When something tries hard to emulate something else, but doesn't quite make it, it enters an area of psychology referred to as the "uncanny valley"; for example, a mannequin that is almost real, but not quite. When a person encounters something that takes them into the uncanny valley, it sets off an anxiety and makes them uncomfortable. This is why we don't make dummies that look too human-like, they put shoppers off.
"Hunters" lives firmly inside the uncanny valley. Virtually all of the actors are Australian. It's filmed in one of the most Australian of cities, Melbourne, inside Melbourne buildings and houses. They really try their best to put on American accents but outside of the veterans they often fail -- sometimes quite comically. Australia is not North America. Escalators are reversed. Vehicles have the steering wheels on the wrong side. The architecture is distinctly un-American. The list goes on.
It's a recipe for a perfect storm of distractions, and when the show itself is quite borderline in terms of plot, acting and editing the last thing you need is to then shove viewers out of what meager frame you have by shouting at them that this is "fake". At the very least the lead actors ought to have been North American. Maybe they could have anchored the rest of it but with all Aussies it's all at sea.
"Hunters" lives firmly inside the uncanny valley. Virtually all of the actors are Australian. It's filmed in one of the most Australian of cities, Melbourne, inside Melbourne buildings and houses. They really try their best to put on American accents but outside of the veterans they often fail -- sometimes quite comically. Australia is not North America. Escalators are reversed. Vehicles have the steering wheels on the wrong side. The architecture is distinctly un-American. The list goes on.
It's a recipe for a perfect storm of distractions, and when the show itself is quite borderline in terms of plot, acting and editing the last thing you need is to then shove viewers out of what meager frame you have by shouting at them that this is "fake". At the very least the lead actors ought to have been North American. Maybe they could have anchored the rest of it but with all Aussies it's all at sea.