by Joseph Carlson
Is a Australian-American-New Zealand television program that debuted earlier this year. The whole first season is on Netflix. This is a review of the first episode.
The first episode starts of in the near-future when "hairies" are a sub-set of humans that look like cavemen but are gifted with enhanced strength and speed. They live in a part of the city all by themselves called "The Zone".
We are then introduced to the "Cleverman" a clergy for the Aboriginal people and as it appears in the first episode about to retire. He then chooses an heir, and has to pick between two brothers, Koen West, a brother who sells hairies who are seeking asylum out to the police and Waruu West, a man that is presented as very peaceful and works within the zone to have humans and hairies living together.
On the surface the choice seems pretty clear who you would pick, but that's were this show sets itself apart. The chosen heir is Koen West and we find out in the first episode that he is not a good person and to me that is probably the most dramatic thing about the show.
The rest of the cast is great and the acting and dialogue is good too. I recommend putting in some time to watch the first episode at least to see if you like it. I'll have a review of the rest of the series next Friday so I can have time to fully enjoy it and give my impressions.
Cleverman is now available on Netflix