Thursday, September 04, 2003
Cause of death unknown
Originally published in The Age Green Guide, Thursday 4 September 2003.
Australian cop dramas have a certain look about them. A dark, gritty look that suggests that being a cop is a hard, thankless existence. Stingers’ Peter Church (Peter Phelps) stalks around as if police work is the only thing that stops him imploding. Blue Murder’s Roger Rogerson (Richard Roxburgh) was dirtier than any of the crims he brutalised. And it seemed that no-one on Wildside ever enjoyed themselves, not even a little bit.
The tough lot for Aussie TV cops made it nice to see some of them finally getting a bit of sun in White Collar Blue. Unfortunately, we’re nearing the end of our sunny sojourn in the Sydney beachside suburb of Kingsway – the show finishes in November – so it’s time to have a look at what White Collar Blue does well, and what, if anything has sealed its fate.
White Collar makes no secret of its glossiness. Plenty of outdoor beach action and a wonderful blue-tinged production design (just look at the boys’ shirts) mean that it looks fantastic. As do its cast. Freya Stafford as Harriet Walker was a tremendous find; her cool cockiness a terrific foil for Joe Hill’s (Peter O’Brien) hard-nosed edginess. Don Hany as Theo Rahme brings a hulking but friendly presence to the team (as well as a phenomenal set of abdominal muscles). And if we are willing to accept the astonishing jump of logic that sees Sophia Marinkovich seemingly working as a detective in her early twenties, then Neighbours alumna Brooke Satchwell has proven that there is dramatic life after Ramsay Street.
In many ways, White Collar Blue is in the same vain as slick, glossy US crimefest CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. It looks good, it’s fast-paced, and it’s unashamedly cool. CSI is not trash – the writing is far too good for that – but it is ultimately a disposable series. Story and style is prioritised over character, meaning that it is near-impossible for CSI to form any lasting bond with its viewers. Engagement with CSI is strictly by the hour. And though that hour may be entertaining and often exhilarating, there is no larger narrative – as in series like Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and The Sopranos – to sustain a long-term emotional connection to the show. This does not mean failure; CSI is an outrageous ratings success, both here and in the States. But it does mean that it needs to be an absolutely riveting hour if you want your viewers to tune in for more of the same the next week.
This sort of slick entertainment is not Australian television’s strong point. CSI demands high production values, lots of expensive equipment (the CSI lab is fitted-out better than most real crime labs) and an enormous team of writers to agonise over every word, every pause, every inflection. In short, it needs the sort of money that only Hollywood producers like Jerry Bruckheimer and James Cameron can afford to splash around. The Australian industry simply does not have the resources. And even if it did, it’s questionable if CSI is the sort of show we should be producing. Glossy, disposable entertainment is an American specialty, so we should stick to what we know and do, at times, very very well: character-driven drama.
And White Collar Blue does it well. It seems to take the attitude that there is no reason an Australian cop drama shouldn’t be pretty to look at, as long as the drama is still good. And the drama on White Collar Blue, though occasionally uneven, has been interesting, personal, and real. Last week’s scenes between Joe Hill and his dying alcoholic father (Ray Barrett) were beautiful; touching poignantly on the relationship between a father and son who never let each other in, and cleverly using Joe’s daughter Lel (a wonderful Ivy Latimer) to drive this home. And some weeks ago, Sophia faced a decision on how far she could push a workplace informant, a decision polarised by the informant’s concern for his own safety and Sophia’s drive to beat Harriet to the collar and prove herself a worthy officer. In the end, her ambition won, and the informant almost ended up dead. Decisions are what drama is all about, and Sophia’s gave us a great deal of insight into her character. White Collar even has oblique political comment: the wife of a murdered security guard reveals that her husband was forced into his job because his Chinese medical qualifications were not accepted once they were granted political asylum in Australia.
So why has it been axed? Did it hedge its bets between slick, story-driven entertainment and personal, character-driven drama? Do Australian television viewers have a fixed idea of what their cop shows should be like? Or is White Collar Blue simply the victim of an Australian television landscape that can only accommodate so many home-grown dramas, especially with the glut of cheaper, US-made product flooding onto our shores? Whatever the reason, it’s a shame, because White Collar Blue has, had, a lot going for it.