Sunday, July 7, 2019

McLeod's Daughters (A review)

Just clicked on the Tubi app on my Sony BluRay player.  Had some decent stuff for free (with a few adverts) so started watching.  Stumbled across McLeod's Daughters, an Australian TV series that ran for a few seasons about fifteen years ago and decided to watch.  I like westerns and this seemed western-ish so why not.

First off, decent acting, decent plot.  Father dies, daughter running ranch just north of Adelaide (they don't say this but it's where it was filmed).  Half sister, out of the picture for twenty years since her mother walked out on father, shows up to claim her half of ranch and wants to sell.  Of course daughter running ranch doesn't have money to buy her out (that's how ranching works) and doesn't want to sell her home.  So far, not bad.

It rapidly declines from there, though.

First, the three hands are stealing gas.  They are confronted and fired and instead of acting like men they whine (whinge in Australian) about how they have to be given three warnings and two weeks notice or some such blather.  The five girls (two sisters, housekeeper, housekeeper's daughter, and other girl who happens to be there) all mount up and ride around the ranch looking all cowboy-ish.  We don't need no men is clearly the message.  Gurrl power!

Second, falling behind in shearing the sheep, the head shearer challenges the main (female) character to do better.  When he loses the challenge they all quit and leave in the middle of the job.  The girls buckle down to finish the job before dawn when the buyer will supposedly arrive.  More gurrl power!

Third, the one that comes back and helps them finish is ... (you guessed it) gay.  The rumor was that he had murdered his family and he lets the rumor spread so that he won't have to tell people he is gay.  Gay power!

Oh, by the way, during "second" the men whistle and hoot every time a girl shows up looking good. Short shorts, tank tops, etc.

So I am two episodes in and the whole show appears to be about how all these girls can run a ranch without the help of men, unless those men happen to be gay.  Plus the men are all pigs.  Except for the gay one.

I have no problem at all with women running a ranch or doing other sundry stuff by themselves.  What I am not interested in is being lectured to about how men are pigs and really the women are better off by themselves.  This one is so blatantly in-your-face social justice/gay and gurrl power that it just isn't interesting. They have probably lost me after two episodes which is too bad, since I am always looking for interesting shows.

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