The Survivors tells the story of the residents of the coastal town of Evelyn Bay who, fifteen years after the tragic deaths of several of their number, are once again confronted with a mysterious death. The Netflix series The Survivors is set in Tasmania and tells the story of the residents of the coastal town of Evelyn Bay. They are confronted with a traumatic event when two of them die on the water during a heavy storm. Kieran Elliott (Charlie Vickers) barely survives this drama but is not welcomed with open arms afterwards. He is seen as the person responsible for the two deaths, something he still struggles with years later. Kieran eventually moves to Sydney to build a new life there. But when he returns fifteen years later to visit his parents, a new drama awaits him.
You really feel for Kieran from the moment he appears on the scene.
In 2009, Kieran finds himself in the water near a cave when he gets into trouble. His brother Finn (Remy Kidd) and his friend Toby come to his aid, but unfortunately this rescue operation goes wrong for them. That same day, a girl named Gabby Birch (Eloise Rothfield) also disappears. Her disappearance is snowed under by the deaths of the two boys. She is never found, but the town only mourns Finn and Toby. Fifteen years later, the curious Bronte (Shannon Berry) tries to find out more about Gabby's disappearance. She wants to find out why there is so little attention for this and what really happened.
The series starts with very anxious minutes of Kieran in the wavy water. Although his fear and helplessness are clearly palpable, I did not think the scene itself was very well made. The whole thing looked fake and starting the show with that gives a somewhat negative first impression. Fortunately, the actors manage to make up for this. You really feel sorry for Kieran from the moment he appears on the scene. We do not find out why he was in that water during the first episode, but it is clear that he regrets it very much. The anger of the other relatives is also very well conveyed, so that as a viewer you feel from the first moment how much emotion is playing with the characters.
Kieran has a newborn daughter with Mia (Yerin Ha) who also grew up in Evelyn Bay. When they visit his parents for the first time since the baby was born, it becomes clear that Kieran's mother Verity (Robyn Malcolm) still has a difficult relationship with her son. The bond between Kieran and his father used to be better, but now that he has dementia, this is also gone. Kieran feels uneasy in his hometown and eventually decides that he wants to return to Sydney sooner. But then a body is suddenly found on the beach, everyone is questioned and the whole town is turned upside down.
The mystery surrounding everything that happens in Evelyn Bay appeals to me and makes me curious about the rest of the season.
The Survivors is based on the book of the same name by Jane Harper and she is also the executive producer of the series. The first recordings started at the end of 2023, so it took quite a while before the series was actually available to watch. Here and there there were some vague moments in the story that I initially did not know what the intention was. As the first episode progresses, however, you as a viewer discover that all these moments do indeed have an impact. They are details surrounding the mystery of Gabby's disappearance and the body that is found on the beach, which the viewer does not yet realize at that moment.
With only six episodes of about 50 minutes each, The Survivors can rightly be called a miniseries. The fact that it has a fast pace is also clear from the number of characters that are introduced during the first episode. It is difficult to keep track of who everyone is, especially because the story moves quite quickly. However, this does not necessarily have to be a disadvantage, it depends entirely on how important all the characters will be in the following episodes. The mystery surrounding everything that happens in Evelyn Bay attracts me and makes me curious about the rest of the season. The first episode is not as much of a hit as in some other series, but it is good enough to convince me as a viewer to want to continue watching.
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
