Episode 1 begins with someone driving through what appears to be the Australian Outback while a young guy, Zach McArthur (Alex Kaan), and a girl make out in the weeds nearby. When the man in the truck stops, he drags a bloody body from under a tarp in the back of the truck, lights it on fire, and rolls him off the side of a mountain. The ignited body crashes down on top of the girl, supposedly killing her.

With a gift in hand, Ted Conkaffey (Thomas Jane) arrives in Sydney just in time for Lilly’s (Chloe Delle-Vedove) 10th birthday party. He appears apprehensive and this only seems to get worse as her converses with his ex-wife, Kelly (Radha Mitchell) about Lilly coming to spend some time with him at Crimson Lake. She is completely against the idea but he isn’t afforded much time to lay out an argument due to the unexpected arrival of Crean (Hugh Parker) with a search warrant. Ted attempts to spare Lilly the embarrassment but ultimately ends up adding to it after Crean’s refusal to compromise turns physical.

Amanda Pharrell (Nicole Chamoun) appears to be working through her issues with something she’s invented called ‘Car Therapy.’ According to her logs and before paying Mario (Ron Smyck) for the use of his salvaged inventory, it’s suggested that she’s making slight improvements. After leaving the salvage yard, Amanda ends up at a small outdoor gathering but leaves after being offered a drink.

Amanda is up early the next morning checking her matches on a dating app when her attention is drawn to a regiment of cop cars racing by her home. Immediately jumping on her bicycle, she follows them to the scene where a police line and audience have already gathered. Detective Sweeney (Zindzi Okenyo) arrives on the scene at about the same time to discover the charred remains of a man and woman in a tent.

Everyone’s attention is soon drawn to Raphael/Raph Norton (Ethan Lwin), who crosses the police line, raving about his missing father, Julian Norton (Andrew Buchanan). Once Taylah/Tayla (Miah Madden) and several of the locals rein him in, a sergeant on scene infers to knowing Raph and Julian. Sweeney later uses this sergeant to identify Julian’s remains. The sergeant makes a brief visual confirmation, but this is also medically confirmed later. Shortly after this, Amanda offers her PI services to Tayla and Raph, but she doesn’t receive a welcome response.

After returning to Crimson Lake, Ted ignores Amanda’s calls and texts for as long as he can. When he finally joins her at the office, she excitedly tells him about the case. She only offers just a fraction of the details thanks to the unexpected arrival of Tayla. She introduces herself as Raph’s girlfriend and infers wanting to hire them under the condition no one knows about it, including Raph.

After accepting the case, Ted and Amanda visit Julian’s family retreat. Despite the guests and police presence, operating manager Debbie Chandra immediately tries to run them off by claiming they are closed. Amanda claims they are with the forensics team after spotting Sweeney. Once Debbie’s attention is turned to the pushy journalist, Colin (Brett Tucker), Ted breaks off to search Julian’s office while Amanda is left to find and question Raph. Sweeney has gotten to him first but eavesdrop on their conversation. According to Raph, Julian practically had no social life, and ‘The Family Tree Retreat’ was his life. Ted makes a surprising discovery of his own after a brief conversation with Bridget (Jacy Lewis). According to her, Juliann was a great man who saved her family. She suspects that the murder had something to do with his now missing E-Type Jaguar.

Ted and Amanda share what they learn and make to visit a car specialist, Mario while Raph is escorted to identify his father’s remains which he does. Despite offering his help with identifying the female, Raph becomes angry when Sweeney pushes the subject. He claims he doesn’t know her. Ted and Amanda’s visit with Mario doesn’t glean any additional information but he promises to keep an eye out.

Thanks to Amanda, Dr. Val (Angela Punch McGregor) makes a personal visit to assess the damage Ted sustained during Lilly’s birthday party. Due to her distaste for Sweeney, Val is more than happy to share what she learned from the autopsies. According to Val, she found red soil under Julian’s fingernails and the female was a Gemini with a pendant and a fondness for roses and bulldogs, according to her tattoos. There were no signs of sexual assault the damage to the body likely indicates she fell from a great distance. Amanda tracks the tattoo back to Erin the Bikie/Erin Aguerra (Eddie Nelson). The discovery about the fall also leads them to the site where Julian’s body was dumped but there is no red dirt present, meaning he was killed elsewhere.

Later that night, while visiting Wayne (Cramer Cain) at the Shark Bar, Ted is approached by Colin. Colin attempts to relate to Ted by drawing on the similarities between PI work and journalism. He also mentions Julian and Raph’s bickering. Raph is briefly shown drinking alcohol by a bonfire and burning clothes when Debbie approaches and encourages him to call it a night. Although he does, he leaves the fire burning. While extinguishing it, Debbie notices the clothes.

Sometime the next morning, Ted questions Raph about his argument with Julian while Amanda questions Wayne about Erin. Ted learns the origins of the ‘Family Tree Retreat’ and Amanda learns that Erin was married to someone nicknamed, The General (Daniel Tuiara), who she is advised to avoid. Wayne also mentions Erin sometimes coming into the bar with a fella named Zach.

After sharing her intel with Ted, they just happen to find Zach and the General together, although it’s not a happy reunion. The General is in the process of torturing Zach for sleeping with Erin. Ted gives Amanda his keys and tells her to meet him by the road while he starts up one of the bikes outside and races off. Ted draws them away, allowing Amanda to rescue Zach, although she takes her sweet time doing so. She also makes him drive the getaway car after stashing her bike in the boot. Shortly after reuniting with Ted, they are pulled over.

Amanda gets out of the vehicle and meets Detective Sweeney halfway to prevent her from seeing Zach. There is a brief standoff about the case and the legalities of investigating it, but that’s as far as their conversation goes. After both parties return to their vehicles, Zach asks to be dropped off at the bus station.

Before Tayla shows up at the office to make the first down payment, Amanda tells Ted about the records she stole from the Family Retreat. Apparently, they’ve been making $3K a month payments to a company named, White Hat Investments and although it has a local address, it’s almost as if the company doesn’t exist. Ted promises to check it out on his way home.

Sweeney turns her attention to Raph and he isn’t at all cooperative but appears to have quite a lengthy record before his time with the Retreat. The White Hat address leads Ted to what appears to be a residential address. Just as Ted is helping himself inside, he receives a call from Lilly, using her birthday gift. Kelly is not at all happy, but Ted doesn’t get long to dispute the matter because he soon finds himself at the end of a shotgun.

Despite Esme (Chrissie Page) being raving mad and brandishing a shotgun, from what she says, it appears that she’s had a regular problem with locals or homeless staying on her property. She mistakes Ted for one of these intruders and doesn’t want to hear anything he has to say, leaving him no option but to attempt an escape. As he abruptly shuts off his light and lunges, the gun goes off.

Amanda arrives at the Crimson Hospital to return the other part of Erin’s pendant necklace that she got from Zach earlier. The episode ends with her seeing Twist (Simon Lyndon) cutting a piece of hair off one of the victims and putting it in an envelope. He sees her and not only continues to go about his business but casually tells her that it’s good to see her. Amanda is so stunned that she can’t move or speak.

 

Troppo Review

Let me start by saying, I did not watch the first season. I do remember reading the book several years ago, which I enjoyed immensely. The characters were clever and their quirky personalities were well-researched and tremendously thought out. Unfortunately, I am not getting much of that here. Yes, they have some quirks, but it just doesn’t seem the same to me. I am not ready to give up on the series after just one episode, but I have to go it wasn’t an inspiring watch. For one, it appears incredibly low budget, which I do not mind at all. Secondly and probably the biggest kink, is that it felt needlessly long. Not a great way to begin, I’d have to give the premiere a 5 out of 10.

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