Pine Gap

Pine Gap is a compelling, well written and sharply produced mini series that deserves a view from everyone into spy thrillers and procedurals/mysteries. With strong production values, this is one of ABC (Australia's) better recent series. Pine Gap is not without its flaws - it nearly lost me early on with some painfully ham-fisted terminology goofs and technical misrepresentations of technologies central to the plot. The show manages to transcend these transgressions with its strong performances, tight pacing and otherwise tantalisingly layered plot and characters, and learns to mostly back away from the dangers of inaccurate specificity in later episodes... After binging the series in 2 sittings, I found myself wanting more...

When I started to watch this show, I didn't know what to think of it. it didn't particularly grab me, but kept me interested enough to keep on watching. And it stayed that way until the end of season 1. And there where two cliffhangers that makes me want to see season 2 as well.

The series is what you can expect. Some romance, some drama, some unexpected turn of events and plenty of factors playing an influence. In the series you follow A-crew from the secret listening post Pine Gap, located in the outback of Australia. Pine Gab is a collaboration between the US and Australia, which means that there is a dynamic of two governments and a sort of divide between American en Australian operatives within A-crew. As the serie progresses, the tension on the world stage increases and that means tension in A-crew increases as well. With a few twists here and there, the series keeps itself interesting, though at some points I find the dynamic between certain characters a little unbelievable.

Some of the members of a-crew get a lot of attention and we get to know a lot about their background, while other members stay relatively in the shadows. The last part is a bit of a downer, since it doesn't make you bond with members who'll be playing a major role in season 2. It also doen't explain certain behavior shown by those members. But the series did managed to keep me watching and half way through starts making things interesting. The ending of the season is good enough to make me want to watch season 2. So i'm going to rate this a 8 out of 10 and would advise people who like series that revolve around secret agencies to watch this show. Remember though, this is not an action series, so don't expect gun blazing action and bond style like situations (or even those out of homeland).

I have only seen the first two episodes, so this review is about a work in progress. I felt that the geopolitical context was timely and relevant for anyone living in or near one of the "five eyes" countries. The storyline is good, if somewhat predictable with regards to the Chinese bogeyman, but the tensions between American and Aussies are culturally accurate, if at times a little crude. The romantic sub-plot is too obvious and somewhat contrived, but I guess that's par for the course if the series takes a couple of unexpected turns (not likely so far, but who knows?). If you enjoyed Berlin Station, you may like this one as a remote controlled / drone version along the same kind of spy series. Not perfect, but still very watchable. And there are some spectacular views of the Australian outback.

I am not usually a fan of plot-driven series but this one is solidly directed with a good cast. The result, thanks to some good scriptwriting, is also entertaining primarily because it also manages to be character driven. The characters seem like real people for the most part, caught up in the ugly political maelstroms of the time.

Pine Gap is frightening because the show actually emphasizes that no one's hands are clean, that America, China and Australia are all players in a drama that will likely see the decline of the US and Europe, and the emergence of China as a world power. But one wrong move could easily make all our previous conflagrations look like minor skirmishes.

I enjoyed it. It was long enough to be binged through but not slow paced so you'd get bored. There are enough elements there to keep you guess. Overall story is layered and strong, good background. Strong stakes. Smart bad guys and an interesting dilemma overall.

Few things, I suppose were a bit corny but I realize you can't have a plot with no holes or devices to get to it. I could care less about geopolitical agenda, because this is a tv series, not life. If you want to watch nice political/spy drama, then you'll never enjoy anything edgy.

Hopefully there will be season 2. I felt acting was good. Casting was well done.

8/10.