Wolf Creek - S01E02 Kutyukutyu (2016)

Review

Eve is going through the file she stole from the Police station in Darwin and notices the blue truck Mick drives in the background of a photo of a couple outside a pub in Kutyukutyu, Western Australia. She decides to head to the town to see if she can get a lead on her elusive prey, but discovers Mick isn't the only Predator in the Aussie desert. She does get help and a new friend, a dog that appears from nowhere. In Kutyukutyu she is staring at the pub as she drives along which unfortunately leads her to running into the ass of a police car. The normal checks are conducted and a sizeable quantity of dope is found in the van. Eve of course wasn't aware she had brought the van from druggies who had left their stash in the camper van. Welcome to the Western Australian justice system as Eve is locked up in a cell next to a couple of drunks.

Meanwhile Constable Sullivan Hill is on the lookout for Eve, though I don't get how he would have jurisdiction in another State, and Mick is roo shooting. Implausibly Hill discovers Eve in prison in the small remote town, but is thwarted by a local police officer who points out he'll need the paperwork to take the prisoner back across the border. Worse yet Eve could be facing some serious jail time, but she manages to escape before that becomes a reality. Since she doesn't have enough enemies yet in Australia Eve rips off the local redneck criminal fraternity, managing to pocket some cash and a gun. Naturally the small time hoodlums are out looking for her when they run across Mick in a local bar. So Eve has two different police forces, drug dealers, rednecks, and Mick looking for her, guess a low profile isn't her style. Of course she does now have a dog, who manages to be scarce when trouble is a brewing.

Mortecai in and I guess I didn't mention the opening credits for season one of Wolf Creek which are some of the best I've seen since The X-Files proved you could take them up a notch and not lose your audience. The theme tune, Who Killed Cock Robin? - Dan Luscombe, is certainly eerie enough, and with the montage of images it works in a chilling fashion. The show Producers are certainly showing content isn't going to be middle America friendly, but hell yeah it's not made with those people in mind, they will have to stick with the Sitcom Peggy Sue friendly brain mush. For horror fans in particular, and anyone else who likes their television on the wild side, the credits are working, this is a season for us, the rank and file need not apply.

Mick now aware of Eve, things about to get real in the next episode

If anything the second episode demonstrated there's a wild streak of dark humour in the Aussie psyche, and I have to say I'm not going to give a bad grade for that. Mick comes across a couple of Euro tourist gals at night, their car broken down, just outside the Wolf Creek national park. Naturally he fools them into going back to his place, for no doubt some hijinks Mick Taylor style. Just when we think Sullivan Hill is going to have a new entry in his dossier a carload of city dudes show up and offer to fix the broken down car on the spot, much to Mick's dismay. One of the city guys thinks Mick is old "perv" out for some party time and pretty much tells him the score. I kept thinking, any moment Mick is going to hit the after burners and go full psycho killer, but no our Boy is keeping it in his sheath. Next morning the city guy finds his expensive car has somehow ended up in a river, Mick sure is a scamp when you break it down. Excellent use of audience anticipation, throwing a twist into the mix, and I'm going to say it, adding a tad of character liking to Mick Taylor. If anything this episode is about building up the outback legend, adding some quirks to the cold blooded killer.

About the only scene in the entire second episode I had a problem with was the opening one with Mick seemingly tied to this wire fence thing. Was that some foreshadowing, or an attempt to demonstrate Mick's neurosis side? Your guess is as valid as mine amigos, but the scene seemed somehow out of place in the flow of the episode.

Eve certainly had a job of work to do this episode; the girl is going to need every ounce of guts she has to survive in what is increasingly being painted as a hostile environment. She runs across two groups of male predators, has a little help with the first group, and uses her athletic abilities to escape the second redneck possie. Add in an escape from Alcatraz, the dangers of spring traps, and Eve has her hands full. Guess Kutyukutyu was spending its time showing us just how determined and resourceful Eve is, the gal can certainly throw down in a tight spot and get her ass out of Dodge when needed. So friends and neighbours one of my concerns for season one laid to rest, Eve is going to be a match for Mick when she catches up to the wily outlaw, Mick might just be the victim in the coming confrontation.

Yes I know gorehounds will not be happy with this episode as Mick keeps it in check and the local rednecks prove to be pretty ineffective. I got some mail during the week, from this site and a couple of others, demanding to know about the body count, as I guess for many a mounting death toll is the purpose of horror. Well to answer your questions, zero in the way of deaths in the whole episode, besides a Roo (Kangaroo) that Mick shots and guts in graphic detail. Suck on this one PETA, and no it wasn't real, the Italians found out early on what happens if you kill real animals in front of the camera, looking at you Cannibal Holocaust. I'm expecting things to get a whole lot bloodier in the next episode, but could be wrong; the show writers are certainly throwing a few curve balls in our direction.

I have another slight worry about the first two episodes that we really need to clear up, namely the minor characters that are given big enough screen time to indicate they should appear in future episodes. In episode one we had the native cop Fatima, and now in the second episode we have Ruth, the Maori truck driver. While it can be argued that the characters drive the plot along, I'm still not comfortable with this approach, reserving judgement at this time, the characters may have a role to play in a future episode.

The second episode of Wolf Creek season one serves to introduce more background on the three leads, while showing their abilities, and focusing on their motivations and what drives them. So while a few people might grumble about it being a filler episode I say to them this is an evolving drama, we need to get to know the characters at an intimate level, and yes I am including Mick here. Lock and load folks, this is excellent tension filled drama from the Aussies, Mortecai out, watch the show!