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SLiDE

An Aussie Skins? Bris-Vegas offers a little more hope and sunshine than bleak Bristol in FOX8's new teen drama.

There are times we can be grateful for being behind international trends.

In London the kids burn homes, loot shops, attack police and turn on their own communities. In Brisbane the worst you can do is go on a drinking binge, throw a wild hotel party, insult your parents and damage school property. That is, according to FOX8’s new teen drama SLiDE.

Built around the notion of ‘sliding’ from youth into adulthood, the 5 Brisbane-based characters are aged 17, leaving high school, embarking on sexual exploits, and at a point where there are opportunities to drive, drink, leave home and enter the world of employment (or unemployment).

In the premiere episode Ed (Ben Schumann) is having his 17th birthday party. His plan for a rage in a hotel room is detoured firstly by his very-square parents throwing a surprise party, complete with relatives and charades, and secondly by his friends being evicted from the hotel venue after running out of control.

The hotel is managed by Scarlett’s (Emily Iris Robins) obnoxious father (Ben Oxenbould). He has no time for his ungrateful daughter. Friends Luke (Brenton Thwaites) and Tammy (Gracie Gilbert) are also thrown out on their ear. Emo-gal Eva (Adele Perovic) is the fifth member of the gang, whose rebellious nature in school detention has shades of Breakfast Club.

But Ed’s big night becomes a chain of misadventures and delinquency that sees them wind up before the police. Each episode, we are told, will take place over 24 hours and involve a ‘group heist’ and first-time life experiences.

The 2 boys and 3 girls interact as a mix of best friends, platonic friends, unresolved sexual tension, and middle-class upbringing. They are big on SMS, social media and fashion.

With its ensemble characters, recklessness and coming of age it is hard not to pigeon-hole the show as an ‘Australian Skins.’ But this is lighter in tone, if less emotional. Bris-Vegas offers a little more hope and sunshine than bleak Bristol, but in its first outing there isn’t as much character either -perhaps it will come.

Foxtel is to be commended for setting the series in Brisbane, with too many dramas opting for Sydney and Melbourne.

The young cast are very good with Ben Schumann and Adele Perovic as early standouts. Brenton Thwaites is distractingly good-looking.

As if to instil an “us and them” canyon, adult roles here are incidental, too easily depicted as ignorant, cantankerous, dim and abusing their authority. It’s an easy by-product of the genre. If only they could see the world through the eyes of our kids….

To drive the energy, Director Shawn Seet makes the most of filming with hand-held cameras. The soundtrack’s rock and indie score and some nifty on-screen graphics add to its youthful feel.

But for all the tricks and teases everything still rests upon story, and the first episode spends a little too much time on self-centred Gen Y at the expense of establishing sympathetic characters.

With a little growing up this could yet develop into something very engaging.

SLiDE airs 7:30pm Tuesdays on FOX8.

32 Responses

  1. Please please please, make a new season. This was an amazing series and I would hate to see it go away. I hope that you will put it back on the air.

  2. I guess you have to be Australian to understand why the one character that I want to literally die is the only character referenced in most of these comments as a positive one. Ed is the most obnoxious, selfish, stupid piece of sh*t. Every time he speaks I want to punch him in the face. The idea that most people, I guess even the writers, have established him as the “main character” or “central character” of the show, makes me want to vomit. As for me every second of screen time that he has, brings me one step closer to not wanting to watch the show any more. I really like the show. The characters have their typical moron moments, as do most teen dramas, but apart from Ed, at least the other characters show some redeeming qualities and moments. Just one example, of the many that there are, for reasons why everyone should hate him as much as I do, is something that the writers didn’t even bother to mention. The fact that he broke the “V pack” with Tammy for me was not even the real issue. It was that she made it clear to him that she wanted him to be her “first” and at that point he STILL didn’t tell her the truth, meaning that if it hadn’t come out, she would have slept with his sleezy, disgusting, perverted ass, when she deserved so much better. I’m so damn tired of not just Ed the dick walking all over her, but that the writers are pushing Ed in her face to just forgive him and expecting empathy from the audience for her to do it. Not to mention the fact that the entire rest of the group knew the truth and none of them bothered to tell her. So, in conclusion, in case I haven’t made it perfectly clear. I think Ed is the biggest dickhead in the universe, and I wish Tammy would stand up to herself better, not just to him, but to the entire group. Punching him in the face was not nearly enough. And when they all showed up to her house the morning of the exam and she didn’t kick them the f*ck out, I was reeling. Heck, even the transvestite stupid little “brother” was walking all over her and being a little b*tch in the last episode, and she didn’t put him/her in his/her place either. Okay, I’m sure I’m going to get grief for this, since the main reason for my venting rant was because I searched desperately for any sort of comments online talking about what a complete loser A-hole Ed was, and couldn’t find one. Which just made me that much more pissed off and needing to make one for myself. Just to be clear, on a final note, I DO like the show. I just absolutely LOATHE the character Ed.

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