Show Review: Deadloch

My wife and I have a ritual. After a long day at work, I prepare dinner, and we sit down to watch a show during it. We tend to favor British detective shows. If you are a fan of shows like Broadchurch, Hinterland, Line of Duty, The Unforgotten, and many others, you know the genre.

Sometimes they are satirical (like Father Brown, or The Brokenwood Mysteries), sometimes they are serious. But what they all are is enjoyable, usually very well written, and entertaining (if dark, like Happy Valley was).

One that we just finished is an Amazon Prime show called "Deadloch". It is dark, really creepily dark. It starts with a police constable (Delcy Collins) getting called to a scene where a naked dead man is found on the beach. And it is, um, graphic.

Oh, and before I go any further, I need to warn you that it is set in the town of Deadloch, in Tasmania, a part of Australia. And if you know any Aussies, you know that they are masters of cursing. No, seriously, my profanity here is pee-wee league compared to these blokes. The word "Fuck" is peppered in like a teenage boys zits. And, like the Aussies I used to work for, the "C-word" is a load bearing component to every conversation. It is never used in the crass way us 'muricans toss it about, but as an adjunct to the term "wanker". If that offends you, well, this is not the show for you.

Back to the review. As the first episode unfolds, you discover that there is an, ah high percentage of lesbians in this small community. Like really high. And there's a festival being staged, the choir (all women, natch) is practicing an acapella rendition of Divinyls "I Touch Myself":

I shit you not, that is what they are singing (I had to tell my wife about the song).

Naturally this Constable, Delcy, is a member of that community (lesbian) and married to the town veterinarian.

Anyhow, over 6 episodes, the crimes escalate, but with many twists and turns. I won't spoil it for you, but the end is a huge W T a F.

That is enough for me to enjoy the show, but what really did it for me is that multiple times over the episodes, I almost couldn't breathe I was laughing so fucking hard. The lines, the gags, the long gutteral "FFFUUUUUUUUUCCCCKKK"s that one of the key characters belches out are just part of the tapestry.

Oh, and having to explain terms like "cum gutters" and "muff diving" to my wife was part of the charm...

If you want to roar with laughter, and be entertained by a black comedy with a twist, a truly Aussie environment, I recommend it. If casual uttering of the C-word offends your sensitivities, I would look elsewhere.

Oh, there's a second season!

I almost forgot. The original was released in 2023, but just last month the second season dropped, and it really is the clean up of the investigator that was air-dropped in at the beginning of the first season. Ties up loose ends with the same twists and turns.

Delightful, if dark.