The story begins with the narrator providing an overview of the Indigenous families living in the Australian Outback. Opal mining resulted in a network of tunnels scattered throughout the South Australian Desert. Stories told by “Blackfellas” claim the tunnels are being utilized by monsters. Most of the locals do not believe the tales. A commuter bus drops off the Vampire King Josiah (Callan Mulvey) in Opal City. He exits the bus, stops, and stares out in the distance. The narrator says the monsters have existed for centuries. He enters a tunnel, where a woman greets him as a “newcomer.” She begins to issue an order when he suddenly reaches into her chest and pulls out her heart. Josiah orders another man to take care of a blood hunter trailing him.

The man exits the tunnel and walks to the edge of the dirt road. A semi-truck stops in the middle of the road, only a few feet from the man. The man extends his fangs as he nears the truck when a car traveling at a high rate of speed takes him down. The driver, Tyson Walker (Rob Collins), and his passenger, Shanika (Shantae Barnes-Cowan) continues down the road. Shanika asks what they hit. Tyson responds it was probably a “roo.” Shanika “Neeks” works on a history presentation for school. The duo has a female bloodsucker, Old Nanna (Chrissie Page) tied to the hood of their vehicle. The bloodsucker’s legs are spread open, facing the windshield. Tyson revs the engine and asks if the bloodsucker is all right. He covers his eyes when Old Nanna’s nude butt is exposed before bringing the car to a stop. He suggests no delays in killing them. They wait until the dust has cleared to get out of the vehicle.

Shanika orders Tyson to not kill Old Nanna. He finds an opal on the ground. The money will be utilized to buy hubcaps. The bloodsucker pleads to be freed, offering them opals. As the sun rises, her demeanor changes to dark. She threatens to kill them. She jumps off the hood and into a tunnel. They light the end of the rope attached to Old Nanna. A few seconds later, an explosion is seen in the distance. Tyson cheers their success.

Tyson plans to visit the community to sell the opal to “Black Elvis.” He drops Shanika off at school as the bell rings. She is concerned about her history report because she didn’t sleep last night. He tosses her some food for lunch and cracks a joke. She responds with the bird.

At school, Shanika is called up to read her history report. She says they do not call it Australia Day but “Invasion Day.” The true history of Australia. Her family lived happily on the land, with an “occasional punch-up” before the British arrived with weapons, 11 vampires, and smallpox vials. The British knowingly claimed their land and ordered their vampires to attack the shores of Sydney Harbour. The vampires became addicted to the blackfellow blood. Her family stood strong and still battle the vampires. She attacks a male student when he jokes about her and her family being drunk.

Tyson arrives in the community. He washes the blood from the rebar attached to the front of his vehicle. Black Elvis (Samuel Pilot) says, “It must have been a big roo.” Tyson tosses him the large opal he previously found. Black Elvis inspects it and says it is trash. Tyson disputes his claims. Tyson threatens to take the opal to a whitefella dealer in town when he is offered $500. He orders his sister, Coralee (Elaine Crombie) to bring him $550. A woman with a baby tells him to not waste their water. He responds, “Love you.” He purchases a doll with blonde hair and a pink dress for Shanika. He gets in his vehicle and acknowledges his aunt Maria (Tessa Rose) sitting in front of a building. They meet around the back to bloodsuckers. He brags about keeping the vampires away from the community. Shanika is mapping the tunnels. He denies being a “blood hunter”. She scolds him for raising his voice. She doesn’t want the community to worry about the vampires.

He inspects a tent near a tunnel entrance. He sprays paint on a wood structure at the entrance. He hears a commotion and walks over the check it out. Two law enforcement officers are wrapping police tape around an abandoned semi-truck.

Back at the community, Aunt Maria calls for the children to go home. She tells the children to keep their eyes down. Two female vampires are watching the children from a short distance.

Tyson and Shanika pick up food from the Opal City Chinese Restaurant. Shanika becomes upset when she sees there are no large vegetables. He points to tiny pieces of vegetables buried in the rice. She asks if he has enough money left over to cover her lunch. He scolds her for complaining. She doesn’t understand why they continue monitoring the bus depot because bloodsuckers have been utilized for ages. He says it is part of their job, pest control, and they must protect the community. Blackfella blood is like crack to the bloodsuckers. He sits her doll on the dashboard. She admits to telling her classmates about the vampires. He warns her it could cause panic in the community. She wrecked a beautiful moment, so he takes her doll back.

The bus pulls up and several passengers get out and onto a tour bus. Shanika complains about being tired when he pulls into the parking lot of a local pub. He suggests she do her homework while he inspects the pub for bloodsuckers. He greets a male bartender, Spud (Jai Koutrae), and several patrons before taking a seat beside several women. He refills their glasses and waits on Elona “Ellie” (Yael Stone) to deliver his drink. Shanika works on the tunnel map while waiting on Tyson to return.

Black Elvis is snatched up by a bloodsucker while waiting on Coralee to finish the laundry. She orders him to pick up one of the baskets when she realizes he is gone. She sees several bloodsuckers drag Black Elvis’s body into the desert. She becomes frantic with fear. A male bloodsucker giggles as he walks past the washing machine. She takes off running.

At the bar, Ellie refuses Tyson’s offer to “rep her nation.” Tyson has the attention of a female patron when two law enforcement officers enter the bar. Tyson yells, “The strippers are here.” One of the officers tells him to go fu** himself. The other officer tells the bartender about the abandoned semi. His ex-girlfriend, Kitty Sinclair (Ngaire Pigram) takes a seat at the bar. She corrects him when he addresses her as “kitty cat.” She then introduces him to her new housemate, Alma (Lizzy Falkland). He greets Bob as he exits the bar. He tries not to disturb Shanika sleeping. He removes his coat to utilize as a blanket for Shanika.

He arrives at home and carries Shanika to her bed. He finds a photo of a woman on her bed. He lays it on the bedside table and replaces his coat with a blanket. He has a beer and cleans his gun. He is lying on the hood of his car with Shanika sitting on the ground. He tells a joke about a vampire and a racist, one of which has a small brain. She doesn’t get the joke. He asks why she doesn’t call him dad and try it just once. When she refuses, he suggests she call him “mum.”

He sits outside in front of a fire when Shanika screams during a nightmare. She calms down and goes back to sleep. The next morning, Shanika wakes Tyson to take her to school. She rides a motorcycle to school when Tyson refuses to get up. She failed her history presentation. Her teacher, Mr. Clarke (Jamie Harding) calls it “ridiculous.” She becomes angry when Darryl asks, “Are all blackfellas dumb, lucky white people came to save youse.” She kicks his desk over when he smarts off about her not saving her mum.

Tyson visits the bar. He loses a wager on the racehorse “Dusty Princess.” He orders a beer, looks at his money and adds a whiskey chaser just in case he gets hit by a bus tomorrow. Spud tells him about the abandoned semi-truck in the minefields. Law enforcement never found a body, which could have been thrown down a mineshaft. He becomes concerned and exits the bar without his drinks. Someone calls him “dickhead” as he gets in his car. He drives to the area where he saw the two officers wrapping police tape around a semi. He has a flashback of hitting the bloodsucker a few nights prior.

He discovers a pile of blood on the ground while imagining blood hunter, Jalingbirri (Kelton Pell) with two large guns. He places the muzzle of both guns up against the bloodsucker’s chest. The man dragged the bloodsucker’s body to the entrance of a tunnel and dropped it in. Tyson inspects a trap at the entrance of a tunnel. He picks up a wooden stake and says, “blood hunters.”

Shanika is in the principal’s office. The school was unsuccessful in trying to contact Tyson. She refuses to acknowledge Tyson as her dad, but instead her“legal guardian.” Her aunt, Kitty enters the office. The principal (Anna Steen) is concerned about Shanika’s recent violent exhibition in the classroom. She defends her actions, “He insulted my mom.” Kitty interrupts, “Sounds like you’ve got a bully using a young girl’s grief to get a reaction.” Shanika calls it “bullsh**” and Kitty agrees. She demands the other student be brought in. As they are making their exit, the principal admits calling Child Protective Services. Shanika is suspended until the principal can speak with Tyson.

Aunt Maria is waiting on Tyson at his place. She alerts him of Black Elvis missing. Carolee says the spirits drug him away. He believes a real blood hunter is in the tunnels. The missing trucker may be the blood hunter. She is concerned and orders him to find the blood hunter. Kitty arrives to talk to Tyson. Shanika arrives on her motorcycle. She tells him about Child Protective Services. He reminds her she blew her chance of caring for Shanika. He will handle the situation. Kitty angrily kicks something on the ground and calls Tyson a “dick.” He alerts Shanika of the potential blood hunter.

The sun goes down and Tyson and Shanika head to the bus depot. Tyson says keep your eyes to the ground. Several bloodsuckers get off the bus and walk toward the tunnel entrance and jump in. Tyson drives up to the tunnel entrance and Shanika jumps out and secures the trap door. They drive to a cave, where they encounter bloodsuckers. Shanika has a firearm and Tyson a makeshift weapon. One by one, they take the bloodsuckers out. Shanika falls down a tunnel entrance. She slowly stands up as the episode comes to an end.

Firebite Review

My excitement for the series fell flat when the dialogue went from vampires leans toward politics.. They took a perfectly good show and turned it into a propaganda machine. My familiarity with the cast, excluding Rob Collins (Glitch) and Callan Mulvey (Underbelly), is limited at best. The acting is fairly good, with a few forced attempts from some members of the cast. The show starts out at a quick pace, gradually slowing to a crawl by the end.

I am not fond of what feels like unethical terms “blackfellas” and “whitefellas.

The image flashes are not a good choice. In fact, they are annoying at one of the most intense moments of the show. There is still some hope since this is just the first episode. By the way, I don’t think it is fair to rate an entire series after watching the first episode, which is why I choose to rate each individually. The show deserves a 7.

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