Tane Pukenga

Damn good series. The fantasy elements like the afterlife scenes were set well in the timeframe, as were the family elements in various episodes. Te Kohe did a fantastic job as Waka Nuku Rau, as did Darneen with Mehe. The battles were short, brutal and poignant as well as doing a pretty accurate job of some of the martial forms, looking like they could've come straight from Mokoia taiaha wānanga. The emotional side could do with a little work, sometimes coming off as heavy handed while the growth of the characters was done rather well. Instead of going for immediate changes in personality or goals as character growth, they were mostly consistent with the established character (Mehe taking on more and more responsibility, as she viewed her brother should have, while Waka always tried to avoid his responsibilities) and mostly only the emotions changing dependent on the circumstances the characters were faced with. While it could've used a few more repeat supporting characters, the motivations of the main characters were always clear. Fantastic watch and I really hope they approach tvnz for a second season (with more advertising support)

Quite good, especially for a kiwi production. While they go a tad heavy handed on the gender stuff, you can see the reasoning behind and there's only a few times it seems out of place in the cult like setting. Gotta say, the personal relationships of the 3 is what drew me in and kept me engaged. I just wish they were given the funding to make more episodes so the characters could interact with other tertiary in the setting.