The Code

This is ABC TV's most ambitious political tense thriller about a Government cover up involving two teenagers (Aaron Grath; Clarence Boyd & Madeleine Madden; Sheyna Smith) in a car accident that collided with a truck- one dies set in the fictitious country town of Lindara ( filmed in Broken Hill). Journalist Ned Banks ( Dan Spielman) comes across this story when he is given a file by a Government worker Sophie Walsh (Chelsie Preston-Crayford) who he gets his brother Jesse (Ashley Zuckerman) who has autism but smart to hack into the computer to retrieve the full video the teens left on their phone. The Code is full of A grade talented actors like Lucy Lawless (Alex Wisham) a school teacher in Lindara who contacted Ned and Aaron Pedersen plays Lindara's police officer Tim Simons, Steve Rogers & Dan Wylie play AFP officers, Aden Young and David Wenham play powerful Government officials desperate to keep the accident a secret.

I'm not going to write a review discussing the profound elements of the show, but just a viewer's opinion. In Canada we just got this on the SuperChannel in January so I do not know how this ends. I watched it because there was nothing on telly.....and then the first episode had me riveted and I wanted, no needed the next episode. I really like this show, and not all specialized series are worth much, in fact there are sooo many police shows, gangsters, spies....when does it end, but this show, completely original, actually has me looking forward to the next episode. I have no idea what will happen in any episode, but the fact is that a lot happens in each episode, it feels so much longer than an hour because the show is constantly throwing in a twist and moving....no drawn out drama. I'm so glad I watched it and I highly recommend "the code" to anyone who wants to watch something different but high in action, the actors are great, they are so believable and I'm invested in them. Ashley Zukerman deserves recognition for his role as he is so believable. Dan Spielman is fantastic as his brothers keeper and I have not seen Lucy Lawless since her Zena days but she really can act and does so superbly. I hope there's another season (even tho I don't know how it ends) and thank you so much for creating a TV series that is original, well acted and addictive.

Australian thriller 'The Code' brings to mind the classic BBC thriller 'Edge of Darkness', with its story of nuclear secrets, dodgy corporations and untrustworthy government. But we make dramas differently now, and the pace is much faster - which is not altogether a bad thing, although the slick graphics and camera-work are sometimes distracting. There are also some disappointing clichés: the genius hackers who can do just about everything, and the expository graphics that the computers conveniently display for the sole purpose of telling us that they're currently being hacked. Another point of critique is that, apart from the good guys, just about everyone else seems utterly ruthless and violent, in a way that slightly beggars belief: our heroes are asked to make constrained choices, but the motivations of the villains are seemingly explained by villainy alone. That said, the plot is both superficially clever and substantially intelligent, and there's some genuine emotion in the relationship of the central protagonist and his socially limited brother. And for Europeans like me, a chance to get a glimpse of the bleak beauty of the Australia itself.

This is definitely one of the best TV series that Australia has put out in so long, it gets you sitting on the edge of your seat, There no other series like it that I have ever watched and best of all it suits just about anyone. I think there is something for everyone, but I wouldn't let young kids watch it. There is action, mystery, thriller comedy and drama all wrapped up in one big bundle of awesome watching....You never know what is going to happen next. I do however just wish that the seasons went longer., its not as if our country is poor or lacking in exceptionally good actors. All the acting and actors in this series are top class, The story line is believable, and unpredictable and it encompasses the way the world really is, touching on subjects that are perhaps politically "sensitive", making it really good entertainment. I give it a 10 with no hesitation.

On the basis of the opening episodes, Shawn Seet's production looks to provide plenty of interest. A sophisticated political thriller set in Canberra and the outback, THE CODE focuses on the efforts of journalist Ned Banks (Dan Spielman) to find out the connection between governmental politics and a mysterious accident involving the death of a teenager. The quest leads him into several inexplicable and often traumatic incidents; his brother Jesse (Ashley Zukerman) is taken into custody for having hacked a government website, and roughed up in the process. When Jesse returns home, he is so traumatized that he can hardly communicate. No one can be trusted in this world of shadows: Jesse's girlfriend is not quite all that she might be, while Ned's ex-girlfriend Sophie (Chelsie Preston Crayford), a high-ranking member of the government's spin-doctoring team, has a relationship with her oleaginous boss, who knows what's happened to Jesse, but will never let on.

Stylistically speaking, THE CODE borrows some conventions from US series such as NUMB3RS - for example, the flashing of computer- screens and computer-generated information on screen to advance the plot. The basic situation owes a lot to NUMB3RS too: Jesse might be suffering from panic attacks, but he is also a computer genius, working in cahoots with his more staid yet respectable brother Ned. Nonetheless director Seet shows that there is a firm filial bond between the two of them: Ned reveals a touching concern for Jesse's welfare, especially when forced to leave home on a business assignment.

THE CODE makes much of the contrast between town and country; the endless plains of the outback, with lonely buildings placed here and there suggests a wild, untamed world, one where it is very easy to get lost. This is precisely what happens to teenager Clarence Boyd (Aaron L. McGrath) at one point. The city world of Canberra is one of gleaming glass buildings and perpetual shadows - a fitting context for a world of politicking in which people try to get the better of one another by fair means or foul. Most government officials' principal interest consists of saving their own skin - which is why they treat Jesse so brutally as someone who has inadvertently fouled up their organization.

The only criticism of the series so far is that director Seet tends to advance the plot through exposition - where characters explain things to us through dialog - rather than incident. This strategy tends to slow the pace of the drama up somewhat. Once the basic situation have been established, however, the drama unfolds smoothly, offering several surprises along the way. Definitely worth staying with.