During the beginning of the episode, we meet the Quigg family, Troy (James Stewart), Maree (Kate Jenkinson), Mitchell (Lincoln Younes) and Shaneen (Olivia DeJonge). The father, Troy gets into a bit of trouble, in what appears to be a drug deal gone wrong. He makes it back home and sleeps through the night, before it is raided. At the jail, Troy initially attempts to resist becoming a snitch. On the outside, Maree and the kids attempt to cope.
Eventually, Troy’s stance changes, after he is attacked and stabbed in the showers. He decides it is time to improve his family’s life, by squealing on Nils Vandenberg (Marcus Garham). Maree begins having second doubts, before they depart. She insists they need to offer a proper goodbye. Troy attempts to comfort her, by insisting they’ll be able to get their lives back, once he gives the cops what they want. Before, they’re able to depart, Maree’s mother and brother arrive and attempt to stop them from leaving. After a heartbreaking scene, the cars depart and the Quigg family leave their old lives behind.
After they get out of town, the family is assigned their new names. Troy becomes Lincoln, while his wife becomes Rebecca. Shaneen is given the name Tara. Surprisingly, Mitchell remains Mitchell, but they’re now the Swift family. Before the family sign up to officially enter witness protection, Mitch rebels and insists he can live with Kosta (Nathan Page). Maree enters and agrees, but Troy attempts to convince them it is only going to be a temporary change. Whether or not they agree, they family continues further away from the Gold Cost and closer to Sydney.
Finally, the Swift family arrive in Sydney and move into their new house, which is a mess and potentially a former crack house. After they eat and everything settles down, Lincoln insists he isn’t going to allow Kosta to get hurt and will lie, if he must. The next day, Lincoln settles down, at his new job, as a professor. He meets the headmaster, Ferdine Lamay (Jacqueline McKenzie), and nearly chokes another teacher to death. Supposedly, Lincoln is now a doctor.
At home, the kids give their mom trouble. Back at the school, Detective John Pinder (Stephen Curry) interviews Lincoln and records everything. Lincoln suggests this isn’t the life for him, but Pinder insists he needs to and can make it work. Pinder continues urging Lincoln to provide him with a confession. Meanwhile, back at home, Rebecca experience problems, while trying to cook the kids a meal.
Mitch contemplates running away, while Tara questions her mother about Lincoln’s innocence. Rebecca insists they wouldn’t have let him go, if he was guilty. While searching through Lincoln’s belongings, Rebecca discovers a handgun. She runs out and phones Dimity (Jodi Gordon), but hangs up when Kosta answers. Mitch encounters her, while trying to make his escape and forces her to explain her actions. Rebecca apologizes and insists Lincoln hates himself, which should make Mitch happy. Back at their house, Tara burns all of her old things.
Afterwards, Nils pays a visit to Kosta and informs him that they’ve gotten an address. When Lincoln returns home, Rebecca holds him at gunpoint. During a struggle, the gun goes off, but nobody is shot. Rebecca insists Lincoln’s old life and illegal ways have to be left behind. The pair agree to begin using their new names and Lincoln agrees to get rid of the gun, but hides it in the ventilation fan. The episode ends with the family having dinner together.
Review
Hiding has a lot of characteristics of the best Australian dramas. In fact, it felt like a mixture between Underbelly, Small Time Gangster and Househusbands. The premises is certainly different, as it follows a family, which is forced into protective services. This can create many interesting scenarios in the future. Sadly, the pilot mainly focused on their old life and transition. Also, the fact that they never provided proper treatment for Lincoln’s stab wound felt seriously unrealistic.
Still, the show has a lot of potential and offers several funny moments. Overall, I did enjoy it and thought the acting was adequate enough. Despite seeing very little of James Stewart, his scenes kept me interested. I will certainly continue watching. The pilot deserves a 6.5 out of 10 and there is plenty of room for improvement.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
