"The Tourist" on HBO Max

[nuxvomica]

After his car is chased and hit by a tractor-trailer in the Australian Outback, a man wakes up in a rural hospital with no memory of who he is or how he got there. It's a dangerous situation because obviously the bad guys, whoever they may be, are still out to get him but he's fortunate to have a local traffic cop with a strong sense of duty handling his case. Jamie Dornan (Fifty Shades of Grey) plays the amnesiac and the wonderful Danielle Macdonald (Patti Cake$) is his guardian angel, Probationary Constable Helen Chambers. Both of them will discover important and difficult truths about themselves as the story progresses, between the now-obligatory long shots of cars travelling along rural highways, the sometimes shocking pile-up of dead bodies, and encounters with quirky ordinary folks and totally crazy-ass villains. This is a highly engaging series full of humor, mystery and thrills that boasts fine performances from the leads and the characters they encounter along the way.

[Doc Sportello]

1. One of the best short series I've ever seen

It has vestiges of Memento but is less complex and more fun. Perhaps best of all, is the twists and turns aren't just in the plot but on an individual character level - that then fold seamlessly into the overall story. A really unique story with unexpected but real character development. Just brilliants. In fact, I was going to post about it but you beat me to it.

[nuxvomica]

2. I love the way they illuminate character with behavioral details

Like when Helen's needy fiance obsessively attaches the locking bar on the steering wheel of his cheap car even though he's parking in front of the police station. That tells you more about his character than pages of monologue could.

[Doc Sportello]

3. Ha, good point

Yes, there are more ways than dialogue to create a character and this series had a bunch of little nuggets like that. I thought the LSD was an interesting touch, then it turned out to play a central role. I had never seen Danielle MacDonald before but fell in love with her. I had seen Damon Herriman on Justified where he played a goofy meth dealer. I'm sure I'll watch it again all the way through and probably find more nuggets I didn't catch the first time.