Given prequel series are quite popular right now, Acorn jumps in with Mystery Road: Origin. Telling the story of one of their fictional character’s earlier life, this is my first impression of the series.
Mystery Road: Origin (2022) Acorn TV Review
Coming back to a small and desolate outback mining town, Jay Swan (Mark Coles Smith) is about to take his first posting as a police officer. Returning means seeing his father again and shifting through the complicated relationship with him. Back here, he is immediately put into an unexplained mystery that leads to questions.
Together with another police officer, Max (Hayley McElhinney), Jay is involved in two robberies that sets up a curious mystery for the young detective.
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Some Acorn TV series, while familiar, are still unknown. This is true of the life of Jay Swan, one of their detectives busy solving crimes alongside Judy Davis in 2018’s Mystery Road. This Australian series, an original to Acorn TV, is one of the most visceral series I’ve seen recently. Mainly this is because of the silent moments we see Jay in observation. He drives around in observation of local life, looking off into the desolate land, and just in general, a quieter series.
I haven’t seen the Acorn series about an older Jay, which is presumably set in current times whereas this has a 1999 setting. However I’m glad I didn’t because this means if I continue to watch Jay’s story, I’d see it in congruence rather than present into the past. That said, I don’t think this is my most favorite watch from Acorn. It’s an extremely good production, as always, and the idea is interesting too. It’s just a bit overlong and some of the reflection takes a bit too much screen time. Since didn’t make time for episode two, I’m not sure what comes. However I cannot argue that this isn’t good in its production.
The cast too, though widely unknown to me (some have been guest stars in Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries), are all good. Comprised of six hour long episodes, one thing the script does do very well is these minor things they reveal that don’t really fully answer the “why” of meaning they’re probably all things that will either haunt or condemn some characters in future episodes. There’s so much curiosity and I am sure, as a result, a great deal of story to come.
You can find Mystery Road: Origin with an Acorn subscription.
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Content: there is approximately eight f-words words, some more audible than others. We see a body lying on the road post an accident (non-graphic). There is a mention about a father abusing his child. All is just the first episode; I cannot say what comes in future episodes in this TV-MA rated mystery series.
Sincere thanks to Acorn TV for the screening opportunity; all opinions are my own.
Photos: Acorn TV
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