Top of the Lake Series 2 Episode 1 Recap

During the first twenty minutes or so, nothing really happens. Here is quick recap. Some guy and his girlfriend dump a suitcase off of a cliff. It is clear a body is in inside. Robin Griffin (Elisabeth Moss) heads to work and tries to teach the new recruits how to arrest a suspect. Walker (Hoa Xuande) agrees to play the suspect role. He refuses to cooperate with Robin and begins asking why she would shoot him or something to that effect. This triggers something in Robin’s mind and forces her to think about her past. They get into an argument, before the boss shuts down the roleplaying. In the locker room, Robin meets with Miranda (Gwendoline Christie). Miranda speaks with Robin about the prostitution ring. Robin admits the leader turned state witness and got immunity for his testimony. When Miranda leaves, the male officers speak harshly about her to Robin.

Then, Robin speaks with her boss, Adrian (Clayton Jacobson). She confirms she is doing good and is glad to be back at work. Adrian admits three detective inspectors were watching and walked out when Robin lost her cool. During this time, the suitcase begins floating to the surface. Adrian and Robin visit a nearby restaurant. Adrian asks about Robin’s recent disappearance. She admits her mother was dying and felt the need to get away. Eventually, the conversation turns to Al Parker’s case against Robin. Al is now claiming that the shooting was personally motivated. Robin argues with Adrian and admits she was nearly raped. Then, she gets up and rushes out. Then, Mary (Alice Englert) meets up with Puss (David Dencik). They head home to the brothel. There, Puss speaks with a bunch of foreign women about sex. He seems to be trying to teach them English. This goes on an unreasonable amount of time.

During the excruciating scene, the prostitutes ask Puss about Cinnamon. It seems she was another prostitute that went missing recently. Then, we jump to a computer café of sorts. A bunch of nerds chat about sex for about ten or twenty minutes. Who knows? I shut it off at this point and switched over to Trend Crave on YouTube. One of the guys at the café seems to have been in a relationship with Cinnamon. The guy admits he was paying to spend time with her. The guy, Brett (Lincoln Vickery), seems freaked out that his girlfriend might’ve disappeared without telling him. Then, the show delves into even more stupidity. Robin sits on the very rock that the suitcase was slung into the water. Surprisingly, the suitcase doesn’t show up, so she returns home with groceries.

Robin finds Dan getting a massage. Her apartment is filthy. Robin’s sister speaks with her in private. He explains he is no longer the same as he used to be. He is now clean and wants Robin to stop putting beer in the fridge. Her brother seems to be on the verge of kicking Robin out, as she begins to explain her turmoil. The brother explains that the room is Dan’s. Robin agrees to begin looking for a place this weekend. It is also revealed that Robin walked out on her wedding day. She apologizes to Liam. That night, Robin reads a letter from Mary thanking the receiver for giving her the gift of life. She looks up Mary’s address. In the morning, Mary returns home to her father. She explains that Alexander is coming for dinner. It becomes clear that Mary doesn’t like her step mother, Julia (Nicole Kidman). Julia encourages Mary to come and spend some time with them. Seconds later, they begin planning the dinner with Alexander.

This nonsense continues on for way too long. At work, Robin speaks with a colleague about Constable Hilmarson. Miranda tells Robin about a room for rent. It may be a mess, but it is in a good location. Adrian meets up with one of the foreign girls. He gives her a teddy bear and some money. Finally, the suitcase reaches the water’s surface. Puss has dinner with Mary. He tells the family about his falling out with his supervisors at Leipzig University. The conversation includes communists and feminism. Again, it feels absolutely pointless. The dinner goes on for entirely too long. Eventually, Julia begins to cry and Mary rubs salt in the wound. Puss explains to Mary’s dad that he came to ask for Mary’s hand in marriage. This leads to a big argument between Puss and Mary’s parents. Julia pleads with Mary not to get married. Mary leaves with Puss anyway. Robin shows up outside, but doesn’t go in. Then, Julia fights with Mary’s father and leaves. The dad takes Mary a piece of cake and finds Puss asleep on the bed. They speak together outside and Mary tells her father about her love for Puss.

Robin has a psychedelic nightmare of sorts and wakes up screaming. Then, Miranda shows up at the door. Robin learns that many cops live at the facility. Miranda takes Robin back to her room and pretends to be an astronaut. Then, they chat about Robin not having a new guy. The suitcase is finally brought on shore. At work, Robin speaks with Adrian. A message comes in about a report from Bondi Beach. It is about the suitcase. Robin quickly agrees to go to the scene. She is told to take Hilmarson with her. She takes Miranda instead. They arrive at the scene and check out the body in the suitcase.

Top Of The Lake Review

Top of the Lake’s first season was spectacular. I loved it. When I heard there was going to be a second, I could hardly contain my excitement. Twenty minutes into the second season and I don’t want to watch any more. Jeez, I’ve never seen a series go downhill so quickly. The first season was so amazing, but the second one is terrible thus far. For the first twenty or thirty minutes, nothing happened. We got lots of sex talk, skimpy clothes, and overly dramatic nonsense.

I turned it off at this point and went to YouTube to watch Trend Crave, so I could finish my run. It was really that bad. I finished it up in a half arse way to get this recap written. If there are errors above, it is because I was frustrated with the episode and couldn’t wait to get to the end. Why did the show remove all of the old characters? Why is Robin still whining about something that happened 5 years ago? What are the characters’ names? Do I even care? Why god why? Why ruin such a good thing? Argh!

If it isn’t clear, I am disheartened and really depressed that Top of the Lake’s second series has started off so terribly. I suppose I’ll finish the season, but I will set my expectations much, much lower. The opener was horrible. A 4 out of 10 is deserved. Catch up older recaps of Top of the Lake now!

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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.