COVID-19 Friday Five: ISO TV We've Been Watching

We're in lockdown - sorry, maybe you weren't aware? Well, we are. And everyone is watching TV. I've scrolled through my notes to see what's been keeping me entertained on the small screen.

5 TV Shows We've Been Watching:

1. Fisk (ABC) - Written and starring Kitty Flanagan, this show is light-hearted and fun, even though it is set in a law firm specialising in wills and probate, and the main character is Helen Tudor-Fisk, a woman whose career and marriage has fallen apart. The writing is smart and there are featured roles for a number of favourite Aussie comedians (Marty Sheargold; Julia Zemiro; Aaron Chen), with cameo appearances by many others (Ed Kavalee; Sam Pang; Dave O'Neil). It's a total contrast to the dark, gritty drama I tend towards, and I enjoy it greatly for the light relief. So far there is only one season of six episodes, but I hope there will be more. 
2. Handmaid's Tale, Season 4 (Hulu/ SBS On Demand) - The story continues to be as gripping and the production values as scrupulous as ever. June Osborne (Elisabeth Moss) makes it out of Gilead, but how does she cope in Canada? Can she reconnect with her past life? How does she make sense of the fact that people are literally dying to help her? Gilead still exists, and her daughter is still there, so what can she do about that? And will she ever forgive the Waterfords (Joseph Fiennes and Yvonne Strahovski) for what they did to her? So many questions - some of them are answered. It looks beautiful when it's at its most grim.

3. Lucifer, Seasons 1 & 2 (Netflix) - Described as an American urban fantasy television series, it revolves around the story of Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), aka the Devil, who abandons Hell for a stint in Los Angeles where he runs a nightclub called Lux and becomes a consultant to the LADP. Yes, that's ridiculous and it is glib and flashy - apparently based on a character in the comic book series The Sandman. It has elements of comic book conversions about it - lots of sidekicks and pointless characters, most of whom are one-dimensional, with the possible exception of Lesley-Anne Brandt who plays Lucifer's ass-kicking demon ally, Mazikeen. It's worth watching for the way Tom Ellis delivers his narcissistic dialogue with such delight - he is one sexy little devil.
4. National Treasure (Channel 4/ ABC iview) - The four-part 2016 British drama written by BAFTA-award-winning writer, Jack Thorne, is inspired by Operation Yewtree, a police operation begun in 2012 that resulted in the prosecution of a number of veteran TV performers. One such veteran TV performer is Paul Finchley, played by Robbie Coltrane, a once-successful comedian of the 1980s and early 1990s, now hosting a TV quiz show. When he is accused of raping several young women in the early 1990s, he fights to clear his name with the help of his former comedy partner and current star, Sir Karl Jenkins (Tim McInnery), while trying to explain his actions to his wife (Julie Walters) and daughter (Andrea Riseborough). It's unpleasant at times but very well written and acted. 

5. Tin Star, Season Three (Sky Atlantic/ SBS On Demand) - The wildly dysfunctional Worth family are back in Liverpool, making a list and checking it twice. I have really come to care for these characters over the past few series. Even if their actions are morally questionable (i.e. killing people is never a good thing), they are disarmingly charming, and no one does cheeky criminal banter quite like Tim Roth. But three season are enough, and judging from the unequivocal ending, I think we all know that.

Heart of Delusion: Marlow's Landing

Marlow's Landing by Toby Vieira

JM Originals

Pp. 294

Has any book had more effect on the literature of the jungle and the ‘other’ than Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness? It is true that any story of a river trip into the unknown will call his novel to mind. Toby Vieira is counting on it, so much so that he names the mysterious destination to which his narrator is travelling (the title of the book) after Charles Marlow, the narrator of Conrad’s masterpiece. Vieira’s narrator is a dull accountant from Hull who is so bored with his mainstream job at an Antwerp-based gem dealer, that when Goldhaven, a man he has never met before, sidles up with promises of untold riches if he will just do a little job for him, he seizes on what he sees as an opportunity, unware that he is being played for a fool. There follows a fast-paced narrative of diamonds, deception and double-crossing.

Goldhaven is a shadowy character, and we are never sure if he is a hero or villain; chameleon or chimera. He certainly whets the narrator’s appetite. “Had I ever wondered, he said, what it would be like. To get my hands on a big pink stone. To hold what no one had held before me. To feel what no one had felt before me. To caress what no one had caressed before me.” What is it with men and their need to get their hands on something pristine? Diamonds and beautiful things come from hard and dirty conditions – mud and river beds – which lead to uncomfortable environments.

The narrator journeys up the river into the Caribbean jungle to meet with a dealer at Marlow’s Landing. The cover story is that he is a birdwatcher and he reminisces about “crammed hides and the smell of wet wool and mint cake.” He is unsure of where this place is and, despite a guide book and a real-life guide, he is none the wiser. “What does Babbon have to say about the part of the country Old Road is taking me to? Not much, since Old Road is heading into the heart of the biggest white patch on Babbon’s map. Babbon, it turns out, never made it back from the white patch. Babbon died before he could finish his book.” He is in constant fear of dangerous creatures; insects; snakes; Caymans; things that bite and sting, and his excitement does not last long. “I am sick of the tropics. Scabs come and scabs go. I have a giant blister on my ankle, the size of half a tennis ball, a neat globe, opaquely translucent, filled with liquid and with blood. Slime-covered lizards fall out of my clothes in the morning. I have strange headaches, on and off.”

The novel is written in a disorientating style, that makes the reader unsure of where we are or who is narrating and whether this is all a life-flash-before-your-eyes moment. While the story slips in and out of the reader’s grasp, it is the author’s style that keeps us absorbed, with descriptions that are vivid and chaotic. It is not just the unseen insects and nightmarish beasts that keep him up at night. The writing highlights the heat, illness, sickness, hallucinations and disease. As he gets more remote and further from known territory, he fears the lawlessness of his isolation as dead bodies riddled with bullet holes float down the river. This is a psychedelic whirlwind ride (one might call it the ambiguous definition of a trip) and perhaps a cautionary tale, suggesting that excitement might be overrated and boredom undervalued.