Mr Inbetween

This show has been an amazing discovery for me. It was recommended me by a coworker and I have thoroughly enjoyed it. The tight writing, amazing performances, not only from lead actor Scott Ryan (Ray Shoesmith) but also from Chika Yasumura (Brittany, Ray's daughter) and Brooke Satchwell (Ally, Ray's girlfriend), as well as performers who came on board for barely two or three episodes but seriously hit it out of the park with believable and memorable roles. I'm not going to say that I wish they would make more episodes - the two seasons are great potted character studies of a professional murderer compartmentalising his life in order to manage it, accepting who he is and what and why he does it, acknowledging the costs as well as the benefits of his chosen profession. I'm glad that we have these. The creative world is littered with murderers waxing lyrical on the nature of life and death and their roles in the transition of people from one to the other - King David in the throes of guilt and despair in Psalm 51; the murderers in Macbeth, along with the titular lord and lady themselves; Claudius in Hamlet, failing to absolve himself in the church; Mr White in Reservoir Dogs; Martin Blank in Grosse Point Blank. Ray Shoesmith is a man who only reveals his internal life through the merest cracks - a word here, a look there, from utter stillness to bloody action. Having lived in Sydney for almost 13 years, I appreciate the attention to detail in using real locations for so much of the setting. The soundtrack is flawless - one episode ended with Burl Ives's (?) rendition of "Ghost Riders In The Sky", where I had halted the episode halfway through to get my lunch, and when I sat down to eat I already was singing that very same song under my breath! The half-hour episodes leave you wanting more but after bingeing the entire series over the weekend, I think they are the perfect length, providing enough detail to know what has happened, while leaving enough to the imagination that you can be thinking about it for hours afterwards. Would that I could give it six stars out of five!

I first saw this on cable..the episode I watched went for an hour..It was hilarious in that unique Australian way..Then I saw it again as a half hour episode..some of the humour lost in the big chop of downsizing it..but would still recommend the entire two series..Very sad funny without any sentimentality..Loved it!

It is exciting to see the great acting and directing from an Australian show. As far as the story goes, it began like an Olympic sprinter and ended a lot like a sleepy cow