WAYWARD PINES
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Series return ***1/2
Saturday, May 28, 8.30pm, FX
Halfway through the first season of Wayward Pines,we were all wondering where on earth it was all going. Then suddenly – in the most startling way possible – we all Went Somewhere. So even though right now we all feel like we've already had the Wayward Pines experience, there's also the tingling expectation that anything – absolutely anything – could be just around the corner. The very fact that this time around we know what's going on and the stranger in town does not, creates a new but equally creepy dynamic. What none of us knows – yet – is just how bad things are under the new, juvenile, Lord of the Flies regime. Matt Dillon is gone, of course. (Indeed, such was the slaughter at the end of season one, only a handful of familiar faces are returning.) Instead we have Jason Patric stepping in as the bewildered outsider, a gun surgeon with marital problems who makes the big, big mistake of sharing a drink with Terence Howard (Sheriff Arnold) while on holiday in Hawaii and wakes up deep in the future – and in deep trouble. The whole WP universe has been nicely tweaked to feel same-but-different and by the end of this opening instalment, it's obvious we're off on a different journey altogether. Fasten your seatbelts.
DNA NATION
New series ***1/2
Sunday, May 22, 8.30pm, SBS
Australia's "special" broadcaster certainly brings something distinctive to our television landscape – and not just endless documentaries about Hitler. Within the limits of its budget, it has enthusiastically embraced the notion of exploring niche and sometimes controversial aspects of Australian culture and even when the resultant programs don't quite hit their target they always start interesting – and important – conversations. There's a whole raft of reality-type series, for instance, that are uniquely SBS – Living with the Enemy, Go Back to Where You Came From – and that really shake up our comfortable ideas of who we are and what we believe. This latest documentary series is a much more sober affair, but at its heart are the same kinds of issues. Australia likes to celebrate its multiculturalism, but that whole notion is based on the idea of the coming-together of difference. DNA Nation poses the question: Are we really that different after all? You may have heard of "ancestry DNA" – DNA mapping that traces not just your immediate progenitors but your history right back to the first human exodus out of Africa 200,000 years ago. Here Ernie Dingo, Julia Zemiro and Ian Thorpe volunteer to have their DNA tested, and then physically trace the journey of their ancestors over the next 70,000 years or so. So first stop is Tanzania, where they spend a few days with the Hadza hunter-gatherers – a clan who are not only genetically closest to the original mother of us all, but, coincidentally or not, still live in much the same way as that mother did, thousands of centuries earlier. The three have been chosen well, not just for their diversity but because they are all intelligent, thoughtful and honest. The conversations the trip prompts are easily as interesting as the science being explored. Screening as the flagship in a month of programming exploring identity, the central question here is: How much of who we are is truly in our DNA?
GENIUS WITH STEPHEN HAWKING
***1/2
Wednesday, May 25, 9.30pm, NatGeo
We all have it in us to have brilliant ideas. At least, Stephen Hawking thinks so, and in this engaging popular science series he sets out to prove his thesis. Three ordinary folk with curious minds are recruited to explore a range of scientific theories through cleverly-designed experiments, while various experts pop up from time to time to remind us that some of the most influential of those theories have come about purely through ordinary people with curious minds observing the world around them.
CATALYST: BECOMING SUPERHUMAN
***1/2
Tuesday, May 24, 8pm, ABC
Really lovely two-part Catalyst special that brings science and human interest together in a thoroughly engaging way. And if the human interest tends to overwhelm the science at times, it'd be churlish to complain – this is a cracking yarn. Young, super-photogenic biomedical engineer Dr Jordan Nguyen has decided to help out his mate, Riley – an equally photogenic 13-year-old from the NSW north coast with severe cerebral palsy. As well as the feel-good there's fascinating science here, as Jordan figures out a way for Riley to turn on the TV (among other things) using only his eyes.
HAP AND LEONARD
***1/2
Thursday, May 26, 8.30pm, Showcase
The Tarantino-esque elements of one of the plotlines in Hap & Leonard is, frankly, distracting. But whenever we're in the company of our quirky heroes, this crime thriller really sings. With a few productions under its belt now the Sundance channel has developed a distinctive house style and, mostly, Hap & Leonard fits it snugly: intriguing, empathetic characters; great performances; and a plot that's complex and full of surprises without being bewildering. Tonight we hit the halfway mark of this six-part series and just when it looks like things are going well – it turns out they are not.
TOMORROW WHEN THE WAR BEGAN
Season final ***1/2
Saturday, May 28, 7.30pm, ABC3
Thoroughly satisfying, albeit open-ended, conclusion to what's been another superb bit of programming from the ABC's Young Person's division. The blend of personal development, interpersonal relationships, and high-octane action that has sustained Tomorrow is all here in spades, and we get both triumph and tragedy as Ellie and her gang attempt to rescue the grown-ups and thwart the invaders in assorted ingenious and death-defying ways. It's particularly rewarding to see the way in which this captures the loss of innocence that inevitably accompanies autonomy and responsibility. Bring on season two.
HAPPYISH
***1/2
www.stan.com.au
Like a lot of comedies these days, "comedy" isn't quite the right descriptor for this beautifully bleak meditation on the pursuit of happiness. But if mordant humour is your thing, you'll find plenty to love. Steve Coogan stars as an ageing advertising executive struggling with the realisation that the best he can hope for in life is to be happy-ish. A wonderful supporting cast, including Kathryn Hahn, Bradley Whitford and Ellen Barkin, all more than do justice to a script from New York author and playwright Shalom Auslander. Clever, insightful, and yes, even funny – in a miserable kind of way.
THE AMERICANS
***1/2
Tuesday, May 24, 10.30pm, One
Deep-cover Soviet spies Philip and Elizabeth Jennings may be the stars of this story, but it's increasingly the travails of FBI agent Stan (Noah Emmerich) that have us captivated. Emmerich is a wonderful actor, and whether he's wrestling with his EST group sessions (just one of countless clever 1980s references in this show) or on the trail of an FBI employee he suspects of being a mole, our hearts are absolutely with him. The Jennings are more difficult to love, and Philip's secret mission in tonight's ep is particularly creepy.