This is excellent storytelling. Cleverman brings Indigenous storytelling to the 21st Century, and seamlessly weaves it into an alternate present. It's the story of the exclusion of the Hairypeople, mutantesque people described by the government as 'subhuman' and condemned to live in 'the zone', separated from the rest of society.
One episode in so far and there's excellent shades of grey in both the story and characters. Neither of the two brothers at the centre of the story - Koen and Waruu - are simple good or bad guys. Both grew up in 'the zone' but are not Hairypeople themselves, and now live on the outside. Koen and his mate Blair make money trafficking Hairypeople out of the zone, and then make more when they report them to the authorities. Waruu on the other hand, works in the zone as a sort of community leader, but is also having an affair. When the young daughter of a family trafficked out of the zone by Koen and Blair is shot dead, the stage is set for both community outcry and conflict between the brothers.
There is a lot that is going on in terms of Indigenous myth, and Cleverman doesn't give the viewer a cheat sheet. You need to watch and listen and piece things together as you go along. But the reality is that it isn't difficult to do so. You don't need to know the specifics around language used by the hairies (it's Gumbaynggirr, spoken on the mid-north coast of NSW), the war club given to Koen by Uncle Jimmy (a nulla nulla or waddi) or even the fact that both the Cleverman and Hairypeople are specifically from Indigenous culture. Really, all sci-fi/fantasy/superhero genre fare has similar elements, but in this case those are taken from Indigenous story and history.
Ignore the few mindless low scores here. Those reviewers simply have short attention spans and cannot follow a show with nuance, thinking that Cleverman needs to have flashy explosions and telegraphed good and bad. This is a show that wants an intelligent viewer willing to invest their thought. If you are willing and have an attention span longer than 5 minutes, you will not be disappointed.
One episode in so far and there's excellent shades of grey in both the story and characters. Neither of the two brothers at the centre of the story - Koen and Waruu - are simple good or bad guys. Both grew up in 'the zone' but are not Hairypeople themselves, and now live on the outside. Koen and his mate Blair make money trafficking Hairypeople out of the zone, and then make more when they report them to the authorities. Waruu on the other hand, works in the zone as a sort of community leader, but is also having an affair. When the young daughter of a family trafficked out of the zone by Koen and Blair is shot dead, the stage is set for both community outcry and conflict between the brothers.
There is a lot that is going on in terms of Indigenous myth, and Cleverman doesn't give the viewer a cheat sheet. You need to watch and listen and piece things together as you go along. But the reality is that it isn't difficult to do so. You don't need to know the specifics around language used by the hairies (it's Gumbaynggirr, spoken on the mid-north coast of NSW), the war club given to Koen by Uncle Jimmy (a nulla nulla or waddi) or even the fact that both the Cleverman and Hairypeople are specifically from Indigenous culture. Really, all sci-fi/fantasy/superhero genre fare has similar elements, but in this case those are taken from Indigenous story and history.
Ignore the few mindless low scores here. Those reviewers simply have short attention spans and cannot follow a show with nuance, thinking that Cleverman needs to have flashy explosions and telegraphed good and bad. This is a show that wants an intelligent viewer willing to invest their thought. If you are willing and have an attention span longer than 5 minutes, you will not be disappointed.