I'm so glad to see this series starting to catch some fire. It was a surprise of the year. I caught it late night on the BBC and then went to watch the rest on iPlayer. Wow - there are some snobby, mean-spirited people leaving user reviews on IMDB. "I sat through all 6 hours but I didn't enjoy it" smells off to me. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but some people get a kick out of being rude. Maybe it's an older crowd who don't get it? (I'm 34) Lighten up. Anyway, on with the review...
Horror comedy is extremely difficult to get right as both can be objective in their own ways, but this show managed it for me, and did it with aplomb. Leads Jamie (an excellent Oscar Kennedy) and Vivien (Thaddea Graham, also excellent) are living and working in the bowels of an ocean liner. But, Jamie is secretly there to find out what happened to his missing sister. She had been working on the ship previously but had gone missing. It's a simple enough setting but it works very nicely. I wasn't going to watch at first, as a lot of reviews said it was a duck hunting people for six episodes and that did sound a little too daft for me...this was not at all what the show was. It's so much more than that! It's a slightly slow starter, but it sets the scene in a fun way and it had me hooked from the end of the first episode - an inspired move to kill off who they did in episode one. Episode 4-6 were the strongest for me, a rollercoaster that had me on the edge of my seat. I liked the way the show grew with each episode and wasn't just crazy from the off.
What follows are six episodes of blood, laughs, and genuine heart. That was perhaps what I loved most about this show. Despite all of the silliness, it has characters that feel real and vulnerable. They could have done a Scream Queens or Harpers Island and killed someone every 5 minutes, and although there is a fair body count (4 or 5), they smartly opted to invest in the characters more, which paid off with the stakes being raised higher. The bond formed between Viven and Jamie was especially beautiful. It was nice to see a male/female friendship without romance. I'm happy to hear the show has already been renewed as I want more of this dynamic duo ASAP. The performances from everyone were stellar. American actor Donald Sage Mackay really stood out for me as the Cruise Director - he gives a really fun and often terrifying performance.
I won't spoil the plot, but it is genuinely surprising and there are at least three big twists that caught me way off guard. The writer really played a blinder with that very last reveal. It kind of goes to a political place near the end but is never preachy, and perhaps the messaging isn't new, but it does need repeating and I appreciated it.
Wreck showcases its knowledge of horror history with amazing references and easter eggs throughout, and it was a lot of fun spotting them (although very occasionally distracting; but I imagine viewers less horror obsessive wouldn't mind). I think the friends I watched the show with were tiring of me pausing to point something out in the background.
Is Wreck perfect? No. It's a really good time that keeps you guessing, tensing and laughing from start to finish. It felt like it had shades of Edgar Wright but also a little Giallo and even some Romero when it came to the social commentary. It really is a show worth binging.
Bring on series two.
