Glitch is a 2015 television series from Australia. It stars Patrick Brammall as James Hayes. When the show opens, Beau Cooper (Aaron L. McGrath) is shown biking through the woods. He stumbles upon a cemetery and watches someone crawl out of one of the grave spots. James Hayes, who works as a cop, is called and ordered to check out the cemetery. When he arrives, he finds a distraught woman, who is covered in mud. He calls the ambulance and Elishia McKellar (Genevieve O’Reilly) arrives in a timely manner.

Together, the pair end up rounding up a small group of muddy individuals. These people are transported to the Yoorana District Health Centre. While there, none of the people are able to remember their names. Kate Willis (Emma Booth) looks at her ring and is able to identify her name. Meanwhile, one of the men, Carlo (James Monarski), attempts to escape the clinic. He has flashbacks throughout the moment and imagines himself running from a prison camp of sorts.

James catches Carlo and transports him back inside, before he catches a glimpse of Kate and his jaw hits the ground. He tells Elishia that Kate was his wife, but she died. Despite showing Kate a picture of himself, she doesn’t believe it. Meanwhile, Paddy Fitzgerald (Ned Dennehy) wanders the town alone. Beau follows him. As they turn the corner, Paddy grabs the boy and they instantly become partners.

Beau agrees to take his filthy friend to The Royal. Meanwhile, James transports Katie to the cemetery. He shows Kate her own grave, before she runs off into the night. A cop colleague, Vic Eastley (Andrew McFarlane), arrives and asks him about the wrecked tombstones. James blames it on a group of school kids and attempts to quell his friend’s concerns, before departing. Back at the hospital, Anne (Daniela Farinacci) is able to remember her name. Beau and Paddy make it to The Royal and find it closed down. With Beau’s help, Paddy breaks in and gets drunk.

At the police station, Chris Rennox (John Leary) is informed about the state of the cemetery, by Vic. He gives James a call, but doesn’t receive an answer. James manages to track down Kate and the pair reminisce about old times. Paddy finds his old knife hidden at the club, while the pair contemplate how Paddy ended up dead. At the hospital, Carlo has a vision of a bloody knife. He also says something about Alexandro dying. James transports Kate back to the hospital and tells her to stay put, but she insists she doesn’t want to spend her potential last days there.

James speaks with the others, before discovering that Carlo has gone missing. Unfortunately, his cop buddy is able to track him down first. Paddy and Beau come up with a plan to steal from a convenience store. They get food and some diapers, before high tailing it. On the street, Beau discovers a statue, which looks eerily similar to Paddy. As it turns out, the statue is Paddy and he used to be the mayor of the city. At the police station, Carlo has a flashback about his brother, Alexandro, trying to kill himself.

James returns to the station and speaks with Vic. Again, he attempts to convince him that a group of kids causes the mess at the cemetery. He also insists he’ll take care of Carlo. When Vic leaves, James releases Carlo. The pair return to the hospital and Anna translates for Carlo. They learn about his brother and James prepares to transport Carlo to his brothers home. Meanwhile, Paddy and Beau camp out and eat. As James and Carlo get closer to his brother’s house, Carlo begins to bleed from his eyes. He exits the vehicle and drops to the ground, before his body decomposes into dust. James scoops up the ashes into a bag, before departing.

Vic watches the chaos from afar. James is deeply disturbed by the event and rushes back to the hospital to check on Kate. He tells Elishia about the event and instructs her to investigate the ashes. Vic returns to the cemetery and inspects the tombstone of Carlo Nico, who died in 1944. In the morning, James and Kate speak about James coping with Kate’s death. Although she wishes to sleep in her own bed, he tells her to stay put for the time being. Beau returns home and apologizes to his mother, before giving her the baby diapers.

Afterwards, James returns home to his pregnant wife, Sarah (Emily Barclay). As the episode ends, another man emerges from the ground.

Glitch Review

Glitch isn’t necessarily a new television series, nor does it present a new story. It follows some of the same trends as The Returned. However, Glitch is unique in its own right. Each of the characters were interesting, despite many of them barely speaking. The additions of Banished‘s Ned Dennehy and Genevieve O’Reilly were definitely welcomed. Ned’s character, Paddy, is definitely captivating and humorous. His young counterpart, Aaron McGrath, helped to make the pair’s scenes the best of the episode.

I am mostly familiar with Patrick Brammall from his comedic roles in the Aussie TV Series, A Moody Christmas. However, he did an excellent job playing the serious role here. Despite the unrealistic plot, Glitch is captivating. The premiere deserves an 8 out of 10.