Down Under’s partly quite charming take on the Return of the Dead – but without the Zombie stuff. The Australian production GLITCH is a rare find, as usually series from down-under do not make it into the European mainstream. The reason may be not the quality of the productions, but more the quirkiness of the characters, language and strange and sometimes alien landscape, all influencing the material in one way or another, making it less relatable if you do not know it. In Glitch the backdrop of Viktorian houses and lush countryside does do the series good, it gives it an atmosphere different from American productions where the isolation and “keeping things under wraps” makes more sense.
GLITCH starts off fairly well, with a few glitches in acting and pacing, but keeps the mystery up a whole (short) season, manages to not elaborate much more on that mystery in the second – becoming a bit flat and repetitive – and then taking a nosedive in the third, only to be saved by more action and a solid final episode. Many aspects felt ham-fisted (the religious insinuations, the science parts, the rules of the universe which do not apply to the „Inquisitors“?) or unnecessary unresolved like the story of Elishia and William, who already came back What was unexpected is that they actually wrapped it up – that alone is an achievement in a world of disasters like GoT or His Dark Materials (see my corresponding posts to know why I say that). It‘s ABC, so actually a place where characterisation is held high and often supercedes production value, but here one wonders if its reversed.
GLITCH keyhole into escaping 9-5life is first quite charming, even though a bit wooden and taciturn. Unfortunately it stays light on the nuances and does not delve into the intricacies of „the Risen“ becoming normal people again, trying to have a life and reconnect to their old one, rattling up their beloved ones who moved on. The hard working, amiable cast comes across as a rag-tag posse and becomes quite a tight troupe within 3 seasons, where their choices to support each other feel profound and understandable, which was not the case for the first 2 seasons. William’s uncanny but also reassuring stare worked way better than this backflips from good to bad felt as forced as Kirstie being a bit too old to play the headless brat who runs after revenge and pleasure.
It could be an existentialist drama, but it is turned into a dull fall-out of a science experiment quickly, and petty personal stories needing a closure, but having nothing to do with the mystery at hand. Not all acting was great like the brother of Chris or Raf as a fresh love interest of Charlie who did not stick around long enough to become an integral part of the Yoraana gang of the undead. Hayes felt often a bit wooden and pensive without having a strong direction, lying to his wife and his wife – a moral compass is something else. Seeing your wife in bloom, after she died of cancer 2 years beforehand must be an overwhelming experience – alone the appearance of similarity will fell bigger man. Our Sergeant Hayes looks underwhelmed as if an old friend from school walks into a party in a Pub, almost insulted. I liked him better becoming one of the enforcers, squeezing the sweetness out of him and making outrageous, fevery remarks to his former wife:“You ARE the cancer.“ That hurt.
Many aspects of Glitch are hurtful to watch but also the group dynamics lack consequences. In the end all their meandering and lust for breaking out is rendered like a fever dream of a bunch of unlawfully undead against their will trying to do compulsory things before they wake up and see the futility of eternal life. All drama burns up in smoke – which is a good thing, because drama was drudging along for 2 seasons and there was no relief, other than the occasional murder to spice things up with resurrected „inquisitors“ – resurrected and guided by „whom“?! We have no idea. In the end we still do not know more or why, and one MacGuffin (the whistle) does not upend all the lost mystery or the lack of seizing all the opportunities to tell really compelling, deep stories of people coming back from the dead.
As Luke Buckmaster from The Guardian wrote „It is much easier to introduce a mystery than to satisfyingly resolve one.“. It wants to be paranormal, but only the last episode has that ring with a bit more of poetic nature details, symbolism and a courageous dumping of the „Undead Friends in Yoorana“ sitcom routine in the lake house. With more depth and poetry (and some more stringent writing – why is Charlie’s bullet wound not healing well? Why can‘t the Risen rise again?) this would have become a Gothic gem. So its more a mudbrick with (wilted) flowers on top.