Will this grim NZ drama go all the way?

Finally, a twisted Scandi-noir murder mystery to call our own.

Two soggy bodies lie on a riverbank next to an upturned canoe. As the camera pans to the left, things get worse. A car lies on its side with four motionless corpses sprawled on the road around it.

The shock of that grizzly accident hasn’t yet passed when more horror washes over the scene: a man, hanging from a noose, dangling from a bridge, swinging in the breeze.

Ugh. It’s an astonishing opening shot, one that made me sit up and go, what the hell?, a feeling that sat with me throughout One Lane Bridge’s frequently thrilling first three episodes.

Binge-watch? You bet I did.

I wasn’t even going to bother. TVNZ 1’s dark, twisted new drama show comes hot on the heels of The Gulf, Three’s eerily similar cop-based thriller set on Waiheke Island that screened just before Mediaworks imploded at the end of last year.

It failed to capatilise on its early promise, and, crucially, gave away its twists far too soon. Sadly, it probably won’t get a chance to fix these issues with a second season.

But, in the middle of last week, I got a text. “One Lane Bridge. First ep. A must-see.” It was my dad. I ignored him. Usually his viewing recommendations involve nature documentaries or Bob Dylan, so I don’t bother. He kept at it, bringing it up when we Skyped later in the week, and texting again. “Well researched,” he said. “The spooky stuff is genuine.”

I’d finished Ozark’s third season, completed Devs, and watched all of Tiger King. I’d tried out a bunch of other comedy shows - Black AF, Upload, Run - that were fun, but hadn’t really connected. It seems weird to be laughing right now. Even John Oliver on Last Week Tonight seems to be struggling to deliver some dependable lols.

So I gave in. I’m glad I did, because One Lane Bridge is good. It’s very good.

But holy wow is it grim. A stoic farmer cradles the Swanndri of his dead mate, crying into it on his bed. As a frazzled wife argues with her husband, he viciously smashes paua with a mallet. A neon green gecko skitters across blood splatter on a rock.

A lot of work has gone into getting the tone and vibe of One Lane Bridge just-so, and it shows.

The whole premise is pretty cool too. Set down south, it uses the stunning scenery of Queenstown’s rolling hills, mountain peaks and shimmering lakes as a backdrop for its twisted story about a bridge that seems to attract some very bad things. A new Auckland

Joel Tobeck is always brilliant at shadow-play, and as a veteran South Island detective he’s totally playing both sides of the coin here. Aidee Walker, from Outrageous Fortune, initially channels Amy Adams in Sharp Objects but finds rich new veins of drunken anger and grief to chew up every scene she’s in. Dominic Ona-Ariki is the lead, an Auckland cop thrown in the deep end, and while he’s new to me he’s very compelling.

Honestly, everyone here is great at delivering the kind of minute details that make you want to keep a close eye on everything that’s going on - even if it’s just on the periphery of the screen. All those sideways glances, wry asides, and small gestures might have been stolen from Broadchurch, Happy Valley or any of those Scandinavian shows, but they work so well at keeping the mystery up.

We’ve been here before, of course. New Zealand has a lengthy history of making brilliantly dark drama shows that start with a hiss and a roar and then get cancelled after just one season. Remember how awesome Harry was? How about This is Not My Life? The Cult? The Gulf? It’s like we have a scrapheap for awesome starts.

So far, One Lane Bridge isn’t perfect. But it gets most things right. Whatever happens during its remaining three episodes, it doesn’t deserve to get thrown on that scrapheap.

Please, TV gods, give it another season, because we could really use a local TV success story right about now.

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