'The South Westerlies' Review: Irish drama lacks fervor but remains an interesting look at small-town life
Spoiler Alert for ‘The South Westerlies’ Season 1
Acorn's latest offering is an Irish comedy-drama series, 'The South Westerlies' which is set in the Irish coastal town of Carrigeen. Leading the story is Orla Brady ('Mistresses') as Kate Ryan, a single working mother and environmental consultant in Dublin who is tasked to go undercover to get the project done. However, her own personal history with the town, specifically a crinkly-eyed surfer with whom her teenage son bears a resemblance, complicates her mission.
Kate is on the verge of a lucrative promotion at Noreg Oil and a move to their HQ in Oslo until her employer adds a last-minute caveat – a final assignment in Ireland for their company's new wind-power subsidiary, NorskVentus. Despite getting planning permission for their wind farm offshore from the West Cork town of Carrigeen, ongoing local protests are creating a PR nightmare. She must go undercover to Carrigeen and pretend to be a vacationer to quash objections before an appeals deadline and smooth the path for imminent turbine installation. When Kate arrives along with her teenage son Conor, she faces an eco-battle as she quickly discovers that the anti-wind farm lobby is much stronger than NorskVentus led her to believe, led by "Big Mike" Kelleher, the town's local councilor, who's firmly on the fence about the wind farm.
Many viewers coming to watch 'The South Westerlies' may expect what they got from the BBC/Hulu series 'Normal People', based on the book of the same name by Sally Rooney. However, 'The South Westerlies' – while of a similar pace as 'Normal People' -- lacks the fervor that made the Hulu series stand out. As Kate goes around Carrigeen pretending to be a Dubliner reliving lost memories, her reluctance to truly understand the community proves a barrier for her work. In such trying times as these, 'The South Westerlies' perhaps offers an interesting look at the divide that is usually present in communities -- on the one hand, a wind energy farm has its advantages, however, that it comes from a big corporation that is not even based in the country and therefore does not understand its sentiments.
To be fair, 'The South Westerlies' is filled with an impressive cast and Orla Brady does an excellent job at playing the anxious Kate. Kate is not just nervous about her job and promotion, she is also worried about an ex-flame, Baz (Steve Wall) finding out that her nearly 20-year-old son is actually his as well. Wall's and Brady's chemistry oozes and convinces the viewers that yes, there was something between the pair that did not end well, potentially on Kate's part.
The series comprises six episodes that are nearly an hour long each and while 'The South Westerlies' is not your average binge-watch, it is a relaxing one and potentially just low-key enough to enjoy the week after elections. 'The South Westerlies' also questions what progress for a town or a city looks like and will leave you feeling as conflicted as Kate does about what she is trying to accomplish.
'The South Westerlies' is available to stream on Acorn TV on Monday, November 9.