series’extendedensemble.OutsideofthecentralPav/
Claudia/Leonieaxis,there’sgayVietnamese-Australian
universitystudentSully(KoaNuen),whosewell-meaning
mother,Iris(CarinaHoang),meddlesin hislovelifewhen
she’snotrunningthelocaldeli.Sullyis attractedtohis
bestfriend,IranianrefugeeAsh(PhoenixRaei),whoin
turnis strugglingwithbeingtreatedlikeanexoticnovelty
byhiswealthy,whitefriends.Ash’syoungerbrother,Kam
(YazeedDaher),is a nascententrepreneurdetermined
to work his way out of poverty,but finds studyingin a
crowded,multi-generationalhouseholddifficult– he gets
anunexpectedallyin fellow immigrant businessperson
Iris.Andon,andon.
Throughoutthesetanglednarrativeandrelationship
dynamics,keythemesrecuragainandagain:identity,
community,self-determination.Often,thesearepresen-
tedin oppositiontooneanother.Sullywantstobea
teacher,in spiteofhismother’sexpectationthatheas-
piretoa loftierprofession.Sabineseeksa senseofself
outsideofandseparatetoheridentityasa personwitha
disability.Pav,themost‘conventional’oftheseries’pro-
tagonists(he’sstraight,white,maleandmiddle-aged),
wantsa romanticrelationshipwithClaudia,butmust
contendwiththebaggageofhisoldlifeandhiscurrent,
ratherstraitenedcircumstances.Charactersfrequently
struggletobewhotheywanttobe,orelsefeel they are
constrainedbysocietalorculturalforces.
Whatemergesastheseries’otherbigthemeis gen-
trification;as Renee(SaskiaHampele),who is married
totradesmanMark(DanParis),remarkstoLeoniein an
early episode,‘Our housepriceswouldgo up 20 per
centif thetowersweren’tthere.’It’sthroughthelocal
pub,TheRailway,thattheshowdevelopsthistheme
mostacutely.Afterthedeathofherfather,hardwork-
ing, put-uponproprietorHazel (FionaPress)plans to
sell the establishmentquicklyand move on, but finds
shemustshareherinheritancewithherestranged
son,Ryan(MitchellBourke),anddrug-dependent
daughter,Shannon(BriallenClarke)– the motherof
the abandonedbaby of the first episode.A raft of
hitherto-unknowndebts meansthey must work toge-
ther to run the establishment, with Ryan, who hasWhileit hasbeencelebratedasa
working-classdrama,theshowis
carefulnottobe tooworking-class
...Ourtrueprotagonistsprove
tobeindividualswithnosmall
amountofcomparative power
and wealth.Above,fromtop:Pav’sson,Mich(CalenTassone),andformerfather-in-law,
Bruce (Bernie Davis); Ash and Sully with Fraser (Zachary Drieberg); Sully
46 • Metro Magazine 201 | © ATOM