Pine Gap (2018) User Reviews (165)

Espionage and Intrigue

[Herbalicious_690 · 8/10 · 16 October 2018]

Just finished the first series. Really strong production values across the board, except the musical score which works well but is mainly underscoring background music rather than feature music. Script is intelligent while not being overly hard to follow, and there is a good balance between information the audience needs to retain for the story-details to make sense. The script is not overly dense with hard-to-follow information, but neither does it assume the audience have shut their brains down into unthinking mode thereby needing every little detail explained over and over.

Cast are well chosen for the main part, some characters develop a lot more slowly over time, but are done with some intelligence by the director and producers. There is sometimes a little too much emphasis on side-ways glances and surreptitious looks and reactions, done sometimes to distract, sometimes to raise suspicion, sometimes to direct our attention (all normal), but does sometimes lack a little subtlety in the directorial execution. My assumption this is done for the sake of an international audience.

Plot is engaging, has enough intrigue to build interest, contains a complexity that is allowed to unfold over time that requires a little patience (which gets rewarded), maintains a pace that doesn't quite keep you on the edge of the seat, but nor does it set out or pretend to try and be people swinging from exploding buildings or planes at 20,000 feet.

Finally, a comment to the few reviewers claiming "anti-american" script, I would recommend watching more than the first opening scenes. This is a story, entertainment, all based around espionage and intrigue. Chinese are keeping secrets, Aussies are keeping secrets, the Yanks are keeping secrets, heck - everyone is keeping secrets from everyone. The plot revolves around exploring 4 concepts - Money, Ideology, Coercion and Ego. It's not even CLOSE to being anti-American, but it also does not paint America as the untainted hero to the world. Surprise surprise, NSA, CIA etc have done some questionable things at different times in history. Whoopdy frikkin' doo. Welcome to Earth.

Diamond in the rough.

[troy-boulton · 8/10 · 15 May 2019]

Pine Gap is a compelling, well written and sharply produced mini series that deserves a view from everyone into spy thrillers and procedurals/mysteries. With strong production values, this is one of ABC (Australia's) better recent series. Pine Gap is not without its flaws - it nearly lost me early on with some painfully ham-fisted terminology goofs and technical misrepresentations of technologies central to the plot. The show manages to transcend these transgressions with its strong performances, tight pacing and otherwise tantalisingly layered plot and characters, and learns to mostly back away from the dangers of inaccurate specificity in later episodes... After binging the series in 2 sittings, I found myself wanting more...

Impressive

[Ioreka · 8/10 · 16 June 2021]

Very enjoyable story with strong characters who make you care about what happens to them. The broader plot is credible and the atmosphere of small town Alice is intriguingly portrayed. The personal loves of the characters interweave really well with the plot and keep you interested and guessing. I often don't bother with second seasons, but I probably will with this one, even tho season 1 is nicely complete in itself.

and you thought we were friends?

[jazfro · 15 October 2018]

I have only seen the first two episodes, so this review is about a work in progress. I felt that the geopolitical context was timely and relevant for anyone living in or near one of the "five eyes" countries. The storyline is good, if somewhat predictable with regards to the Chinese bogeyman, but the tensions between American and Aussies are culturally accurate, if at times a little crude. The romantic sub-plot is too obvious and somewhat contrived, but I guess that's par for the course if the series takes a couple of unexpected turns (not likely so far, but who knows?). If you enjoyed Berlin Station, you may like this one as a remote controlled / drone version along the same kind of spy series. Not perfect, but still very watchable. And there are some spectacular views of the Australian outback.

Entertaining and frightening too

[markel-87497 · 7/10 · 24 December 2018]

I am not usually a fan of plot-driven series but this one is solidly directed with a good cast. The result, thanks to some good scriptwriting, is also entertaining primarily because it also manages to be character driven. The characters seem like real people for the most part, caught up in the ugly political maelstroms of the time.

Pine Gap is frightening because the show actually emphasizes that no one's hands are clean, that America, China and Australia are all players in a drama that will likely see the decline of the US and Europe, and the emergence of China as a world power. But one wrong move could easily make all our previous conflagrations look like minor skirmishes.

Good solid drama, don't get the criticism

[scottsideasare · 9/10 · 22 January 2019]

I'm not sure where the criticism comes from on this series. The comments critical about realism forget that this isn't a documentary. If that's your criteria then good luck with any series. It's a well crafted intrigue with solid characters with a great mix of an overarching major plot points with excellent subplots. Episode 5 and 6 are a fabulous wrap up that leaves you guessing until the final minutes.

Good, solid production

[jestak · 6/10 · 14 November 2020]

I am enjoying immensely this show. The characters and writing are top notch. There is a bit of predictability relative to some of the characters, but that's not too bad. The geo-political aspects are intriguing. I do find the American-Australian inter-agency squabbling a bit tiring. I would find it hard to believe that in a professional setting that national squabbles would be so open. And maybe it's true that some Americans simply dismiss Australians, but I've never seen that. When the American president harangues Australian interests privately, I think that's way overdone. It feels forced. I love the scenery in a beautiful county and the people are so wonderful. The intrigue is nicely done.....not too drawn out. A good show, well worth watching.

Great Australian drama

[melaniemorrison-27861 · 9/10 · 6 November 2018]

Not sure why Pine Gap is getting bad reviews. The topic is perfect for the current political climate, the acting is sensational and the location scenes in Alice Springs and surrounds is stunning. I'm aware that life inside Pine Gap is likely to be tedious data gathering performed by a bunch of 'yes' people but that would make for tedious viewing. I like that series writers have created such dynamic, diverse, intriguing characters who have opinions about real things. (In the real world they world they would never have been allowed to work in 'intelligence'). I hope there will be a new series.... feel that there are still many loose ends.

Appropriate and fairly accurate depiction of geopolitical status

[plecgs · 7/10 · 27 November 2018]

The first three episodes stated off fairly slowly but picked up speed in the last three. Some predictable love interests but not really convincing. The conflicts between AU and US is conceivable an I'd say very presentable considering current political climate with respect to China. I felt that the series made some valid political statements and was very entertaining.

When is season 2 coming?

[bwilliamson-61219 · 10/10 · 4 January 2019]

We thoroughly enjoyed season 1 and were looking to find season release date. We are terribly disappointed to see negative responses. We watched on Netflix and at the end of each episode were riveted to watch the next episode. We are now on a cliff waiting for the end result.

Aussie Backlash

[iamironman-32162 · 7/10 · 12 December 2018]

So apparently this show which has all the makings of becoming a 5 season plus "hallmark" endeavor will not be receiving even a 2nd season due to the Australian viewers having the opinion that the show paints Australians in a negative light, so they basically sent Netflix a "Cease and Desist" letter to that effect thus insuring that another great show will be cancelled. Shame on you for your "non concurrence" Australia!!!

Keeps you in doubt into season 2

[fmobieglo · 8/10 · 30 December 2018]

When I started to watch this show, I didn't know what to think of it. it didn't particularly grab me, but kept me interested enough to keep on watching. And it stayed that way until the end of season 1. And there where two cliffhangers that makes me want to see season 2 as well.

The series is what you can expect. Some romance, some drama, some unexpected turn of events and plenty of factors playing an influence. In the series you follow A-crew from the secret listening post Pine Gap, located in the outback of Australia. Pine Gab is a collaboration between the US and Australia, which means that there is a dynamic of two governments and a sort of divide between American en Australian operatives within A-crew. As the serie progresses, the tension on the world stage increases and that means tension in A-crew increases as well. With a few twists here and there, the series keeps itself interesting, though at some points I find the dynamic between certain characters a little unbelievable.

Some of the members of a-crew get a lot of attention and we get to know a lot about their background, while other members stay relatively in the shadows. The last part is a bit of a downer, since it doesn't make you bond with members who'll be playing a major role in season 2. It also doen't explain certain behavior shown by those members. But the series did managed to keep me watching and half way through starts making things interesting. The ending of the season is good enough to make me want to watch season 2. So i'm going to rate this a 8 out of 10 and would advise people who like series that revolve around secret agencies to watch this show. Remember though, this is not an action series, so don't expect gun blazing action and bond style like situations (or even those out of homeland).

jolly good

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 1 September 2021]

An aussie production with a fun premise... what if the u.s. And australia teamed up for a joint intelligence facility, but cracks start forming in that partnership? And if there's an employee not loyal the cause, how do they go about tracking down the spy? It's a good story, with some high tech gadgetry. But it does have its drawbacks.... the top secret government employees talk about everything under the sun, just everywhere they go. I'm sure they would be more secretive about everything they say and do... ie their own relationships, the top secret stuff going on at the office, their co-workers, and world politics. They never seem to be worried about what they are saying, and where they are saying it. Like so many other things on netflix, there's only one season of six episodes, and who knows if there will ever be more?? It's from 2018, so that may be the end of it. Directed by aussie Mat King. Written by Greg Haddrick, Felicity Packard.

Homework required

[Photon37 · 1/10 · 6 January 2019]

Before writing a series about Pine Gap you would think that the writers would do some homework first, researching some of the detail that would be covered in the episodes to at least align what many of the viewers would expect to be accurate to enable them to think that the detail that they don't know about is potentially accurate.

One really simple set of errors is around the US fighters that were targeted by radar with one being shot down. F16 fighters do not fly off US aircraft carriers, however F18s and F35s can, which could have been checked using something as simple as Wikipedia. Similarly US Navy planes are flown by US Navy pilots, not the USAF (other than a handful of exchange pilots who could be from the USAF or from an allied country, e.g. the UK Royal Navy had some pilots fly with the US Navy).

There are multiple issues with how the drone imagery was shown. Drones like the Predator do not hover in one place to get the same viewpoint, instead they fly around and you'll get at least some changes in the viewpoint. The same will happen with satellite images which will show a different perspective due to their orbital motion.

One plot element revolves around there being a single server which controlled all the intelligence related operations plus other stuff like the air conditioning. Clearly none of the researchers had spoken to anyone with any enterprise IT architecture experience. There is no way that this would happen.

As for using a graphics card to send data to a mobile phone, a graphics card wouldn't be able to do this at all. They do not have the hardware to do this. They could have used a WiFi network card but why would one be installed on a highly classified PC in a secure facility?

A plot element needed someone to write the code to implement this with them having a few minutes to do so. Whilst a few minutes might allow you to write some simple code, doing anything remotely complex wouldn't be possible. Plus you'd need something like a JDK / SDK / compiler to be installed.

All of this had to be done from a PC in a single room, but since there was only a single server for the entire Pine Gap facility, you would be able to do this from any PC connected.

The list of mistakes / errors due to poor research is a lot more than what I've listed. Surely you'd have expected that the production company would have used some people with expert knowledge to do some fact checking first? Or as a minimum had their writers read a few Wikipedia articles or maybe a few Tom Clancy novels?

Different, but could've been better

[MAD_PIGE0N · 13 December 2020]

It is a positive review, as the idea for the show is original. It's the characters that aren't the best, most of them too cheesy and trivial, but overall not the best acting. Which is fine, what lowers my rating not to give it 7 stars is the gap in the plot - who and why conspired and how did they manage to mislead so easy such a top security in every aspect place and people. But it's fine to watch anyway.

From great start to far fetched

[Rongu_Jonzu · 6/10 · 22 February 2021]

Yet another series with good setting, realistic reminder of Australia's geopolitical situation and just when the plot is supposed to thicken the story is taking a fast track to stupidity, dialogue changed to absurd and the characters of higher authority in the series are the dumbest of all. Might have been rather accurate description of the current US president's office though.

Excellent, but not your average spy production

[tim-1519 · 10/10 · 16 December 2018]

This is unusual for a spy thriller in so much as there are no car chases. no guns and no ludicrous special effects.

It's a lot more cerebral than most productions of this genre and the line between good guys and bad guys is murky at best which messes with your head when we are used to having a clear delineation.

I can definitely understand if you watch movies like the latest Mission Impossible (as I was unfortunate enough to do last night) and find they to be your idea of a great spy type movie, that this may seem a bit slow.

The action does come in bursts and as I said above, it isn't the traditional chases and knife fights, but action inside a huge Ops room as people away from the real conflict try to make sense of it and deal with it accordingly.

I'm a Brit so was on the fence, but my guess is that if you're an Aussie or an American, then you will lean toward your country making the best political decisions and being 'in the right' and the other country not really understanding what's at stake.

But those "American" accents...

[artboy34 · 6/10 · 31 March 2019]

Mildly intriguing and easy to watch, but the storylines tend to drag on a little too long. The most distracting part is the British/Australian actors trying to sound American. The accents are not done well at all. Not. At. All. Other than that, it's six episodes of entertainment shot in beautiful settings.

Finely crafted, highly contemporary thriller

[lhunt-9 · 10/10 · 23 December 2018]

There is an obvious draw for stories about the aspects of our world that are changing. Aerial surveillance and drone warfare are a prime example. This theme was tackled well by Eye in the Sky, but of course, it was a feature film with a necessary resolution at the end of the story. Pine Gap digs further into this new technology, and sets the story in Australia, which opens the door to exploring the theme of international cooperation as well. So, what is life like when you're in the business of aerial surveillance, drone warfare, and risk assessment? Not unexpectedly, the characters' lives are very much like others' lives, but with this wild card factored in. Thus, much of their work is confidential. Secrecy is necessary, and may become habitual. There is always the possibility of intrusion, sabotage, mixed motives, conflicting policies. Add to that blend well-drawn and deeply sympathetic characters, and set it in an already cross-cultural Australian context (in Alice Springs). That will bring you to Pine Gap, a most compelling production, and well worth further seasons.... This is a great show well-tailored to our age.

Entertaining, but some annoying errors

[lakemens · 6/10 · 2 March 2019]

Just finished binge watching quickly, got entertained overall, but really annoyed...

For crying out loud, since when do American carriers have f16's on board? Anyone do the homework in how the real world works.

And do call me nerd, but when a Chinese makes a toast, how come he does so with the Aboriginal guy in Korean? Unless my last time of drinking sodju was not Koreans but Chinese. I may be mistaken, but it annoyed the hell out of me.

Surprisingly good but let down by the ending

[futurebob99 · 7/10 · 25 January 2020]

If the 24 series was set solely in CTU with some Cludo, Australian outback and basketball you'd get Pine Gap.

It's not your typical action spy thriller but slower intrigue that comments on real political issues Australia faces where it's sandwiched between it's old ally America and newer juggernaut trading partner China. Throw in a US intelligence base situated in Australia, manned by Americans and Australians and you get the powder keg that is Pine Gap.

The 'America is not the world saviour' comments are refreshing but gets lost when America becomes some god-like voice in the ops room.

The signals aspect is new and reminiscent of The Wolf's Call, although not as fleshed out and in-depth.

Certain camera angles are annoying to the viewer. I believe they are trying to show a very on the nose disconnect between two people talking but it just ends up being irritating.

Interesting enough to keep me watching till the end but that's where the execution falls apart - when they rush to solve the Cludo problem. The mystery will be solved but presented in a manner that will go way over your head. But then the show introduces an unanswered twist which calls that into question. So was the Cludo problem actually solved? Does not feel like a logical place to end the series, especially when there is no confirmation of season 2. An extremely amateur 'screw the viewer' move.

Intelligent and Engaging

[rwassmer-75884 · 8/10 · 6 February 2019]

This limited series takes a bit to rev up, but several threads emerge that are convincingly woven into a complex and convincingly real plot. The subject matter is high tech intelligence and the managers and analysts who staff a massive and isolated installation The references to current events and more or less obscure geography are on the mark and lend a sense of the real thing to the story line. The characters are nicely drawn for the most part with a few minor shortcomings. And, there are a couple of (mostly unnecessary) plot lines that are not up to the overall depth of the series. Hence 8 stars and not 9 or 10.

But, by the last couple of episodes, I was truly enthralled by the growing tension and continuously twisting plot. Very good cast - not a big name among them. Well-written. In a word, this series is smart - a rare quality in screen material these days.

Data Hungry

[kalmgren · 7/10 · 15 November 2019]

In a data hungry world this show is a great way to look at data driven decisions and the conflicts that come from them. Can the show get better? probably...hopefully it gets the chance since it has an excellent cast.

Total Dud

[Gsinoz1 · 2/10 · 16 October 2018]

I don't usually bother commenting on TV shows, but this one is a real stinker and embarrassing that it has Australian and ABC involvement. Someone should have pulled the plug.

Badly acted, clunky dialogue, tedious and clichéd storyline, so many stereotypes it is just laughable. Worse than that, it is just so dull and boring. My wife and I had recorded it to watch later and we ended up watching it in fast forward eventually because it was so tedious and slow!

Even at fast forward speeds, much of the dialogue just makes you groan. Not much creative imagination going on here.

As the reviewer at The Guardian wrote, "This soporific six-part series can be most charitably interpreted not as film-making per se, but scientific advancement: specifically, an attempt to cure insomnia."

My tip is to give this a wide berth.

It's intriguing but...

[brian-01436 · 7/10 · 14 September 2023]

I'm having a hard time with the cinematography. I'm only a assistant prop master but, the camera angles are messing with me.

Why would you frame up a shot with the back side of an actors head in the lower left or right of the frame?

Why would you have an actor in 1/9 of the frame and always the lower 9th or 7th part of the frame.

There are many shots that have the actors looking off into space with no response on the other side.

There seems to be some sort of "semi math". Maybe I'm used to the superhero shows.

I am open to comments.

My understanding is there is a basic formula.

I'm not a DP, but it's a strange setup.