Stan’s Wolf Creek
Episode 2: “Kutyukutyu”
Directed by Tony Tilse
Written by Felicity Packard

* For a review of Episode 1 “Billabong”, click here.
* For a review of Episode 3 “Salt Lake”, click here.

Before diving into this episode, just need to draw attention to the wonderfully evocative opening credits to this series, which utilizes a song called “Who Killed Cock Robin?” arranged/performed/recorded by Dan Luscombe and featuring Lisa Salvo. Dig this credits sequence a ton and am glad it isn’t something generic. Gives the show a palpable atmosphere with an eerie feeling behind it.
This episode starts with Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) seemingly chained up to a fence in his little hideaway. Then we cut to him heading out in his truck, gearing up his rifle and so on. Ah, I dig how they’ve opened up this chapter. Are we to imagine this is what we’ll see later?
At the same time, Eve (Lucy Fry) is going through the file she stole from Sullivan Hill (Dustin Clare). There are plenty of Missing Persons files and photos. As luck would have it, Eve ends up putting her foot in an animal trap, nearly breaking her foot. But she’s a trooper. And that’s part of why we see this moment: it hurts her, yet she manages to suppress it and move on, even if it really did a number on her. What this does is give us an idea of how strong a person she is, and what she may come up against later will require lots of that strength. Further than that, she does her best to avoid pain medication, as the addiction always rears its ugly head; an added layer to her character. While Eve takes care of her injury she gets accosted by a couple perverted rednecks. Then a trucker lady saves her ass with a gun in hand. Awesome. What I dig here so far is the two strong female characters. Obviously Eve is the main one here, our protagonist, so I’m looking forward to more of her assertiveness as this six-episode series draws out from chapter to chapter.

 

On the other side is Hill. He can only wonder exactly what Eve is up to, left helpless even as a lawman. There’s danger on two fronts: Eve is young and could easily be killed by the man she’s hunting down, as well as the fact vigilantism is never good to have on your watch as an officer. For her part, Eve continually tracks down any information possible on the whereabouts of Mick and his blue truck. Things get derailed slightly when she smashes into a police squad car. Problem is she didn’t know about the previous owner leaving weed in the vehicle. Lock up it is.
In the wild Mick is out shooting kangaroos, gutting them, cleaning up their carcasses. All that fun stuff; a pretty gruesome scene sees him doing what looks like actual gutting, as in Jarratt likely did it for real. If not, fantastic practical effects. A little more fun comes along when Mick spots people on the road, car sputtering and making noise. Probably a good prospective victim.
In her cell, Eve briefly meets a creepy criminal named Kane (Richard Cawthorne) who wants her to sing him a tune. Y’know, because she’s a Yank like “Lady Gaga” and all them. A little later Hill arrives to try taking Eve into his custody, but the policewoman who brought her in isn’t so quick to give up the little American criminal. Even impresses Kane a little trying to mount an escape. And she does crawl herself through a tiny window up at the top, making it outside. Clever, clever girl. Despite injury, those athletics are still with her. Lying to Hill, she makes it into his hotel room and they bond over some takeout food. Then we figure out she developed a “problem” after getting prescribed painkillers after a shoulder surgery – because she got drunk and fell down some stairs. The cops show up to end their evening, though she slips out again from under their nose.

 

Eve tracks down Kane, who gets out of jail the proper way and heads home with his equally sketchy-looking buddies. Inside the house outside which she finds him, Eve locates a gun and a bag of money. Of course this leads to further chase, as Kane’s mum sees Eve. Part of why I’m enjoying the series so much is because it’s deferring the big showdown with Mick, yet builds up the character of Eve so well. In the sense we’re able to see how feisty, tough, and crafty she gets under pressure. Even up against dangerous criminals, police in an entirely different content than her home, as well as the serial killer she’s trying to find amongst the Outback. Yes, Eve is a properly solid female character in the horror genre.
Luckily as she’s chased, a junkyard owner chases the criminals off his land and Eve hides out under the cover of darkness safely.
Then we switch to the man himself. Mick drives up on two stranded women near the Wolf Creek Crater. He does the whole friendly Outback fix-it man routine. He offers them a tow and to get their car on the road again. We know this bit, though. And where they’re headed. Only from out of the dark comes another vehicle, filled with a few gentleman. Ah, the plan is spoiled. That doesn’t sit well with Mick, either. Especially seeing as how the men can fix up the problem. Also, the men see through some of his game. Or at least they think he’s simply a pervert, not a terrifying murderer. An incredibly tense scene that almost has you believing Mick’s about to kill every last one of them.
In the morning after the men have clearly camped with the women, and had quite a time doing it, the night previous comes back to haunt them. Not so bad as it could’ve turned out, but Mick has put the men’s vehicle in the lake. Definitely could’ve been much worse.
At a bar, Mick finds Kane and his buddies looking for an “American girl” who’s also looking for someone: a blue truck and its driver. Ah, now everything is coming full circle. Mick knows one of his live victims is out there looking. And simultaneously Eve has found herself a new ride, even found the dog that was keeping her company earlier. Heading into the Outback her mission is stronger than ever, as is she. Let’s see what more Chapter 3 will bring.

Very excited now this this second episode done. Great chapter in the mini-series. Next episode is titled “Salt Lake” and I can bet we’re going to see the energy amp up big time. Stay with me, as we’ll venture further down into Wolf Creek together.