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The "Shipwreck" series is full of great charm, joy of life - and nerve-racking tension - voila! culture

2023-03-12T07:29:33.955Z


There's a contradiction at the heart of the BBC horror comedy, between exuberant youthful energy and dark subject matter, and it makes it all maddeningly campy. The series is aware that something in its essence is exaggerated to the point of gi


Trailer for the series "Wreck" (BBC)

Imagine a colorful vacation on a luxury ship, with all the food, alcohol, spa treatments, shopping, activities and shows you want, and a courteous and smiling staff just waiting to serve you for whole days in the middle of the sea, on a vessel that is like a small city.

How does that sound to you?

Like the dream of the perfect vacation?

And now imagine that you are not the vacationers, not those who splash in one of the four pools, or eat all day at the unlimited buffet, and drink the free alcohol all night - but the ship's crew.

The one whose job it is to run from task to task, satisfy every whim of the pampered guests, fulfill every request, no matter how far-fetched, and all this with a kind smile.

If this kind of work still sounds like a good way to earn some money while on vacation, the series "Shipwreck" will wake you up from this dream very quickly.

In this British comedy, which came up bit by bit, the truth is revealed beneath the surface in the glittering enterprise known as "All Inclusive Cruises", and we enter the heart of the crazy city "Sacramento" - the flagship of the giant cruise company "Volorum".

The never-ending work, the depressing corridors that all look the same, the dynamics between the different "classes" of the workers on the ship, the strict and exploitative rules that the crew abide by, the secret parties that last all night, the lower floors where gangs fight for control, and a host of other dark secrets that are kept in the belly of the ship.

Because it is indeed a campy comedy with many ridiculous situations and raging hormones, but it is also a horror series, with a lot of blood and mysterious murders.

A secret agenda.

Oscar Kennedy, "Shipwreck" (Photo: Peter Marley, Euston Films)

Imagine a colorful vacation on a luxury ship, with all the food, alcohol, spa treatments, shopping, activities and shows you want, and a courteous and smiling staff just waiting to serve you for whole days in the middle of the sea, on a vessel that is like a small city.

How does that sound to you?

Like the dream of the perfect vacation?

And now imagine that you are not the vacationers, not those who splash in one of the four pools, or eat all day at the unlimited buffet, and drink the free alcohol all night - but the ship's crew.

The one whose job it is to run from task to task, satisfy every whim of the pampered guests, fulfill every request, no matter how far-fetched, and all this with a kind smile.

If this kind of work still sounds like a good way to earn some money while on vacation, the "Shipwrecked" series will wake you up from this dream very quickly.



In this British comedy, which came up bit by bit, the truth is revealed beneath the surface in the glittering enterprise known as "All Inclusive Cruises", and we enter the heart of the crazy city "Sacramento" - the flagship of the giant cruise company "Volorum".

The never-ending work, the depressing corridors that all look the same, the dynamics between the different "classes" of the workers on the ship, the strict and exploitative rules that the crew abide by, the secret parties that last all night, the lower floors where gangs fight for control, and a host of other dark secrets that are kept in the belly of the ship.

Because it is indeed a campy comedy with many ridiculous situations and raging hormones, but it is also a horror series, with a lot of blood and mysterious murders.




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The most prominent of the supporting characters.

Thedea Graham as Vivian, "Shipwrecked" (Photo: Peter Marley, Euston Films)

Yes, right at the beginning of the first episode we witness a scene straight out of a classic slasher film in the style of "The Scream" or "Freddie Kruger", when a mysterious killer armed with a knife and dressed in a yellow duck costume, chases Pippa (Judy Pike), a young crew member, in the middle of the night along the deck, until she is forced to leap over the railing into the sea to try to escape it.

After this promising opening, we jump three months forward in time, and join the new guy Cormac (Oscar Kennedy), who, along with a new crop of young "Volorum" employees, joins the exciting world of service-with-a-smile-and-no-complaint.

The menacing team captain, Karen, explains the strict rules to them and conveys the feeling that their free life is over.



Very quickly we discover that Cormac is not Cormac but Jamie, who came to "Sacramento" under a false identity, and has a secret agenda;

Jamie is actually Pippa's brother, who does not believe the official story of the "Volorum" company, that Pippa was depressed and committed suicide by jumping.

He is certain that something else has happened to his beloved sister, and he plans to find out what is going on behind the scenes.

Together with the cynical Vivian (Thadea Graham, without a doubt the most prominent of the supporting actors, with the funnest character), who quickly becomes his secret wife, he tries to sort out the many secrets and lies buzzing around him, and discover the dark truth at the heart of this whole story.

All this, while the murderous duck roams the secret passageways undisturbed and continues his bloody journey.




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Like one big party.

"Shipwreck" (Photo: Peter Marley, Euston Films)

Maybe at this point this story doesn't sound like a comedy to you at all, but like a particularly depressing horror movie in which the scariest part is the daily brutality of jobs in the service industry, ones that drain the lifeblood from the poor workers.

But despite the claustrophobic feeling you get when the whole plot takes place in a sort of floating prison from which you cannot escape, "Shipwreck" is also colorful and full of youthful energy.



Because the team consists mainly of young people, those who are stupid enough to think that this is a dream job where you can make a quick buck from one big party, and above them are bosses who are older people, the atmosphere often feels like an interaction of an American college movie.

If Jamie is the new boy trying to find himself and understand the rules, then the members of the entertainment group are the accepted snobs, all the new ones have to go through a humiliating initiation ceremony, every night there is a wild party that gets out of control, everyone tries to have sex with everyone, and Karen the manager is the dean The evil one is just waiting to catch them in the act and land some clearly illegal punishment.

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The cute icon is actually a killer.

"Shipwreck" (Photo: Peter Marley, Euston Films)

The series is full of great charm and joy of life, and at the same time it is completely a horror thriller, and a race to find out who the killer is before the heroes also become victims.

This contradiction between the bursting energy and the dark theme makes everything insanely campy, when the series is aware that something in its essence is exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness - and is not afraid of the exaggeration.

Starting with the specific mystery "what happened to Pippa" and through the various twists until the surprising revelation at the end of the season, everything seems to convey - yes, we know that this is all really a match, but it's fun, isn't it?



It can even be seen in the choice to put the murderous character who chases the crew in a giant suit of a yellow duck in a raincoat - the ship's mascot.

What should be a cute symbol of the perfect cruise experience, the one the kids take pictures with during the day, is the one that brings up bleeding corpses in the maze of endless corridors at night.

The creators present us with a clear metaphor - this ship is killing us.



The first season has six episodes, but this is a BBC series and they always knew how to write a tight and satisfying plot in very few episodes, so even though a lot happens in it, there is no feeling that we missed anything and its pace is very satisfying.

The creators are working on a second season, and also left some loose ends at the end of the first to intrigue us, but the ship and everything that happened on it is such a closed place, such a perfect microcosm, that it's hard to think how it would be possible to get this plot out into the world outside of it, and it's not certain that the It.

Even regardless of what comes in the future, the current season of "Shipwreck" is short and fun enough to be a great binge.

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  • wrecked ship

Source: walla

All tech articles on 2023-03-12

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