As Total Control gets started, Alex Irving (Deborah Mailman) finds herself in a shooting situation. A man has killed one person and now she is in his crosshairs. The man turns the gun on himself and Alex receives praise from the media. After that, she tries to continue on with her life as normal. She meets up with Stephen and complains to him about not following his diet. He tries to pawn a few dogs off on her but she won’t take them. While Alex is away, Jonathan Cosgrove (Harry Richardson) visits her house. He is allowed inside and Alex returns home a short time later. Jonathan is working for the prime minister but Alex has no interest in talking to him.

She does when her mother encourages her to do so. Hamish Gordon is dying so the Prime Minister Rachel Anderson (Rachel Griffiths) wants to make Alex a senator but she’ll need to follow the party’s orders. Jonathan believes Alex will be a good fit since she served on local council. Alex refuses the offer and says that Rachel should visit personally. That night, Alex speaks with Charlie Irving (Rob Collins) about the offer. They speak about their mother and Charlie is not happy with the right-wind politicians trying to take advantage of Alex. He doesn’t want his sister to become their pet Aborigine.

Meanwhile, we see two Aboriginal girls in an attention center. They taunt the guard until he throws in a smoke bomb of sorts. One of the girls has asthma and she can’t use her inhaler quick enough. She passed away while the other girl tries to escape the facility. She leaps the fence and escapes. After that, Rachel visits Alex in person. Alex agrees to take a walk with her. Rachel gives Peter (Huw Higginson) orders before chatting with Alex about the senate opportunity. Rachel wants to know what Alex would want to accept the offer. She wants the medical center to reopen. She also wants to look at the welfare thrown at stupid programs.

Rachel wants women like Alex on her team. She is convinced Alex voted for her because her parents would have. Later, Alex goes to her son’s sports game. He tells her that it would be fine if she joined the senate. That night, Alex finds her neighbors burning a tree in their yard. We hear a news report wondering if Rachel’s decision to work with Alex might be a publicity stunt. Before too long, Alex arrives in Canberra. She finds out that Jonathan is going to be her chief adviser. He tells her she’ll have a busy day tomorrow. Alex is briefly introduced to Laurie Martin who is the leader of the opposition.

Then, she is told about the ineffective president of the senator who she can ignore. She is told she’ll need to make a maiden speech before she can vote. Damien Bauer (Anthony Hayes) has been put in charge of immigration. Finally, she meets her team, Jillian Morrell (Adele Perovic) and Tracey Helliar (Celia Ireland). Jonathan leaves and meets up with a colleague. He tells the man that she’ll likely cooperate without any trouble. Rachel introduces Alex to the others a short time later. Damien has his say before Rachel gives it back to him. Rachel is worried that the infighting is killing the party. That night, Alex cannot find her taxi.

Laurie Martin (William McInnes) helps but Alex is skeptical of him right now. That night, we see Rachel with her father who appears to be losing his memory. Alex gets a visit from her brother Charlie. She reads her speech for him and he loves it. The speech mentions Alex and other aboriginal people losing their language. The runaway girl has stolen a lot of items and she watches the video of her friend’s death. Alex rides with Rachel. Alex is aware that Jonathan is working for himself and not her. Rachel offers to have him moved but Alex believes he’ll be good for her. Rachel warns her about sleeping with people.

As soon as they arrive, Jonathan gives Alex a speech someone else has written. Jonathan checks over the one she wrote and finds a problem with the first line. He tells her that she needs to follow orders if she wants to stick around. Charlie is there when Alex gives her speech. Much to his surprise, she goes with the speech Jonathan prepared for her. The runaway girl walks down the road. That night, Alex goes to the pub and hooks up with an electrician. She sleeps with him in the stairway where anyone could see. Meanwhile, Jonathan and his buddies chat about the new guy Christopher who is Cartwright’s new private secretary.

They place a bet on sleeping with him and they question his sexuality. Jonathan seems particularly interested in Christopher. The following day, Alex learns about the indigenous death at the Macauley Detention Center. She goes to Jonathan and her helpers. She is angry that she knew nothing about it and wants a meeting with the Minister for Indigenous Affairs. Jonathan tells her that she’ll need to speak with Kevin Cartwright (David Roberts). Tracey tells her that she’ll be on Channel 10 very soon and it will be live. While getting her makeup done, Alex tells Jonathan she cannot do this. She gets a call from her mother and leaves it on speaker mode.

She and everyone else learns that everyone back home is angry because Alex sold out. Once the call ends, Jonathan tells her she needs to stay focused and steer away from anything about the leadership or China. She has a flashback about the shooting and freaks out. While hiding out in the bathroom, Alex is told that they’re ready for her. She sits down with the interviewer (Rhys Muldoon) seconds later. Alex is asked what she said to the gunman. Alex says she isn’t there to talk about it. She changes the subject to her role in the Senate. She learns that the polls are close. She is asked why her position isn’t just a stunt to get votes. She says that they might be right and she understands why people say that.

She says she isn’t sure she can leave herself when she steps inside of Parliament. She takes off her heels and tells the interviewer about her panic attack. She goes on to say she feels like she is under constant threat and she believes others feel the same. She says it isn’t just the blackfellas. Alex goes on about the death of Marcie at the detention center. She talks about people being under threat and mentioned people who are black, poor, or female. She says anyone can stand up in the senate if she can. That is why she is there. Cartwright tells Christopher that he wants the details about Marcie. The media takes up for Alex and the people back at home change their opinion.

The runaway is with a trucker. When Alex returns to her office, she learns that the interview went very well. A hashtag for her is trending on social media. Then, we see Alex trying to sort out fines for her mother but she already has a scheduled court date. It is too late. The woman behind the desk can’t help her. Alex rips up the paper and the woman says something nasty about her. Alex steps outside and that is when the shooting incident took place.

 

Total Control Review

I am not sure Total Control is going to interest everyone. The show has numerous problems in terms of realism. First and foremost, I do not think the appointment of one senator would make a big difference for the Prime Minister or the upcoming election. In other words, the show is drastically overplaying the importance of Alex’s role. Simultaneously, they made her do a lot of stupid things this episode.

Why would she immediately go out and sleep with an electrician? Why would she decide to do that in a stairway where anyone could see it? She is a senator now and this seems like a stupid, unrealistic decision for someone in that type of position to make. They also tried to play up the politics here. Were Rachel and Alex the only women? The Australian Senate and whatnot are far more diverse than they’re giving it credit for.

This might be to increase the effect but it really takes away from the show’s credibility. Finally, I’ll say that the asthma attack there in the beginning wasn’t realistic either. Using an inhaler is simple and it only takes a few seconds. I guess we could say that she panicked and couldn’t pull the trigger but better writing could’ve eliminated this problem. I may stick with this show but I am having a tough time loving it after the first episode.

I am afraid the hard-line politics will encourage many viewers to turn the channel. Finally, I thought the relationship between Alex and Charlie was very odd for brother and sister. That didn’t feel authentic to me at all. The opener scores a 6 out of 10.