Fake

The key to this working is a credible male lead ( in what is a difficult nuanced role to pull off convincingly). David Wenham didn't, at all. At almost 60 he is for a start too old, too crepey-skinned. His character was creepy, he was given a lizardy persona, unfortunately Joe was NOT what he must be.

Hot.

Who is craving to get in this creaky, rather plodding, aging, man's bed?

Apparently a whole slew of beautiful intelligent women, all taken in and enraptured to the point of slavish devotion . 60 emails with heart rending tales of seducer Joe!!!

Please. No.

None of us watching Joe were craving to be in bed with him either, btw (imagine here a shudder indicating skin crawling at the thought lol).

The writing was off for Joe, the character needed way more finesse in language, charisma, good looks, and sex appeal, delivered by an actor with compelling, utterly irresistible BDE, and way more sympathetic outside of the scene in the church where we see his pain. That was good, well done.

That first encounter at Atons bar ..."do you want to get out of here?" The look that is then exchanged between them as Joe agrees means, as every single adult watching knows, let's ***k. His sliding off into the night outside was the beginning of a mountain of sleight of hand by Joe's character that was absurdly clunky, as to be an insult to the intelligence.

Asher Keddie is terrific, she holds this together. Her character is far better written and presented than her counterpart, we are provided with sufficient context to see why this one woman with her history anxiety and pressures wanted so much for this to work. She was believable in a narrative where nothing else important was believable.

It's an easy reasonably engaging binge, but could have been so much more immersive, tantalising, heartrending.

A missed opportunity, should have been a 10.

This series about a journalist Birdie (Asher Keddie) who dates a compulsive liar and fantasist Joe (David Wenham) has great characters, actors and script, but needs more drama. Maybe cliff hangers. So the anxious, reserved Birdie spends this whole series looking pained and depressed and there are lots of close-ups of her having huge and justifiable doubts about her charming, enigmatic new boyfriend's claims about money, his ex-wife, work and his past, and how Birdie puts up with his constant unreliability and grand plans that sizzle out. I thought that the whole premise of the show was that's Birdie does eventually start looking into her boyfriend's shonky life, realising he's a fake and calling him out. But this first season avoids that, maybe to string the program out into a second season. If there is one made. But it means that the first season gets repetitive, in that the boyfriend continually fails to show up to important functions, cancels at the last minute or cuts it short. Or he says he is buying a mansion but decides not to, making up semi-plausible excuses. Each time, there are close ups of a panicked Birdie trying to phone him but only getting voicemail. What the series needs is more tension, more of Birdie making big discoveries. It frankly defies belief that she never sees how much of an idiot he is. Most people would have ditched him, after the first five times or so that he treated her badly. The series is interesting in that it points out that on dates, we cannot predict who the other person might turn out to be. And that Birdie all too readily believes or forgives her lover's bad behaviour because she fears being alone.

Maybe also it would have helped to see a little of the boyfriend's perspective. How he rationalises being so opaque and stuffing Birdie around.

I was only watching this because I grew up on one of the properties filmed ( not in the grand house but another house on the property). Anyway I really liked the show. I can see, and have experienced, how easy it to fall for someone even though the warning bells are ringing loudly. When your love bucket is empty you will date the person that comes along and tries to fill it. You so so much want to believe. The relationship between mother and daughter didn't help Birdees' self esteem. With the therapy she was getting how come she didn't tell her mother to treat her better. Congratulations to the writer bringing up the cheater issue from a perspective that can be understood from probably way too many vulnerable people.

Good show.

I had seen this advertised over the last few weeks & was really looking forward to it. Asher Keddie is an amazing actress who really makes you believe the characters she plays. The first episode was so slow but I persevered with it, hoping it would get better. All it did was frustrate me more with each episode How could Birdie be so blind to Joe's lies??? They got grander by the scene & the gas lighting, omg.. They're both sad, whiny characters. Wish I hadn't wasted my time watching this drivel.. On the bright side, it was a lovely surprise to see Anne Charleston on screen again. I loved her as Madge on Neighbours all those years ago.

What's wrong with Birdie? I want to shout at and shake her. She really needs to wake up. Great performances, he is right creep and she is annoying.

I feel like I'm wasting my time watching this but I'm extremly curious how this ends. I think I will suffer through all of it to find out.

I feel sorry for her, she doesn't deserve treatment like that. I can't stand his voice. It's unbelievable this is based on true story. I'm sure it didn't have to have so many episodes. I'm getting bored from time to time. Here is valuable life lesson- love is blind! Good luck watching it all. How many lies can someone tell I keep asking myself.