The show begins with The Man (Jamie Dornan) trying to converse with a man buried underground. The cellular service cuts in and out, allowing him to collect bits and pieces of the conversation. He is buried underground in Murray Waters near a waterfall. The Man is irate when the cellular connection completely cuts out.

Detective Inspector Lachlan Rogers (Damon Herriman) teaches a class to a group of new detectives. He is interrupted by a phone call from his wife. The detectives overhear the conversation and giggle. He suggests lamb, with a Moroccan spice when another call comes in. As the conversation continues, he empties his foley catheter bag in the toilet. He asks where Burnt Ridge is located.

Sue (Genevieve Lemon) and Ralph (Danny Adcock) watch The Man react to the disconnected phone call. Sue asks if everything is okay when he gets in the vehicle. He never mentions the cellphone or the call from the man buried in an underground oil drum. When they arrive home, Luci Miller (Shalom Brune-Franklin) is waiting to give The Man a business card. He tells about the cellphone hidden in the koala bear and the call from the man buried underground. She agrees to drive him to Murray Waters.

Billy Nixon (Olafur Darri Olafsson) is on a phone call, talking about the crash. Someone witnessed the crash, or he would have shot The Man. Justin (Benedict Hardie) enters the garage and admits to knowing Billy took one of the semi-trucks and claimed it as stolen. Billy believes he is trying to blackmail him. He agrees to make an arrangement, but only if he takes it with him to the grave. He says there is something in the semi-truck, you will want to see. If you take it, we are done. As Justin inspects the truck, Billy comes up from behind and slams the door multiple times until he falls to the ground.

Probationary Constable Helen Chambers (Danielle MacDonald) is with her fiancé, Ethan Krum (Greg Larsen) when she receives a call from nurse Cath Bauri (Ansuya Nathan) to alert of Billy’s hospital visit. Ethan is annoyed with her for answering the phone. He finds her fast-food chicken sandwich wrapper in the dashboard. She apologizes. He says you are letting yourself down and suggests making the wrapper a testament. Every time she looks at it, she will think we are in this fight together. She agrees and they head to the gym.

She tries to reassure him when he worries about a job interview. They talk about Bloody Mary in the mirror. She never did it, but some of her classmates did. He doesn’t see her saying Blood Mary while looking in the mirror.

The Man and Luci get stuck in traffic. He questions if anyone misses him. She believes he is better off not knowing about his past. He gets out to see what is causing the holdup. Kevin (Adam Hetherington) blocked the highway to protect two turtles while mating. The Man pushes him against his vehicle, ordering him to move.

Chambers turns off the light in the gym restroom. Her attempt to say Bloody Mary failed. She calls Bauri to ask for more details about Billy who wanted to know where The Man went. She wants to look at the surveillance footage to learn more. Ethan knocks on the door and asks who she is talking to. She lies, “Becky, um, more problems with Greg.”

Luci calls Sandy to ask if she will feed her dog. As The Man pumps gas, she looks at his phone. He goes into the store to buy shovels. The man buried underground continues to scratch his way out when he hears a noise from above. He bangs on the ceiling of the oil drum as a lizard passes by.

Luci and The Man walk around Murray Waters to see if anyone knows the location of a waterfall. They visit Arlo (David Collins) and Jesse Dobson (Shane Dundas), with the Great Outback Tours. Arlo and Jesse play chess. They are looking for a waterfall. Arlo says the Niagara Falls is nice this time of year. He is looking for a female Polynesian cook. They mention Karramundi about 60K away, which can only be accessed with a chopper. A storm is coming, so they can’t go out. Arlo suggests not driving during the storm.

 

Detective Rogers arrives at the Cooper Springs Police Station. Sergeant Rodney Lammon (Kamil Ellis) greets him. Constable Carter (Rhonda Doyle) identified the explosion as a bomb. They discuss Luci and The Man who escaped the explosion unharmed. Lammon has not been searching for The Man. Rogers says you didn’t connect The Man to the explosion. Lammon says, “No, I didn’t.” He connects Rogers when he calls him “Lemon.” He wants to find The Man so he can go home. He vomits outside the building.

The Man cannot understand why Luci agreed to drive him to Murray Waters. She tells him about her father who boiled a potato, egg, and coffee bean. The potato came out softer, the egg harder, and the coffee bean dissolved. You can be like the potato or egg and take what life throws at you or adapt. She is a coffee bean and likes him.

Ethan tries to decide which sheets to buy. He says a thread count is a marketing tool. Her joke about yarn size is not taken too kindly. She receives a call from Constable Freddie Lanagan (Maria Mercedes) alerts her of Billy owning a trucking company. She says The Man is not Chamber’s problem. She apologizes and utilizes Becky as an excuse to get away from Ethan and check out Billy.

Chambers arrives at Billy’s trucking company. He asks for her badge because she is out of uniform. His mother was a police officer in the United States. It is fine work police officers do. He saw several cars had already stopped at the accident, so he decided to move on. The accident stayed with him, so he decided to visit The Man at the Cooper Springs hospitals. He does not personally know The Man. It is difficult to believe he survived the accident. When she leaves, he stops her to ask why a police officer is at his place. He calls her a “beat cop,” with no partner. She gulps and thanks for his time. He makes a phone call to ask for information on Chambers.

She gets in her car and takes a few deep breaths. Ethan leaves a voice mail to let her know he is home alone. She cuts the voicemail off halfway in.

Arlo and Jesse continue to play chess during a dust storm. He asks if it is a “little fu**” or “big fu**”, agreeing it is the latter.

The Man and Luci are caught in the dust storm. They get into the back of her truck. The coffee bean story was not told by her father. She moved to Cooper Springs after breaking up with her boyfriend. Some things are just not meant to be. The storm will pass, and they will see the sky again. He says that is when the real trouble starts. They remain under the truck bed cover while the storm passes.

Lammon and Rogers visit Luci’s coworker, Sandy (Jeanette Cronin) who answers the door with a dog in her hands. She apologizes, “She’s on her period.” She already spoke with Lammon previously about the case. She can’t invite them, “Mariah’s shit is on the floor, I can’t get the smell out.” Luci went to Murray Waters, a tourist area. Lammon agrees to go with him.

A scorpion climbs through the air vent, leading to the trapped man. He spots the scorpion while trying to scratch his way out. Frightened, the man screams.

The dust storm is over. Luci and The Man see Murray Waters when they get out of the truck. They drove in a circle. The Man curses loudly, saying the trapped man will be dead. They return to Arlo’s to request a helicopter ride to Karramundi. They want to finish their chess game first. The Man demands they leave now. Luci grabs the board, and the chess pieces go everywhere. Luci signs an insurance waiver before they head out.

Chambers arrives home to Ethan watching hockey. She apologizes for lying about visiting Billy. She holds out the fast-food wrapper, saying they are in it together. He is going out to celebrate his new promotion. He scolds her for leaving him to celebrate alone. She is just a traffic cop, with a silly grandeur. She cries and throws the wrapper on the ground. While looking in the mirror, she flips off the light and bravely says “Bloody Mary” multiple times.

The helicopter arrives at Karramundi. They insect the area for signs of an underground trap until The Man walks upon the vent pipe. They dig below the surface and find the metal oil drum.

Rogers talks to the sergeant about an image while Lammon urinates. He says something worth doing, you do it yourself. Lammon refuses to drive in the Outback at night because of the kangaroos. Rogers shrugs off the warning.

The Man pulls the trapped man out of the oil drum. He frisks the man and finds his cellphone that is dead. As they are leaving, Luci reminds him she is just helping. She doesn’t want to get caught up in anything. He taps on the helicopter door and tells Arlo they need to call the police. He stares at the insurance waiver, with Luci’s name. Arlo snatches up the clipboard and asks what is going on. The Man says he will deal with it when they get back while staring at Luci.

Chambers arrives at the police station, looking for a squad car. Carter says you are not on until tomorrow. She leaves Ethan a voicemail to alert him of her going to Burnt Ridge to help The Man.

The Man is upset when he gets out of the helicopter. He accuses Luci of writing the note about meeting at Gloria’s Diner. He is Elliot Stanley. He threatens to take her to the police. She says you murdered someone. He goes for a drink as the episode comes to an end.

 

The Tourist Review

It is unclear if the writers intended to make the police officers imbeciles, but they did. Unfortunately, it is becoming cliché in the entertainment industry. Is this innocent teasing or something much deeper? This is a poor representation of our law enforcement.

The dialogue is on the edge of cringeworthy and obnoxious. The plot, while interesting, is becoming more unrealistic by the episode. While the premise is compelling, it is coming a jumbled mess.

It has failed at being a dark mystery thriller. At this pace, it will become more known for being six hours of precious time flushed down the toilet.

The episode deserves a 6

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