As with everything else strange and wonderful that is happening in media these days -- remember, the History Channel just did a 6 hour movie starring Kevin Costner and it was brilliant -- you need context. And the context is that TV has seen more changes in the last 5 years than in the last 50. Literally. As all the various types of media compete for that most-coveted incremental viewer (who can then be parlayed into the even-more-coveted advertising sponsor), the Rule Book goes out the window, and so does even a pretence of censorship. As I write this I see that the Muses who rule TV are even promising a fall 2013 series based on the story of the Headless Horseman. Won't THAT be special? In other words, this year it appears we have all opted for the Red Pill and have entered an era of TV which knows no bounds, obeys no conventions, and where anything - literally anything - can be repackaged and re tasked into a series. IN THIS CONTEXT, it becomes clear that here the writers and producers have taken every camp movie ever done (good or bad, who cares), tossed them all into the proverbial blender, chosen a production setting so remote and obscure that (possibly) the Australian Tourist Bureau PAID THEM to shoot there, and took a chance that someone might like it. For this reviewer, the series has a kind of wacky energy which is engaging, and the actors all seem to be using this exercise as some of sort of springboard to better parts and better days. I suppose this is where I am supposed to say how terrible it is, but the fact is that Rachel Griffiths is good in almost everything she does, and the hyper-kinetic feel of the show offers a strange attraction. Bottom line, not as bad as the critics say, not as good the network was hoping. Better than reruns of HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL.
