Netflix's algorithm will try to trick you into watching Territory for its familiarity.
The six-part drama is almost explicitly an Australian version of Yellowstoneor a modern version of Australiawithout any of those annoying Baz Luhrmann aesthetic trappings. Heck, you might even call it Amazon Open range without the huge hole at the center of the story.
Territory
The bottom line
Smooth ride on well-trodden terrain.
Air date: Thursday 24 October (Netflix)
Launch: Anna Torv, Michael Dorman, Robert Taylor, Sam Corlett, Sara Wiseman, Clarence Ryan, Jay Ryan, Kylah Day, Sam Delich, Hamilton Morris
Creators: Ben Davies, Timothy Lee
It's a series brimming with recognizable faces from American television free to use variations on their native accents, including stars of Fringe (Anna Torv), Longmire (Robert Taylor), The CW is terrible Beauty and the Beast (Jay Ryan) and Patriot (Michael Dormann).
As such, I imagine you might enjoy it Territory for all these reasons you seem to have enjoyed countless other entertainments. But I remained faithful Territory for a handful of ways in which it's distinctive – like the combination of Australian slang and cattle ranching jargon that's practically a foreign language, the country's stunning Northern Territory photography and, yes, the number of recognizable actors who they get to wear pants and talk about obscure aspects of international real estate law. These aren't necessarily big promises of originality and style, but they are the limited promises that this consistently watchable drama delivers on.
Substitute for the YellowstoneThe Duttons as ranching royalty are the Lawsons, owners and operators of Marianne Station, the largest cattle operation in the world, occupying a territory the size of Belgium. An example of toxic and abusive masculinity, aging patriarch Colin (Taylor) has handed over the reigns to his youngest son Daniel (Jake Ryan), partly because eldest son Graham (Dorman) is an erratic alcoholic and partly because Graham has married Emily (Torv). , part of a neighboring clan known for stealing and renaming Lawson cattle.
Colin, stuck in the past, knocked Marianne out, but Daniel tried to innovate. Except in the opening moments of the premiere, Daniel is eaten by dingoes, or something comparable to the Australian one, creating a vast power vacuum involving Graham, Emily, Emily's dour ex (Jay Ryan's Campbell), inevitably nefarious billionaire mining Sandra (Sara Wiseman), the local indigenous community (led by Clarence Ryan's Nolan, a low-level rancher) and more.
Things get soapier and more complicated when Susie (Philippa Northeast), Graham and Emily's daughter, returns from university with big ideas about the station's future and begins flirting with Sandra's son Lachie (Joe Klocek), while Marshall (Sam Corlett), Graham's black sheep son from a previous marriage, shows up with scruffy and possibly scheming ruffians Rich (Sam Delich) and Sharnie (Kylah Day).
Created by Ben Davies and Timothy Lee, Territory it's bold, unapologetic television, where everyone is gruff, sweaty and covered in a thin layer of dust, as if to reinforce the connection between these characters and the Top End.
If that wasn't enough, the dialogue is filled with references to “family,” “land,” and “heritage.” The machinations are rudimentary, the love triangles superficial, and the cliffhangers mostly predictable (though at least one shocker that I expected the show to shy away from managed to stick). But the commitment to every genre cliché is fully sincere. Beautiful people kiss, bulls flee, and although you can't tell a duster (the type of jacket) from a muster (a sort of roundup), the road through this rugged terrain has been paved so reliably that the journey is almost too smooth.
I think Territory does better than Yellowstone in his attempts to weave Native perspectives into the narrative. No matter how complex regional concepts of land ownership may be, however, there is no doubt that when it comes to fighting between attractive white people saying “Mine! My! Mine!' and the Traditional Owners (not an expression I was previously familiar with) saying 'Um, excuse me?' the heart of the narrative lies with the Lawsons, though its mastermind might know better.
One might mock director Greg McLean for his over-reliance on overhead drone shots of the Outback, all impeccably framed at dawn or dusk. But no one here wants to redefine the visual language of cinema, nor push the boundaries of violence (lots of drunken punching and occasional gunplay) or sex (sensual kissing is everything). The goal is simply to make you gasp a little longer at each sight or group of cattle, and it works. Setting something of a television record for the use of the word “slope” and the depiction of vast escarpments, Territory It would look great streaming on your Apple Watch, though I recommend viewing it on a larger screen if you want to see the impressive roughness of older actors' faces or enjoy the angular cheekbones of younger stars.
Given the amount of death, betrayal and intense business maneuvering required by the plot, it's no surprise that the main emotions evoked by most of the cast are “intensity” and “fatigue”, but they all do it quite well. Graham's drunkenness gives Dorman the opportunity to act unstable, while Emily's home upbringing allows Torv to cloud her character with enigmatic potential. Delich and Dan Wyllie, as Emily's proudly cow-thief brother Hank, star in a show wilder and wackier than any of the others. Day and Corlett are more swoony than everyone else. Ryan, Hamilton Morris and Tuuli Narkle, who represent the indigenous side, star in a series more serious and occasionally more provocative than anyone else, which makes an effort to achieve more spiritual and historical nuances than Territory it really has room for.
The show has a lot to pack into a short amount of time. Have you heard the expression “All hat and no cattle”? The cattle inside Territory may not have much genetic diversity – it's a plot point! – and the hats may look a little worn around the edges. But whatever you're looking for, this series has plenty of it.