The Gulf back on stream
The gritty detective drama set on Waiheke Island, which has been picked up by Netflix and Amazon Prime, is back for a second season. Kerry Harvey reports.
Ido Drent has long been a fan of a good murder, so when he was asked to audition for The Gulf, he couldn’t say no.
“I was actually watching The Killing at the time and it felt to me very much like that and, in fact, in the description of the audition that I first got, it was kind of like, ‘Think The Killing’,” he says. The Gulf, a joint New Zealand and German production, is back this week for a second, longer season and Drent says it deserves to be.
The first season debuted locally in late 2019, screened in Germany as Auckland Detectives and has since been picked up by international streaming giants, including Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sundance Now. “It’s a great piece of TV and as a Kiwi production we should be really proud of it because it holds its weight overseas when it sits alongside other crime thrillers,” Drent says. “After season one it got quite a lot of respect so in season two there’s a bunch of really amazing guests who want to be part of it. We’ve got some great names who join us.”
Set on Waiheke Island, the series centres on police detectives Jess Savage (Kate Elliott) and her partner Justin Harding (Drent) who investigate murders while, at the same time, battling their own demons.
By the end of season one both cops had become killers. After recovering from amnesia, Jess remembered she had murdered her husband Alex (Shortland Street’s Bede
“The backdrop on which it really plays is the broken characters trying to figure out their own lives.” – Ido Drent
Skinner) after discovering he had been abusing her teenage daughter, Ruby (Timmie Cameron).
Meanwhile, Justin shot Jess’ long-time mentor Doug Pennington (Jeffrey Thomas), who was trying to kill her after she discovered he was not the good guy she thought he was.
As season two begins, Jess is trying to forge a new relationship with the pregnant Ruby but her efforts to put the past behind her are being thwarted by a blackmailer who is threatening to expose her over Alex’s death.
Justin has problems of his own and it appears his attempts to reconnect with his prison inmate father Adam (Filthy Rich’s Simon Prast) are set to have shocking consequences.
Senior Sergeant Denise Abernethy (Alison Bruce) is back with her own troubles while Detective Ivan Petrie (Mark Mitchinson) has the unenviable job of ensuring none of his flawed officers cross too many lines. The guest cast includes Sara Wiseman (One Lane Bridge), George Mason (Home And Away) and Andi Crown (Head High).
Drent says this second season is not unrelieved darkness.
“We do see some levity in moments that allow us to breathe, allow us to just pause – we see some of that coming through in season two but it’s definitely not a Sunday night family show.”
Again, as in season one, the action revolves around the two detectives.
“They are both very broad characters and that’s one of the great things about this show.
“Although it’s a procedural, that’s almost like a distraction,” Drent says.
“The backdrop on which it really plays is the broken characters trying to figure out their own lives and the relationships in their lives. Season two, I think, is awesome in that we get to explore the personal lives further and you get to see the true extent of these characters’ brokenness.”
He is enjoying learning more about the apparently self-contained detective who is very different to most of his previous roles.
The now 34-year-old father of three (the latest addition to the family was born two weeks after filming wrapped) is probably best remembered as Shortland Street teen Daniel Potts and Offspring’s Lawrence Pethbridge.
“I remember in the first season (of The Gulf), one of the directors saying to me, ‘Imagine what Ido would do, then do the opposite’ because Justin is very different to me,” Drent says.
The detective’s relationship with his father, who was introduced at the end of season one, is pivotal to what happens next.
“We make some discoveries about his personal life and about things he maybe wasn’t aware of. Also, obviously for Justin, when you shoot someone, it has to change you in some way.
“Seeing some of that maturity come through in the script was quite cool,” he says. “However, he definitely finds himself in a very, very, very sticky situation come the end of season two.”