It’s hard to describe this drama series. Part crime caper, part Tassie noir, part black comedy, it’s a mishmash of genres that, in all honesty, shouldn’t really go together.
Yet it does — and pretty darn well in season two.
Part of the reason this sometimes confounding series lands better this time around is undoubtedly Marta Dusseldorp, the show’s co-creator. She is fantastic as Stella Heikkinen, the woman who at the end of 2023’s first season was living in witness protection in the wild and remote Mystery Bay with her two children, Otis (Imi Mbedla) and Iris (Ava Caryofyllis).
She’d managed to outwit and outlast all those looking to do her in, and as we check in with her again this season, she’s juggling the town’s criminal enterprises, holding on by the skin of her teeth.
Dusseldorp does a fantastic job of making us believe every white-knuckle moment of it all.
The show has managed to assemble an absurdly talented ensemble cast, which includes Pamela Rabe, Roz Hammond, Kerry Fox and Toby Leonard Moore, who all do a great job of inhabiting their, at times wildly unbelievable, characters.
Season two sees backstories fleshed out further, and it’s great to spend more time with these quirky misfits, discovering why they have found themselves trapped together in the open-air prison of Mystery Bay.
There’s danger afoot for them all this season, and especially for Stella, who is beating off the Russians, a cult leader (Matt Nable) and the spectre of crime matriarch Frankie McLeish (Kerry Fox) — she’s barely holding on, and it’s heaps of fun watching as she attempts to juggle everything, including her would-be relationship with Jeremiah (Moore).
A satisfying continuation of a truly bonkers story.
