The Netflix algorithm will try to trick you into watching Area for his familiarity.

The six-part drama is almost explicitly an Australian version of Yellowstoneor even a modern version of Australiawithout those annoying Baz Luhrmann aesthetic peculiarities. Heck, you might as well call it Amazons Open area without the giant hole at the center of the story.

It’s a series overflowing with recognizable faces from American television who have the freedom to use variations of their native accents, including leads from Edge area (Anna Torv), Longmire (Robert Taylor), The CW is terrible Beauty and the Beast (Jay Ryan) and patriot (Michael Dorman).

So I think you might like it Area For all of these reasons, it feels like countless other pieces of entertainment you’ve enjoyed. But I stuck with it Area for the handful of things in which it is distinctive – such as the combination of Australian slang and ranching jargon that is practically a foreign language, the beautiful photographs of the country’s Northern Territory and, yes, the number of recognizable actors wearing chaps and above We are allowed to talk about unclear aspects of international real estate law. These aren’t necessarily big promises of originality and flair, but they are the limited promises that this constantly watchable drama delivers on.

Step in for YellowstoneThe Duttons, as royal ranchers, are the Lawsons, owners and operators of Marianne Station – the largest ranching operation in the world, spanning an area the size of Belgium. Aging patriarch Colin (Taylor), a paragon of abusive, toxic masculinity, has passed the ward on to youngest son Daniel (Jake Ryan), partly because eldest son Graham (Dorman) is an unpredictable alcoholic, partly because Graham Emily (Torv) got married. , part of a neighboring clan known for stealing and renaming Lawson cattle.

Colin, stuck in the past, ruined Marianne, but Daniel tried to create something new. Except that in the opening moments of the premiere, Daniel is eaten by dingoes or something similarly Australian, creating a huge power vacuum involving Graham, Emily, Emily’s sinister ex (Jay Ryans Campbell) and the inevitably ruthless mining billionaire Sandra (Sara Wiseman ) are involved. , the local indigenous community (led by Clarence Ryan’s Nolan, a low-level rancher), and more.

Things get soapier and more complicated when Graham and Emily’s daughter Susie (Philippa Northeast) returns from university with big ideas about the future of the station and starts flirting with Sandra’s son Lachie (Joe Klocek), while Marshall (Sam Corlett), Graham’s black sheep son, back from college from a previous marriage, shows up with scruffy and possibly scheming bullies Rich (Sam Delich) and Sharnie (Kylah Day).

Created by Ben Davies and Timothy Lee, Area is bold and uncompromising meat-and-potatoes television in which everyone is gruff, sweaty and coated in a fine layer of dust, as if to reinforce the connection between these characters and the Top End.

As if that weren’t enough, the dialogue is brimming with references to “family,” “the country,” and “legacy.” The machinations are rudimentary, the love triangles are perfunctory, and the cliffhangers are mostly predictable (though at least one shocker, which I fully expected the series to pull away from, held up). But the commitment to each genre trope is completely sincere. The pretty people kiss, the cops charge in, and even if you can’t tell a feather duster (of the jacket variety) from a pick-up (a sort of raid), the road through this rough terrain is so reliably paved that the journey is easy is almost too smooth.

I find Area makes it better than Yellowstone in his attempts to incorporate indigenous perspectives into storytelling. As complex as regional concepts of land ownership may be, there is little doubt that in the battle between attractive white people who say “Mine!” Mine! Mine!” and the Traditional Owners (not a term I knew before) said “Um, excuse me?” The heart of the story lies with the Lawsons – although their minds may know better.

One might mock director Greg McLean for relying too heavily on high-flying drone shots of the outback, all immaculately framed at dawn or dusk. But no one here wants to redefine the visual language of cinema or push the boundaries on violence (lots of drunken beating and the occasional shootout) or sex (hot make-out is everything). The goal is just to make your jaw drop a little bit more with every view or crowd of cattle, and it works. Setting a television record of sorts for the use of the word “blank” and the depiction of huge bluffs, Area If you stream the movie on your Apple Watch, it would look excellent. However, if you want to see the impressive, rugged faces of the older actors or enjoy the chiseled cheekbones of the younger stars, I would advise you to watch the series on a larger screen.

Given the amount of death and betrayal and intense business maneuvering the plot requires, it’s no surprise that the main feelings evoked by most of the cast are “intensity” and “fatigue,” but they all manage it reasonably well. Graham’s drunkenness gives Dorman the opportunity to play mercurially, while Emily’s family upbringing allows Torv to bring enigmatic potential to her character. Delich and Dan Wyllie put on a show wilder and more flamboyant than anyone else as Emily’s proud cow-thieving brother Hank. Day and Corlett are more powerless than anyone else. Representing the Indigenous side, Ryan, Hamilton Morris and Tuuli Narkle star in a more serious and occasionally provocative series than any other, exploring more spiritual and historical nuances Area really has room for.

The show has a lot to offer in a short amount of time. Have you heard the expression “all hats and no cattle”? The cattle inside Area possibly not much genetic diversity – it’s a plot point! – and the hats may look a little worn around the edges. But whatever you’re looking for, this series has plenty of it.