Darby and Joan Season 1 – Review
Director: David Caesar, Ben C Lucas, Mairi Cameron, Jovita O’Shaughnessy
Writer: Keith Thompson, Paul Bennett, Phillip Gwynne, Andrew Anastasios, Guila Sandler, David Hannam, Adam Zwar, Beck Cole,Ainslie Clouston (Screenplay)
Writer: Phillip Gwynne, Glenys Rowe (Creators)
Cast
- Bryan Brown (Gods of Egypt)
- Greta Scacchi (Waiting for the Barbarians)
- Anna McGahan (Anzac Girls)
- John Waters (Stealth)
Plot: Two lone strangers trekking on the road – a retired Australian policeman with a dog as his only company and widowed English nurse – meet each other and embark on an epic odyssey in the outback of northern Australia.
Runtime: 50 Minutes Episodes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict on Darby and Joan Season 1
Episode 1 (D. David Caesar)
This starts as Joan (Scacchi) learns her husband has died but is shocked to learn he was in Australia when it happened. 6 months later, she travels down under in an attempt to learn about his mysterious life. It doesn’t take long for her to meet local Jack Darby (Brown) and the two join forces on the travel. However, the pair meet a small group of people struggling with the sale of their property and when one is found dead on the beach the pair have a mystery to solve.
This is a great introduction to the characters, giving them a chance to meet and bond over a journey. While not looking for a case, they find themselves solving a crime. The two make a great partnership and Joan’s adventure for answers is only just beginning. (4/5)
Episode 2 (D. David Caesar)
This starts when Jack requests a detour to a friend’s banana farm. They meet up with farmers Declan (Bisley) and Felicity (Milliken) who have had a robbery of their gun supply. As Joan meets the family and workers, she uses a more personal connection to learn about answers. While Jack finds a bigger story going on between his family friends.
This is a very different episode than what you might come to expect. Instead of a murder, we have a robbery. This takes a lot of the more serious moments in life and ends up becoming one of the best episodes of recent years. (5/5)
Episode 3 (D. Ben C Lucas)
This starts when Joan learns about another secret from her late husband’s life. She learns he has a daughter leading Jack to need to help calm and reassure Joan. However, the next discovery opens up even more questions. Meanwhile, the camping site they are staying in has a theft, leading to the pair trying to solve the mystery.
This opens a bigger mystery for Joan to deal with, it becomes the central part of the story, which keeps us coming back for more. Elsewhere, the theft becomes a side story, which lets Joan learn more about the people who have their own problems similar to Joan’s. (4/5)
Episode 4 (D. Ben C Lucas)
This starts by showing why Jack was driving the way he was when he first met Joan. Meanwhile, Jack takes Joan to enjoy her first Christmas down under. They run into a newlywed couple on their honeymoon with friends and join them on a diving trip. However, an incident leads to one of the divers getting injured, with Joan saving their life.
This is a nice Christmas episode taking us to an Australian Christmas. It has a nice mystery to solve, but it is starting to add plenty of levels to the bigger mystery about Joan’s husband. This leaves us shocked by the reveal while showing more of Jack’s former life as a detective. (4/5)
Episode 5 (D. Mairi Cameron)
This starts with the pair getting standard for New Year’s Eve, forced to share a motel room. They must work at the motel for the night to cover the room when they find themselves in the middle of a mystery. It sees one of the staff members dealing with threatening behavior from an outsider. All while dealing with the owner’s personal problems in the area.
This continues to prove the show has lighter mysteries going on. However, the main spotlight is placed upon Joan’s husband and his true identity. It opens more doors and now she wants to understand who he was and why he was wanted by the police.
Episode 6 (D. Mairi Cameron)
This starts when Jack gets a phone call from someone from his past. It leads to the pair traveling to a place from Jack’s past to help prove an Ironwoman failed a drug test costing her a championship. Jack must investigate the championship rival and friends to clear her name. All while tackling his past demons which still haunt him at night.
This does a great job at diving more into Jack’s past, it shows how people trust him with his criminal mind, but not his personal mind. It puts Joan in a difficult spot meeting people from Jack’s past, showing how isolated she can become in the area. On the mystery, we see one with plenty of suspects, being one of the most difficult to solve for the show. (4/5)
Episode 7 (D. Jovita O’Shaughnessy)
This starts with the aftermath of the shocking arrival of Joan’s daughter Rebecca. She wants to make sure she is doing ok and talk her into coming home. However, a strange case sees Joan and Jack getting involved with a family’s troubles. While Joan decides whether to break the truth to Rebecca, the three find themselves helping the family find a missing loved one.
This continues to bring the mystery life the husband had to life. All while remaining relatives deal with life after them. The case they get involved with has a nice approach, which handles a dysfunctional family and their problems. However, the bigger mystery about Joan’s husband is easily taking over the series. (3/5)
Episode 8 (D. Jovita O’Shaughnessy)
This starts when Jack and Joan find themselves tracked by a former friend Summer. It ends up with Jack lying in a hospital with his daughter taking the case. However, a former partner on the force Bill Carlton (John Jarratt) visits Jack. Elsewhere, Joan deals with another secret from her husband’s life and tries to help them deal with the loss.
This is a nice final episode, which completes the mystery about Joan’s husband. It also adds brings some more closure to the journey and Jack’s past. The mystery about Joan’s husband is the focal mystery and we get the answers needed to help overcome the uncertainty. (4/5)
Overall
This is a nice series following an unlikely pairing trying to solve the mystery of one of their husband’s deaths. It sees them traveling around Australia in search of for clues solving crimes. This is nice to step away from murders, by having more traditional crimes along the way. We get to learn mysteries about both characters as they bond after feeling lost in life. Bryan Brown and Greta Scacchi are both fun to watch. We could easily return to see what the pair get up to next on their journeys. Meanwhile, nothing is too violent, gory or anything along those lines.
Where to Watch
It is coming to DVD on 26 February.
Final Thoughts – Darby and Joan Season 1 is a delightfully comfy journey.
