I appreciate what Eden TRIED to be. The Rashomon-style narrative where each episode tells the story from a character's perspective, when done well, could have an amazing payoff. This is where the creators failed. A few of the characters weren't important to Hedwig's story so what we got is a series that meandered its way to a lacklustre "twist". Too much time was spent trying to needlessly mislead the audience when we could have had a much tighter story. Maybe in 6 episodes rather than the 8 we ended up with?
Everything in this series hinges on the character of Hedwig, which means she needs to be written brilliantly. One character claims Hedwig's enigmatic. I disagree. She was frustrating to watch because she remained a blank slate until the very last episode where we suddenly get a characterisation dump. It's never clear why everyone is immediately smitten with her. Yes, she's stunning to look at, but beyond that, there needs to be compelling reasons why so many characters are as obsessed as they are with her. Instead, we just get dreamy, gauzy shots of her in daydreams and flashback. Why is she so haunting? I still have no clue! Many other shows have gone the route of enigmatic character everyone's crazy about, and many have done it far better than this.
For a truly good Australian show, watch Black Snow or The Tourist. I watched Eden after bingeing the other two and it doesn't even compare to them in terms of quality, especially Black Snow which is so brilliant.
Everything in this series hinges on the character of Hedwig, which means she needs to be written brilliantly. One character claims Hedwig's enigmatic. I disagree. She was frustrating to watch because she remained a blank slate until the very last episode where we suddenly get a characterisation dump. It's never clear why everyone is immediately smitten with her. Yes, she's stunning to look at, but beyond that, there needs to be compelling reasons why so many characters are as obsessed as they are with her. Instead, we just get dreamy, gauzy shots of her in daydreams and flashback. Why is she so haunting? I still have no clue! Many other shows have gone the route of enigmatic character everyone's crazy about, and many have done it far better than this.
For a truly good Australian show, watch Black Snow or The Tourist. I watched Eden after bingeing the other two and it doesn't even compare to them in terms of quality, especially Black Snow which is so brilliant.