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Blue Water High (Volume 4)
Recipe for making a global teen hit: take hunky guys
and sexy babes, put them in swimwear at an elite surfing academy in
sun-drenched mythical Aussie beach-dom and let hormones do the rest.
This show was originally on the ABC and its stories revolve around the
travails of up-and-coming surfing super-stars. Sometimes it’s their
protein-rich dieting or jealousies or even competitive spirits run
asunder. There are clashes which always find a good resolution.
The photography is quite clean and as you’d expect,
very well lit. The locations are equally stunning and undoubtedly
complement superbly the infamous ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’
tourism campaign. When it comes to the actual acting however, well it’s
the standard you’d expect from Neighbours or Home and Away.
I recently had a chance to watch the very first
season of the original Degrassi Junior High series from the late
1980s. While our society has changed a lot since then, and Blue Water
High obviously has a more contemporary feel and hip ‘edge’, you
can’t help but feel the production values were much higher in the
Canadian show. And yes, while it was preachy and touchy-feely about all
‘serious’ issues facing your average adolescent, I can’t help but feel a
more profound empathy with parts of the large and diverse ensemble
cast—something lacking in the surfie-clones of the surf show. But maybe
it is the nostalgia for my own days of watch ABC talking…
If you’re not buying this for someone in the intended
demographic, there really isn’t much to recommend the show beside the
talent, and that wouldn’t be for skilled line delivery.
Felix Staica |
