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.

The tension in the series is created between the characters' and the audience, rather than among the actors. Birdie's deep-seated denial makes the viewers say over and over "how can she believe him", as do her friends and family.

The more that audience members can sympathize with Bridie's denial, the more profound the tension is. However, for those of us who do not sympathize, the constant repetition of her failing can be a bit tedious. Therefor the director has taken a big chance by using this technique. This is exacerbated by the fact that the story arc builds up slowly over the initial episodes and that the crescendo is 100% predictable.

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.

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.

Birdie is utterly infuriating but I found the story extremely compelling. This is a cautionary tale about how you should trust your instincts. Her gut told her something wasn't right in episode one.

It's very easy to say "oh, I'd never fall for that" or "I'd never tolerate that" when he's repeatedly letting her down, but until you've experienced deceit you never know how you'd react. I certainly wouldn't tolerate things now that I would have when I was younger and much more trusting.

This series has you shouting at the TV and although a little drawn out, I enjoyed it and was eager to see the next episode.