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Telly addicts

Top of the Lake. Mmmm....

263 replies

partystress · 13/07/2013 22:17

Weird but has me hooked. Anyone else watching?

OP posts:
VitoCorleone · 07/08/2013 08:21

Me and DP are enjoying it - though we did think it was Australia Blush i even said "ooh those mountains look like the ones in Lord of the Rings" Confused

The Scottish guy is ace, if a bit scary.

Its very dark in places then plain weird in others. Enjoying it though.

OctopusPete8 · 07/08/2013 09:55

Yeah Matt Mitcham is by far the best,

Treaguez · 07/08/2013 12:44

I'm really surprised this isn't playing better on Mumsnet. I recognise most of the characters from past threads.

Robin is dealing with a horrific event half a lifetime ago. She's all over the place, changing from one minute to the next.

Her mother is emotionally manipulative and possibly toxic as hell, and Robin knows it, but can do little about it. I bet if NZ had stately homes, her mother would have taken her to a few.

GJ is a cult leader who basically has to do feck all to get women to follow her. She's not even trying. They are desperate in their weakness for even the most cynical and offhand comments from her.

Matt Mitcham is the equal of some of the hideous abusive characters I've read about on here, and then some.

Johnno the ex is still a bit of an enigma, really, isn't he? We'd all be telling her to steer clear, I suspect. Still two more episodes for him to turn out a wrong-'un.

And the cop, Al...I think he's by far the worst. Good looking, calm, fairly smooth, do-gooder, we thought he was good at his job but that's been brought into question. He gets Robin drunk, undresses her when she can't remember, puts her in his bed...sacks her, re-employs her just to talk to a journalist, and then quietly and firmly proposes to her, knowing she's in a very vulnerable state of mind. He's a giant emotionally abusive head fuck, one of those men we read about time and again on here. I hope he gets shown up for what he is. I love the way his character has been written: nothing signposted or talked about, no pantomime evil, just the insidious and commonplace reality of someone who doesn't quite make your red flags wave, but who's unsettling all the same.

2rebecca · 07/08/2013 12:53

It's maybe not getting a good reception because there are no strong, or even normal women in it. They're all nuts.
Mind you the men are no better.
I lived on the South Island for a year. There are lots of normal people there, and men without tattoos. the tattooed Maori are in a minority on the South island.

Treaguez · 07/08/2013 13:03

I think Robin is immensely strong, and at a terrible time in her life = drama.

It's fiction, but like real life it's totally unbalanced and destabilising. I like that about it a lot.

As for it being South Island, isn't it more that the writers are from NZ, therefore they chose part of the country that's pretty isolated, very very small town (always good psychodrama in a small town) and looks absolutely bloody amazing? I think it could have been set anywhere with those three criteria.

Isn't the point that these are normal people: normal people are fucked up!

OctopusPete8 · 07/08/2013 13:59

See, I should like Robin but I don't....like er' of the fall...I made a thread a while back whinging about Why 'strong wimmin'" on TV are so bloody unlikeable,

But tbh in this everyone,man,woman etc is wierd.

I feel for chimp lady haha,

Lottapianos · 07/08/2013 14:37

Treaguez, that's an excellent post. You are so right about Al the cop - I hadn't seen it that way and hadn't noticed red flags as such but I know exactly what you mean. His proposal was just......bizarre Hmm

susiedaisy · 07/08/2013 14:59

Yes you are def right about the cop he's unsettling without being massive red flags in your face, I'm so busy thinking how horrible Tui's father and step brothers are I hadn't paid much attention!!

papalazaru · 07/08/2013 15:55

I think Al's going to turn out to be much much worse than we think..... Plus he's up to no good with Matt Mitcham - presuming those we're drugs they exchanged on the lake.... Or money to keep quiet about the drugs. That's why Al gave Matt the heads up about the warrant to search his house. Which, incidentally, was a truly rubbish search.
I'm suspecting that the coffee shop is a front for drugs/prostituion or something......

2rebecca · 07/08/2013 16:36

I don't see Robin as strong at all. A strong woman wouldn't get drunk at her bosses house, would have seen a psychologist about the rape to get it largely sorted in her head before moving back to where she lived and wouldn't be behaving quite so much like a sulky teenager. I can't believe in her as a professional woman at all.
Agree Al is creepy and will be seen to be involved in police corruption later on.
Robin should have seen that the house search was a farce. not sure why they had to leave the house in such a rush when the dead guy was found, he wasn't going anywhere.

Lottapianos · 07/08/2013 16:51

2rebecca, I see what you mean about her not being strong. I do find her character believable though - she's in recovery from horrendous trauma, she has difficulty making decisions, she makes some bad decisions, she has moments where she feels like she is going crazy. She's messy and complicated and not terribly likeable. I'm just crossing everything that she tells creepy Al where to shove his proposal!

Treaguez · 07/08/2013 18:47

Well, without giving away any spoilers for those who haven't seen ep 3, I think all the things that happened to her, her controlling mother etc make it not a given that she would turn out ok. Up until now she has done really well. Then she learns about a pregnant girl, her mother is dying, she takes up with Jonno again, she has to go over the events back when she was 15, she's not sure about her fiancé: this is her breakdown, isn't it? Not a reflection of how she normally is.

(And then Al says 'We could have a baby, a lovely baby...' - he knows exactly what buttons he is pressing. Angry )

Anyway, I'm kind of on the edge of my seat with this. I really hope Al gets a good and meaningful downfall. Matt is the decoy baddie - I just think every small town has someone like him, who perhaps won't go as far as murder but who has his fingers in all the pies and knows how to threaten and extort and twist everyone's words if they try to take him on. I'll be really disappointed if they make it all about Matt.

Treaguez · 07/08/2013 18:52

Sorry to go on... Wink

I do think she would have got drunk at Al's house: she is at a particularly bad time of her life so not reacting normally.

(I'm starting to worry about myself now that I'm finding this series actually pretty believable and the characters quite real Shock )

flatmum · 07/08/2013 21:55

I really enjoyed this series. have seen the whole thing so maybe that makes it seem better overall, quite an interesting ending.

RiaOverTheRainbow · 07/08/2013 22:47

spoilers (just in case)

Doesn't everyone think Johnno is her half brother then? That's what I got from the mum trying to separate them. Presumably she didn't tell because she's Catholic and doesn't want to admit to having a baby out of wedlock.

Treaguez · 07/08/2013 23:04

Yes that's what I thought too. I kind of hope it's not that.
I'm really intrigued as to why Robin has never asked Jonno why he has no contact with Matt.

HellonHeels · 10/08/2013 22:02

Why the HELL did she get in that boat with the freako scary head copper?

Treaguez · 10/08/2013 22:21

I don't know, we said the same.
I found that episode really upsetting, I just found myself sobbing into the fridge Blush

rootypig · 10/08/2013 22:28

I love this show. DH and I just wept for Jamie. I recognise the brutality against women and children. The tenderness interwoven is heartbreaking. I love the scenery! I love GJ! I love the weirdness. I cheered Robin stabbing Sarge. i don't understand that anyone can think she's not brave or strong. Or care about her tops. The women in it are so refreshingly different from most female characters on TV, nutty and with bare faces and ordinary bodies. Agreed, the mother was a pita (this rather accurate too Grin)

YES to Al the Copper being an epic turd. Interested in the suggestion that she and Jonno are half sibs. But would her mum have let them date as teenagers? And I get the sense Jonno hasn't told her his awful truth.

Lagoonablue · 10/08/2013 22:48

Last one next week and I now know what happens. Kind of obvious.

It has been good though.

2rebecca · 10/08/2013 22:58

Why weren't the police prosecuting the blokes who ran after the children and hunted them down armed with guns and chased one to his death? Isn't his mother wanting them prosecuted for manslaughter?
Having lived on the South Island for a year a few years ago I do wonder what the police there think of the amazingly backward way they are portrayed in this.
Does Jane Campion know anyone who actually works in today's police force in new Zealand? Has she done any research on this?

dontputaringonit · 11/08/2013 00:43

Just watched next week's episode.

No spoilers:

It was first aired as 7 episodes, with ads. I MUCH preferred the BBC edit. Annoyed I watched the final one with the other edit!

I sobbed after this week's episode. It wasn't the death so much as him saying "here's the reward, I'll do whatever I can to make it easier" and then her saying "kill me". Sad

Marzipanface · 11/08/2013 00:50

Love it. Al is frightening. The biggest abuser is the one in plain sight etc...

I used to know Campion's nephew. He was gorgeous.

dontputaringonit · 11/08/2013 00:50

Having just read through the thread and having just watched the final episode there are now things that make sense!

EcoRI · 11/08/2013 01:04

Hang on, I just downloaded no. 5 on iPlayer, where was the final episode aired? I am confused.