Talk us through itA small band of Maori warriors is fleeing a battle where we learn they got well and truly owned by the neighbouring tribe. An old Chief, dying of the wounds received in battle, vows to return to exact utu. Well at least that's what I took from a speech involving hawks and the like. Cut to the present and Sean is leading his college's haka practice. Mangopare College for those interested. His two teachers, apparently impressed, claim he is the leader they have been waiting for. Sean is given a patu, which coincidentally is the one the old dying chief was wavering about. His parents notice changes in the lad, like he wants to brain his step dad every five minutes, and with modern medicine failing to provide a cure turn to traditional methods. Will they be quick enough or will the old chief working through Sean exact utu? Ready to go multi-generational?
Review"This clock was worn by the Chief Kakarapiti to ward off the weapons of war. It will guide your destiny" - TeacherToday's lesson: The Maori belief in utu, or revenge, is deep seated and can journey down time from one generation to the next. Old enmities are not forgotten in Maori culture and a modern tribe can hold a grudge against a neighbouring tribe for something that took place in pre-colonial times. Director Carter starts off his excellent episode with a close up of a tranquil stream, he then clouds the issue with blood in the water. It's 1750 AD and a small band of Maori warriors are in flight from their enemies. Loved the ritual movements the band display, and when we get to them their pursuers display. The old Chief Kakarapiti is dying of wounds received in battle and makes one of those cool death bed speeches full of meaning and a touch of revenge driven motivation. Well I guess we know where this is header and are just chomping at the bit to get there. We then cut, and it's a pretty seamless movement through time, to the modern day with a college group laying down a pretty decent haka. Sean is the group leader surprisingly, the kid's slightly overweight and short, and as we soon learn will be the instrument of Kakarapiti's revenge against the descendants of his sworn enemy. Talk about your visiting the sins of the fathers and all that. The rest of the episode involves the gradual possession of Sean by Kakarapiti, and the revelation that Sean's step dad is the last descendant of Pahikahira, chief of the tribe that inflicted defeat on Kakarapiti's warriors. Director Carter has a serious amount of themes to get through during the episode, but remains calm and collected throughout in delivering an outsiding half an hour or so of television. Director Carter is on fire in The Last Plume and shows that he is well aware of the U.S classic horror movie The Exorcist. Carter pretty much gives us a modern day Maori version, just without pea soup, a demonic influence, or the out and out scare tactics used to clobber audiences back in 1973 during The Exorcist's initial theatre run. Carter has his tactics on but is also after frying a completely different belief system. If they needed someong to do the prequel of The Exorcist then they should have given Carter a bell and then slept tight in the knowledge that CGI hyneas wouldn't be making the scene. Similarly to events depicted in The Exorcist things start on a slow boil. Sean receives the patu, Kakarapiti's influence starts to grow, then Sean receives the old chief's clock influence turns to direction, before finally Sean receives the "last plume", a head band, and he becomes the unthinking instrument of his dead ancestor. If you think back to The Exorcist and Regan's gradually descent in the first half of that movie then the parallels are obvious. Unfortunately for Director Carter he simply doesn't have the time or resources to fully explore this aspect of The Last Plume, would have loved to see what he could do with a half decent budget and a feature length run time. 
Similarly, once again, to The Exorcist Rina, Sean's mother, first turns to modern medicine in order to find a reason for her son's malaise, before turning to more traditional methods. In The Exorcist Chris O'Neil runs her daughter through a whole battery of tests, for some viewers the most frightening aspect of the movie, before in desperation over medical science failing her daughter turning to the Roman Catholic church and the ancient rites of exorcism, the casting out of demons. Rina doesn't have the time to run through the whole gambit of medicine, here running time dictates a clinical psychologist, before turning to her estranged father notably a Priest himself. Naturally Rina is far more attuned to elementary forces than Chris O'Neil is. Notably Carter takes a whole darker approach to the resolution of his plot than Friedkin did in The Exorcist, before shining some light at the end of the tunnel for Rina. One scene in particularly stands out in The Last Plume as Carter delivers the best jolt scene thus far that I've seen in Mataku. It's late night and Sean is in his room practicing with the patu, foreign readers should note there are very stylised actions with most Maori weapons, in front of a full length mirror. In what's got to be a great display of camera control and angle, Sean suddenly notes the spirit of Kakarapiti behind his own reflection in the mirror. He turns around, and of course the Maori chief isn't there, but when he turns back to the mirror Rina is suddenly reflected behind him. If we avoid the obvious "how did she get there that quick" criticism, Carter maybe making a point about adult guidance here, it's a startling and unsettling sequence. Given the short run time, Director Carter is expertly extracting every single nuance he can from that run time before the resolution hits us in the forehead. Sean's two teachers keep giving each other meaningful looks, they know more than they are saying, Carter will let us in on the secret later in the episode. Equally Sean is the only one who can see Kakarapiti's shade, once again reflecting Regan being the only one who can see Captain Howdy in The Exorcist. Carter's handling of the Chief's appearances is pretty impressive throughout and shows a deft knowledge of camera angles and screen frames. After Pahi, Sean's stepdad, has disarmed his son of a hand axe Rina arrives and immediately demands to know what he has done, those tribal differences huh. And finally as Rani and her father are racing toward her house to try and save Pahi and Sean, there are dark clouds gathering above Auckland and lightening going down, the old nature reflecting events strategy. Overall Carter has this horse broken and is cantering it around the ring. William Park (Sean) takes the lead here and doesn't really delivered a believable performance. I didn't for a second think he would be "the leader" the teachers were waiting for. Pete Smith (Pahi) does okay and plays it relaxed, spot on would be my call there. But stealing the episode was Sue Garton (Rina) who is all over her role and delivering in bucket loads. Once again Hirini Melbourne livens up the episode with traditional Maori instruments, but I didn't note much in the way of a score being used. Probably I was too engrossed in the plot to take note.
Summary ExecutionGot to say I loved The Last Plume and I was onboard Director Carter's soul train from opening frame to last frame. The whole concept of utu doesn't get enough cinematic loving for mine, but at least Carey Carter is giving it a hug. I actually watched the episode twice in a row as there is a lot more going down than a first viewing will reveal, simply an excellent outing in all aspects.From what I can see 13 episodes of Mataku is apparently our lot, there's no mention on the web sites I've visited of additional releases in the franchise. Pity really as a slight increase in episode runtime, bigger budgets all round, and some more exploration of Maori myth could result in International sales to the core markets. A reminder for readers outside New Zealand, if you see this series appearing on cable or network television then book time to catch it. I've drawn a pretty big comparison between The Last Plume and The Exorcist in terms of general plot development and to a certain degree themes. I hold Friedkin's movie as one of the twenty greatest ever releases in the horror genre, which should indicate how highly I'm rating Carey Carter's episode of Mataku. In short, a must watch episode as it pretty much sells Mataku on it's own merits. I deducted a single rating point as actor William Park didn't sell me his role.
ScaryMinds Rates this episode as ... Almost the perfect episode, fingers cross Carey Carter returns for another outing.
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