does it get better?  So far I don't like a single character, including, sadly, Tui. 

I know no one will ever see this comment, but I just watched the first two eps, and part of the 3rd, and quit.  I don't mind shows that burn slowly, but geez....I didn't care for this at all. I'm sure we learn why Paradise is so important to the main story, and the same with Tui's dad Matt, but right now any scenes with Paradise and Matt pull me right out of the cop story, and bore me to death.  I'm done.  

[statsgirl]

Is that all there is?  Seriously is that all there is?  What about Miranda?  What's going to happen to all those babies who are being sold away from their parents?  Is anyone going to contain Julia much less treat her?

For five episodes, I thought this was a crazy, cool show.  Now I'm thinking it's a self-indulgent crap.

On 9/18/2017 at 6:58 PM, dubbel zout said:

The show made a point of explaining this pretty explicitly: As far as the law is concerned, the babies are the pregnant women's, not the biological parents. 

While the women are pregnant, yes.  But what about after the babies are born?  They have the DNA of the donors so wouldn't it be kidnapping to keep the babies much less sell them? And what about the contracts between the people who wanted them to be surrogates?  Even if the contracts are only verbal, they should have some legal standing.

Too many plot holes.

[dubbel zout]

Surrogacy is illegal in Australia, which is why the babies belong to the pregnant women. That's what made the whole situation so completely awful. The couples had absolutely no legal recourse at any step in the process.

[ali59]

Quote

For five episodes, I thought this was a crazy, cool show.  Now I'm thinking it's a self-indulgent crap.

Indeed!

I know not to expect a perfectly happy ending but I feel like it should have been satisfying in some way.  It wasn't.

Anyone else watch the little behind the scenes thing after?  "The ocean is like the womb of the show."  I hardly thought about the ocean.  What a lode of crap.

[PhilMarlowe2]

This was shockingly bad.

I mean, stunningly awful.

I mean, terrible on a level that is almost surreal.

I guess it is such a shock because the level of talent behind it is so immense - the performances are great, the tone is compelling, the different story components could lead to something great...

And yet it was a total nonsensical mess of absurd proportions. I don't even know where to start. I was literally laughing at Puss' every scene by the end. He was so over-the-top in being this unlikable bad guy. And Pyke's passivity was equally hilarious. I mean, has there ever been a more ineffectual father ever? I'm not even going to touch layer after layer of coincidence - okay, I lied, I will - so not only is Robin's daughter dating a man directly connected to Cinnamon's disappearance (which I could kind of accept in some sort of cosmic, fatalistic way), but Robin's partner has likewise hired a surrogate from the same brothel???? Sometimes I thought this surely must be an intentional dramatic farce, an outlandish melodrama that is aware of itself, but it never seemed to coalesce into something purposefully meaningful. And at the end of all of it, Cinnamon simply hung herself????

I will give Jane Campion credit - it has been a long time since I have been so amazed by the sheer awfulness of a movie or TV show.

Edited February 16, 2018 by PhilMarlowe2

[Roseanna]

On ‎9‎.‎8‎.‎2017 at 6:12 AM, zibnchy said:

Also I'm really annoyed that Miranda had to get shot and they ended without a resolution. 

I think the main point was Robin's reaction. She was usually so controlled, unlike Miranda, but the shooting really shocked her.  

On ‎17‎.‎9‎.‎2017 at 9:15 PM, stinkogingko said:

I know we're supposed to hate Julia  but she was the one person who seemed appropriately alarmed at the situation, even if her handling was wrong.  Pyke's passivity got to be ridiculous and his affair with Robin seemed like a really bad idea at the time.

 

On ‎18‎.‎9‎.‎2017 at 8:21 PM, Paloma said:

Exactly! Julia was at least sometimes actively trying to stop this tragedy while Pyke was (I guess) hoping to win Mary over by being the "good" parent, the one that is more on her side. Naturally, Mary took advantage of this. 

Yes, Julia tried but in the the way that only alienated Mary. Pyke shared Julia's opinion but he thought that it was best not to break the relationship with Mary.

[Roseanna]

On ‎18‎.‎9‎.‎2017 at 11:00 PM, Winston9-DT3 said:

It struck me as odd that Julia lashed out at Robin about Mary hating Julia, given Robin had nothing to do with that.  Though I guess they did tie it at least partly to Robin not replying to the letters. 

Yes, Julia thought that Mary's problems were due to Robin who didn't answer her letter. But Mary criticized Julia for moving from home to live with her girlfriend and hurting Daddy.  

[Roseanna]

On ‎29‎.‎7‎.‎2017 at 10:11 PM, ApathyMonger said:

The massive coincidence at the center of the season bugged me, and I found it hard to get past:

  Reveal hidden contents

Moss is just starting to make contact with the daughter she gave up for adoption, whose much-older boyfriend just happens to be a major part of the prostitution ring at the center of the case Moss is investigating. It's weird.

 

 

On ‎30‎.‎8‎.‎2017 at 6:37 PM, snowwhyte said:

I did enjoy this but if you think about it too much none of it makes sense. The main problem I thought was that all the characters seemed to be doing things that were very unrealistic.

The police chief who is having an affair with a subordinate decides to go through the IVF process and use an illegal surrogate despite knowing the law would give him no rights if she changed her mind.  He was so unprofessional. Not only was he having an affair with his subordinate but he showed her preferential treatment and was working a case where he had a conflict of interest. Also I couldn't believe he let Robin work her daughter's kidnapping. 

I think Mary made more sense if you consider her as someone with severe mental problems. It's common for teenage girls to fall for unsuitable men that they know will annoy their parents but when he smacked her and left her on the street to turn tricks I can't believe she went back to him. I think maybe she has invested so much into the relationship that she couldn't admit that she was wrong about him. She clearly needs therapy. 

I found the resolution very disappointing. I was expecting another episode but maybe they'll do another series. To be honest I thought the first season was poorly written, overrated and only redeemed by the atmospheric scenery and the acting but transplanting the show to Australia means they lost one of the only things about the show that worked.

As a crime story, the show had many flaws but evidently Jane Champion wasn't interested to develop the plot but used it only to explore means with which men oppress women.

I think she succeeded to create powerful scenes.  

[snowwhyte]

It should be possible to explore complex themes such as oppression and exploitation while still creating a crime story that is cohesive and has a satisfying conclusion. The frustrating thing is that this had many of the building blocks of a solid show but the narrative failures were so massive that it was difficult to get past them. Robin is an interesting, complex character played by a strong actress. The story of her reconnecting with her daughter while investigating a heart breaking crime could have been great but it just wasn't and the ending left me wondering why I bothered with it.  

[LeGrandElephant]

I wish there were episode threads, because I have no idea what’s going on in half these scenes. I guess I’ll be back once I’ve finished season 2. 

[LeGrandElephant]

On 8/2/2017 at 8:07 PM, George B. said:

And as a relatively small complaint, there was the damage done to the first series, especially the vandalism done to Johnno's character. Partly that came from using a different actor who was nothing like the original but largely the ridiculous reworking of his character. And what the hell was Robin doing, becoming a loyal member of the Mitcham Clan? Seriously?

 I didn't understand what was going on there, Robin was going to marry Johnno real quick in the jail?? She was totally going to do that until she found out he'd been messing around with a teenage girl? So besides assassinating his character, it made her look like an idiot. And I couldn't really remember who the people were that she was burning the dress with because its been years since I saw the first season, but I don't remember anyone from the first season she was that close with in that way. 

And what was the deal with the guy she shot in the first season showing up, having a wife and kids all of a sudden, attacking her dramatically well despite being seriously crippled, and then no one ever mentioning it again?

And the above complaints are just as relates to the first season. All the stuff that was second season only made absolutely zero sense. I'm not even sure where to start. Puss wasn't attractive or appealing in any way, and I never understood Mary's attachment to him as he just got grosser and grosser. Miranda's character was bizarre and who hires a surrogate with their affair partner while one of them is still married to someone else?? But at least I guessed early on that she wasn't really pregnant. 

And they left a lot of stuff unresolved. What's going to happen to those babies? They never clarified if the women carrying them wanted to keep them or if there was a ransom plan or what. They let Puss get away, despite plenty of stuff to hold him on. Robin keeps on just talking to him without arresting him or calling in backup. 

Why was what's his name hiding under the sand waiting to shoot... who? I guess he was hallucinating but it didn't make sense. Nothing in this season made sense. 

That's the bottom line: nothing made sense, not plots and not characterizations. 

[Colorado David]

Jusst binged season 1. what a great run that was, enjoyed immensely. i like the slow pacing, i don't need bambambam plots.

[Lakebum]

On 9/15/2017 at 2:21 PM, tennisgurl said:

You know who Alexander reminds me of? A face eating, alternate universe Tommy Wiseau, complete with vague accent, stringy gross hair, pasty skin, and a tendency to ramble on about stuff they think is deep, but is actually nonsense. 

I kept waiting for him to drop a “Lisa, you’re tearing me apart!!” or “Who wants to play some football?”