Stan’s Wolf Creek
Episode 4: “Opalville”
Directed by Tony Tilse
Written by Felicity Packard

* For a review of Episode 3 “Salt Lake”, click here.
* For a review of Episode 5 “Rome”, click here.

Every time I hear that the “Who Killed Cock Robyn?” song it just sends a shiver up my spine. Perhaps never more than at the start of this episode particularly, as last we saw of Eve (Lucy Fry) she was broken down in the van it seemed, as Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) approached from behind.
And here we start.
Except it’s not Eve.
Mick knocked off the wrong white van. Not like it matters to him, though. Nice little fake-out by the writers. He makes a little mistake, Mr. Taylor. Trying to cover his tracks, he drops a shell casing on the trail. Tsk, tsk.

Of most interest to me is Sullivan Hill (Dustin Clare) and his wife. She tries to apologize for cheating on him, saying they need to try and make things work after everything’s been bad for so long. He momentarily agrees, but this is a massive blow to his ego, his marriage, his trust.
Meanwhile, Eve finally rolls through Opalville. Without getting her tires gunned down. In town, she tries tracking down her supposed “uncle” who shoots pigs in the area. No luck at first, though. So glad Eve hasn’t yet been caught by Mick, I thought it was torture time for her in this episode starting out. For the time being it’s just her and the dog, alone on the road trying to track Mick. All the scenery in this series has been unbelievable, getting to see so much more of the landscape in Australia amongst the Outback than what we were given in both the Wolf Creek films.
At a small home in the Outback, Eve finds a woman whose daughter went missing out there. She poses as a journalist researching Missing Persons cases out there. Rightfully, the mother is still distraught, as she’s the only person still concerned. What’s great here is that Eve isn’t actually deceiving this woman. Because she’s still trying to find justice for all the people killed. Just not by writing an article. Instead she wants to put an end to any further disappearances. In a bunker down below the woman’s house her husband stays submerged in a bunch of his own weirdness, obviously suffering from the loss of his daughter just doing it differently. He isn’t keen on talking about it any more. Reluctantly the talk comes out in bits, though we can also see how its all taken a toll on the married couple’s relationship.
The writing is spectacular overall in this mini-series. So many excellent aspects the writers are exploring which flow organically out of the whole original premise, Mick in the Outback killing people, those same people with families and loved ones left behind. The mini-series is capable, inherent in its length over the course of nearly six hours total, of expanding upon all types of stories. Lots of good choices by the writers so far.
And now even wilder, the man ends up beating his wife’s head off one of the walls in his bunker. Has he killed her? Either way, Eve runs off to try and get away. Nothing good will come of this. Seems there’s a lot of nasty business down in that bunker. Poor Eve, constantly having to run from psychopaths. A P.Y.T in the Outback with rednecks, never a good combination.Then there’s the snakes – one bites her. Tick, tock.
She manages to make it out and away from the bunker eventually, but that’s a couple tense minutes right there. Then she even slowly crashes the van into a dune.
This sequence is so well executed in directorial style. Stylized and tense and just downright creepy.

 

Lucky for Eve an older gentleman helped her out, patched her up and made sure she didn’t die from snake poison. She wakes at his camp to find him cooking. He sarcastically answers her when she asks how she got there. But this guy seems on the level, and for now she’s safe away from any of the mad bastards in the Outback. Later, the man even teaches her some bad ass shit like how to throw a javelin like a boss.
Hill gets closer to Eve all the time. He talks to Bernie, getting more information from the local source, and heads off in the direction of Eve’s last known destination: Opalville. I’m excited because the tension is drawn out in this mini-series quite well. All the plot threads are bound to converge at some point, and it’s anybody’s guess as to how that will actually happen. And what’ll come out of it. At the moment, that last bullet casing Mick left behind ends up in Hill’s hands.
When Eve gets back on the road she finds the woman from earlier still alive. Her husband’s dead now, thankfully. Best of all, Eve makes out with another vehicle and ditches off the white van. Gets her a bit of cover for a while.
Finally, Hill catches up with Eve at a roadside diner. He tries best he can to convince her into going with him. Then she gives chase, dog alongside. They head out into the desert wilderness. Soon she loses him by sneaking a ride in a bit of heavy equipment. Then gets out with her vehicle before Hill can do a damn thing. Clever, sneaky girl.
Eve plans to head to Rome, Australia, a place where Mick has hunted previously – “where all the animals come to drink,” she says.
Speaking of the Mick, he’s home drinking, beating on Bernie who’s found herself at the mercy of the terrifying serial killer. Sad to see a strong lady like her end up in his grasp, as so many others do. And heading right for Mick is Eve – in Rome, she gets a red dragon tattooed on her back, as perfect expression of her fiery power despite all odds.

 

Each episode I’m impressed with how well this mini-series works its magic. Next episode is titled – you guessed it – “Rome” and I know there’ll be more terror ahead, especially after this episode’s events and revelations. Stay with me, folks. Mick and Eve each have a lot more in store for us in the final two episodes. I can almost taste it.