East of Everything

Look, I am an old Englishwoman been living in the USA for over forty five years and I get it! I get Americans like solving the world's problems. That they always want a happy ending, that they love seeing perfectly groomed people with dazzling white teeth and that they have short memories. What I don't get is that they criticize anyone that doesn't agree with them. I watched this series in two days and loved every bloody minute of it. It wasn't the perfect story, the acting wasn't either but the feeling of normalcy embraced me and I was swept along on the tide of that beautiful beach somewhere in a far off land called Australia. Thank you Aussies for bringing normalcy back to the screen.

An unexpected treat for "Rake" fans (unexpected by me at least). In this 12-ep Aussie series from back in the day (2008-09), Richard Roxburgh plays Art Watkins, a restless travel writer whose quest for serenity in Bhutan is interrupted by his mother's death and an inconvenient bequest--a half-interest in a derelict backpackers' hostel in the hometown he fled twenty years ago. A quirky codicil in Mum's will ("She's really making her absence felt!") keeps him in town indefinitely to "sort out some family stuff," including coming to terms with everyone he's hurt or disappointed in his previous life, e.g. his rivalrous brother, resentful wife and son, and mixed-signals-sending ex-fiancée.

The setting (beachy, semitropical) and the secondary characters (surfers, scroungers, bikini babes and real-estate sharks) reminded me a bit of a Carl Hiaasen novel, though the trio of silent, unsmiling Native matriarchs called "the Aunties," who appear to be the town's secret rulers, provide a fair dinkum Aussie touch. S1 has a sketchy "story arc" (real estate sharks try to have their way with the land-rich, cash-poor locals); S2 just bounces along, quite entertainingly for the most part, though our minds tended to wander when RR was offscreen for too long. Art doesn't have his first drunken meltdown until well into S2, by which time his transformation into Cleaver Greene is well underway. Now all he needs, we thought, is a change of venue (maybe somewhere more populous and farther south?), a law license and a fresh team of writers....

"The formula is to find an interesting location. That little seaside place near Melbourne worked for "Seachange" but we had better pick somewhere in NSW for balance. How about Byron Bay? It has a nice lighthouse, beautiful beach, pretty bushland. Now, what about a cast? Some big names, regardless of whether they suit the parts, will get the viewers in. Now, we've done the 7:30 time slot. Let's throw in some sex and load the plot with angst to make it suitable for the 8:30 slot. Music: there are lots of unknown country and western singers writing songs out there who need the money. We could hire them for next to nothing." The result is a disaster, boring, depressing. I agree with those on the message board who say they don't care what happens to the characters. They are all self-made losers. The writers obviously don't like real estate agents as we now have a female version of Bob Jelly. Richard Roxybaby is supposed to be the heart-throb like William McInnes and David Wenham were in "Seachange" but his character is unlikeable. Tom Long's flat delivery mimics his "Seachange" role, showing him to have a very limited range. The acting otherwise is generally very good but nothing could save this hopeless writing.

I loved the first series of this show. I've watched it twice as I love the tone, the drift between humour and melancholy. The characters are well-drawn, well-acted and the location is stunning. I really believed that Eve and Art were still in love after all this time and that Art and Vance were brothers. Plus all the supporting roles were beautifully cast. The second series seemed to lose it's way a little but it's still worth watching.

I have no idea what the previous reviewer "Seachange with Angst" was talking about. I'm from the USA and do not know any of the locations or actors. Seachange is listed as a comedy/drama. This is a drama but does have many fun scenes. I rate shows as 1, 5 or 10. 1 = no way 5 = if I can't find anything else to watch I might finish it 10 = would definitely recommend to a friend

Give it a few episodes and decide for yourself. I am watching on Prime with AcornTV addon.