I watched all of Season 1 over two days and found it difficult to stay awake. I stuck with it mainly because of the IMDb rating. The theme of the black market in nuclear weaponry, surrounded by corporate and political malfeasance, topped off with computer hacking and murder, and all tied together with investigative journalism should result in a suspenseful thriller. But no, instead I was subjected to endless scenes of relationship issues between brothers, lovers, coworkers, et al. Nearly every single character in this show (and there are a lot of them) was treated to a mind-numbing exposition of their personal relationships. I ended up not caring about any of them, including one of the two central characters, a sporadically dysfunctional computer geek who is supposed to inspire sympathy. I have to assume there were many scenes that were cut in order to focus on all these relationships because the advancement of the main plot was choppy and frequently left me wondering how we got to a particular scene because there were sudden shifts in what was going on. Episode 1/Season 1 was a melange of different events that took quite a long time to get the viewer acquainted with who was who, you know that artsy attempt to "not to tell the viewer too much" style that is supposed to get your curiosity going, but in this case it seemed it would never get to the point.I plodded through all 6 episodes hoping some suspense would occur, but it did not. I had to fast forward through many scenes just to avoid becoming completely annoyed by all the time spent on Jesse's behaviors, grieving families, hollow careers, and disjointed uninteresting sub-plots. The show did not give me the story line as advertised. Further, I could not help moaning aloud when, every few minutes, another scene of clouds speeding across the sky was shown. Egads, give it a rest!! I would suggest the producers take a look at such shows as State of Play, House of Cards, or even the old 3 Days of the Condor for lessons on pacing, exposition, and character development and how to stick to the story. My two stars are for the acting which was excellent all around in spite of the lousy end product.

I'm a big fan of this show. It's too bad it only lasted 2 short seasons. The writing & story lines are captivating. I can't even begin to understand the negative reviews on this one. Is everything totally believable that's depicted in the show? Of course not! Such a show doesn't exist and never has. However, it's got a lot of believable scenarios and the dynamic between the main protagonist brothers is quite compelling. The older brother, Ned, is practically an angel, which might strain credulity for some, but the backstory of a brother who has to take on extra burdens and responsibilities for a special- needs brother whom he cares for & on account of the parents being out of the picture, also gives the show a noble, compassionate & human touch often missing from the majority of crass TV shows today. The show typically tackles the conflict between the governmental bureaucratic machine that inadvertently tramples on the civil/human rights of individuals in its pursuit of profit and the inevitable corruption that ensues on the part of its most ardent zealots.Anyway, it's a smart and thoughtful show and without question one of the best ones out there. Watch the first 2 episodes and I guarantee you'll be hooked ;)

A very poor attempt at copying the recent excellent Scandinavian series such as The Killing and Borgen, even down to using the same type of music, a rapid recap at the start of each episode, and fast forward at the end. Made an initially good start but soon lost any credulity, with a bunch of cardboard cutout characters, especially the criminally inclined cops and politicians, and an unbelievable plot. The computer hacking abilities were totally beyond belief, actions were inexplicable and unexplained and the plot seemed to be being made up as it went along. Unable to watch beyond the fourth episode as it became more and more unbelievable.

This six part Australian drama opens with an accident in the Outback; one teenager is killed another is injured. It would probably have been written of a tragic accident if a journalist didn't find the name of the town in a dossier given to him by a government press officer. The journalist, Ned Banks, starts investigating and, with the help of his autistic brother, a hacker, he accesses data on the surviving teenagers phone which shows that what happened wasn't an accident… somebody is doing something in the Outback and they will kill to protect their secret. It isn't long before sinister government agents are after them; desperate to prevent the secret from being exposed… not only because it is embarrassing but because in the wrong hands it could be dangerous.The 9pm slot on Saturday on BBC4 has been dedicated to Euro-drama for some time but the fact that this was from Australia, and thus in English, didn't make it feel out of place. Like the many Scandinavian dramas shown in the time-slot this was dark and gripping. The story gets the viewer hooked fairly quickly and there is the sense that people are in real danger; including the protagonists. This leads to some uncomfortable, but not gratuitous, scenes; most notably while brother Jesse is mistreated in custody. There is violence, swearing and nudity so if you don't like that sort of thing this won't be for you but if you don't mind and like good grown up drama then this is well worth watching. The cast does a fine job and the director manages to maintain a good sense of tension; even making a building as well known as the Australian Parliament in Canberra look sinister thanks to the way it is shot.