For critics such as myself, it is de rigueur \u2013 in fact downright obligatory \u2013 to grumble about the glut of sequels and spin-offs constantly clogging up our screens. But I\u2019ll always have time for new adventures featuring Akubra-wearing outback sleuth Jay Swan.<\/p>\n
The protagonist of the Mystery Road franchise was first played by Aaron Pedersen and now, in the \u201cOrigin\u201d prequel iterations, is played by Mark Coles Smith, filling some very big cowboy boots but feeling totally embodied in the role. It\u2019s as though he\u2019s always been Jay Swan \u2013 the highest of compliments, given that Pedersen\u2019s performances once felt inimitable.<\/p>\n
The Mystery Road franchise now has two movies and four TV seasons. The second season of Origin was directed by Wayne Blair and Jub Clerc, and again focuses on Swan\u2019s younger years as a cop, although there isn\u2019t a big difference personality-wise between Swan in this series and the character in the first Mystery Road movie (even age-wise the distinction feels slight; Smith is now 38, while Pedersen was in his early 40s in the original film).<\/p>\n
The bad news is that Origin\u2019s second season is the most formulaic of Swan\u2019s outings to date. The good news is that the overall standard of Mystery Road remains so strong that even a weaker entry is still engaging viewing.<\/p>\n
Of course we start with a new case in another secret-ridden small town \u2013 Loch Iris \u2013 that\u2019s populated by locals who don\u2019t much like the cut of Swan\u2019s jib. Robyn Malcolm, who was devastatingly great in the New Zealand series After the Party<\/a>, is for this season what Judy Davis was for the first: an injection of a gravitas from a high-impact veteran, playing a hardened cop who has a rocky relationship with Swan.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Saved for Later<\/p>\n Catch up on the fun stuff with Guardian Australia’s culture and lifestyle rundown of pop culture, trends and tips<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n The first scene between Malcolm and Smith takes place in a pub, where Malcolm\u2019s character, Sergeant Paula \u201cSimmo\u201d Simmons, delivers an expository dialogue chunk recapping important character information. Swan is \u201cthat blackfella cop who had the speedy rise up through the ranks\u201d and \u201cgot your last boss locked up\u201d; he responds by saying he\u2019d \u201cdo it again if I had to\u201d \u2013 reiterating his status as an agent of change, upending the status quo to right old wrongs.<\/p>\n Some of Malcolm\u2019s lines feel a little hackneyed, given that we\u2019ve heard several iterations of them before \u2013 such as her declaration that \u201cwe do things differently here\u201d because the town \u201clooks after itself\u201d. Which is obviously true, if, by \u201clooks after itself,\u201d she means accommodating an escalating series of crimes and a growing number of dead bodies.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s not just Malcolm\u2019s character: many lines feel a little too stagey, a little too written. \u201cIt can take a lifetime to figure out the difference between good intentions and doing what\u2019s right,\u201d one character says; \u201cYou don\u2019t know what you\u2019re messing with, detective,\u201d says another.<\/p>\n \u2018Origin is ripe with the sense that the past can have a terrible effect on the present.\u2019 Photograph: David Dare Parker<\/p>\n