Intriguer

I'd forgotten about this show for a little while after having watched it about 8 or 9 years ago. And then I read a fanfic on it and it sparked my interest to watch it again. Unfortunately Rush is only (currently) available to stream on 10Play here in Australia-with ads-but as someone who doesn't have the DVDs, at least it's available so I shouldn't complain.

Season one is definitely my favourite. It was my favourite season when I first watched and it still is. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because the characters are all new and exciting, and they haven't yet been ruined by the writing (thanks seasons three and four, in particular). I often wonder what could have happened in terms of storylines and the characters if Claire van der Boom hadn't left. Who would have replaced the character who was actually meant to die instead? I guess that's something for fanfictions now.

I am the kind of person who sometimes ships characters who never get together or it's only implied etc (basically non-canon I guess!). And I found myself shipping Kerry and Lawson, even though I know nothing happens, at least on screen. I don't know whether it was intentional or not but there is something to be said about the great chemistry between those two actors and the tension they brought which came to life when they shared scenes, and that's something I enjoyed on the rewatch.

The shaky cam was a little annoying (I don't remember being annoyed by it so much the first time I watched) but something I did gradually get used to. Some of the characters do start to get annoying as the seasons go on, and some, in the end, become really out of character to me. It's a shame because I think seasons one and two were (mostly) really great.

I'm currently rewatching Water Rats on Prime Video. It is annoying that the streaming platform lists season one as seasons one and two (and therefore stuffs up the rest of the seasons), and has about 15 episodes in season four (which is actually season three) which, when clicked on, don't match the episode title you click on.

However, the show itself is great especially from seasons one to four which is what my rating is for. I don't always bother with the last two seasons, mainly because it really did go downhill and the cast, to me, didn't seem to gel as well as the earlier seasons. And while everyone in the earlier cast is worth mentioning, I will specifically mention Colin Friels and Catherine McClements as Frank and Rachel. Those two really did have an amazingly natural chemistry and rapport with one another, and it came across on screen with their characters. Steve Bisley, too, as Jack Christey, had great chemistry with McClements which was also great to watch.

It's nice to see so many different locations around Sydney- even though a lot of it definitely has changed now. And the theme song is still great. Such a classic.

I have just started rewatching season one, and I actually really enjoyed this episode more than the previous times I've watched it. Catherine McClements said on the DVDs that this was the very first episode they filmed, and I think it was a good one to start with. I did notice a couple of mistakes this time around (crew in the reflection) but I guess that can happen, especially when there's so many windows like on a show such as Water Rats.

The tension between the three detectives in Frank, Rachel and Kevin after the latter two sleep together is fantastic. I kinda wish they'd continued that tension for at least another episode but I also get why they didn't. The show this early on was very plot driven and not so much character driven.

And as another reviewer pointed out, the way Connie (trans character) was treated was great. I don't know much about what it was like at the time (mid-90s) but to have a television show treat that character the way Water Rats did is a credit to the writing and acting.