Review

Simone, mother to the boy who died in the previous episode, contacts Robin and says she'll testify against Matt Mitcham and even better will bring in some of the other ladies working in the drug lab to back up her allegations. Meanwhile Matt, playing with people's minds once again, has contacted Detective Sergeant Al and is willing to confess, but only to Robin. That doesn't go quite as well as Robin had planned as Matt confesses to having a fling with Robin's mother in the 1970s, and states Robin is his daughter. Which naturally ensures Robin is pulled from Matt's case by Al.

Meanwhile a helicopter hired by Matt to search for Tui might have located her after spotting Putty in the bush near Chinaman. After a confrontation with his sons Matt goes bush looking for Tui. Luke, one of Matt's sons, contacts Johnno and soon Johnno and Robin are heading after Matt. Matt finds Tui's camp, she has given birth, Johnno and Robin catch up with Matt, and it all ends in bloodshed. Meanwhile a DNA test of Johnno and Robin adds yet another shock, and Robin finally discovers what the "green room" is after getting a holistic view of the wall of graduates at the coffee shop. We get a bunch of answers, a few things left hanging, and the feeling that a few plot elements were effectively redundant. Sorry a bit of a disappointment overall to be honest.

Okay I'm easily confused or parts of Top of the Lake made absolutely no sense. For example what the hell was it with G.J, she descends or rather sits through various scenes chewing up plot development while never really going anywhere. I got the whole women's collective thing, place of peace that various characters end up at when seeking some solace or whatever, but did we really need G.J shooting off various half arsed philosophies that when you think about them made exactly zero sense? While Holly Hunter was kicking goals her character was at best a plot device and at worse a distraction from the plot. I could name a few other characters as well, Penguin immediately comes to mind, who served zero real purpose and who are simply cluttering up the screen.

With that out of the way we're still looking at a pretty good conclusion to the mini-series that answered a number of questions, just not in the way we thought they would. To be honest I was expecting a hell of a lot worse to be shown, thankfully we didn't go there. The question of whether or not Matt had a few Roos bounding around the top paddock was answered in the affirmative. Our worse thoughts on the coffee shop were answered. And the parentage of Tui's baby was categorically made clear. I was actually quite pleased the concluding episode answered those questions while leaving what happens next up to the viewer's individual imagination. Guess this explains why there is a certain amount of antagonism toward Top of the Lake at various sites, looking at you imdb.com, some folk don't like shows that leave it open ended and hence have to attack those shows as they are predisposed to having all the answers shovelled onto their plates without having to think through things or use the imagination that has been distilled by a 1001 crap Boredwood movies. As stated previously life isn't tidy, why should you expect fiction to be?

Surprisingly, for a show that has been pretty dramatic orientated rather than action, there's a rising casualty list as the hour progresses. Tui exacts revenge on the father of her baby and then for no apparent reason adds another character for good measure, while Robin also has to use her police issued side arm as she discovers just how many secrets Lake Top is hiding. Add in some fisticuffs as the Mitcham clan disintegrates and you have a lot of violence to consume. Okay I'm not about to say it will satisfy gorehounds, not much in the way of claret with even shotgun victims looking like they may have minor grazes, but it did satisfy to a certain degree considering who a couple of the recipients are.

Guess we should get the T&A out of the way at this stage as well. Yes you get to see Elisabeth Moss' selection of bras and a brief nipple shot. Gals get Thomas M. Wright (Johnno) showing the gym work. So a little something for everyone, knock yourself out there, I was more engrossing in the plot to be honest. And if you believe that, I have a harbour bridge for sale.

Jane Campion once again rocks it out behind the camera, is she one of the best Directors New Zealand have unleashed on the planet? The opening shot of the episode was superb. We see some chick walking through the grass from about calf height. It's a shot that shouldn't work but adds to the surreal nature of the mini-series effectively. Equally Robin realising there's a link between the kids who graduated at the coffee shop is visualised by Campion pulling back her camera focus from a single photo on a wall to a wide angle showing every graduate of the coffee program, two of which we know have died in strange circumstances already. Campion constantly has her frames working overtime to convey feeling, mood, isolation, coldness, whatever feeling she wishes the audience to decipher from individual scenes. Full marks, someone toss this Director a script to a haunted house outing she is going to freaking nail it!

I've previously mentioned Campion's ability to use ambient noise to convey emotion, in this episode she delivers rain falling, wind, and waves on the lake. It's a disquieting chilling approach that constantly has the viewer wondering if there is danger lurking, especially when Campion uses the camera as an almost voyeuristic device putting the viewer directly into scenes.

Guess it's a bit redundant to be talking about the excellent cast that has shined on through during the six episodes of Top of the Lake but I just thought I would highlight Elisabeth Moss (Robin) the only person who could have played the character, Peter Mullan (Matt) superb performance, and the ever reliable David Wenham (Al) who delivers a sleazy performance to match his character's personality.

Well got to say I thoroughly enjoyed Top of the Lake with the final episode throwing some surprises my way as well as ticking off the items I had deduced correctly. Simply superior television that deserves all the awards and accolades it has received thus far. While I'm in no way an expert on Kiwi television I would still state this is the best thing I've seen so far from across the ditch in that medium, and I'm now kind of hoping for something else. Full recommendation to folk who love their television fare serious on occasion, Top of the Lake will not only surprise you but will keep you entertained and glued to your screen.