Loveday Writing

I wrote in my review of the pilot that I didn’t know what to expect from the show and I questioned whether Mauboy’s singing abilities were relied on too much, and if Billie was always a singer or created to be a singer because Mauboy was cast as her. I also wrote in my review of the pilot that the Norton family were filling the typical moulds of a rich family – Jack was the regretful patriarch, Susan was the younger and questionable trophy wife, Chris was the oldest workaholic child, Jamie the fun-loving middle child, and Harriet the open-minded youngest child.

The first season heavily focused on the mystery of whether Billie was Jack’s daughter. The second episode ended with the reveal that Billie’s DNA was a match to Jack and therefore making her a Norton, only for this reveal to be undermined in the following episode with Harriet revealing she swapped Billie’s DNA sample with one of her own. In my review of the third episode, I felt that this reveal made the writing appear sloppy. After a season of toing-and-froing, Billie is finally confirmed as a Norton after finding a picture of her and Jack when she was a baby, when she returns to her home town.

As well as establishing whether Billie is in fact a Norton, the series also focuses on Billie building her singing career, especially in season two. Billie initially gets a contract with a record company, only to discover it’s filled with risks and she eventually discovers that the record company wants to control and alter her image, which leads to her ripping up the contract and walking away. The second season also has Susan trying to control Jack’s riches, Gus having a serious health scare, and the reveal that Jack bought the hotel via insider trading.

The second season (and the show) ends with the hotel being damaged by a fire Susan accidentally started, and the family moving to Walperinga as Chris and Vivienne (the hotel chef and Chris’ partner) bought the local pub where Billie, Layla and their band perform, essentially bringing the show back to where it started.

I wrote in my review of the second season finale (and what ended up being the series finale) that if the series wasn’t renewed, it ended on a high note. On another note, I was also shocked that Mauboy was the first Indigenous lead actor in a scripted drama, shocked that this milestone took so long to reach and only happened recently, it should have been reached sooner.

Behind the Reviews – Edition #29 will be released next week and will focus on The Time Traveler’s Wife.