Tangle

Tangle (2009-2012), Showcase.

Catherine plays: Christine Williams.

It is hard not to be a little bias when writing (some of) these reviews, but Tangle is quite possibly my favourite television show that Catherine has been in so far, even beating my other favourites Rush and Water Rats. I guess finding out that Catherine was cast in the show is one reason why I was interested in the first place, but there was also the concept of it as well that had me intrigued. The 'tangled world of 40-year-olds and their teenage children' - it's probably not that new in terms of ideas (apparently it was somewhat based on the book Vanity Fair), but the acting, writing, haunting soundtrack and fantastic Melbourne scenery make Tangle worth while viewing.

In season one, Christine is very wound up; this is mainly thanks to the arrival of Nat Manning (Kat Stewart), who is the biological mother of Max, Christine's step-son. Understandably in many ways, Christine spends pretty much the rest of the season tying herself up into knots, wondering if her husband Tim (Joel Tobeck) is going to have another affair with Nat, and wondering if she will lose the relationship she has formed with Max over the years. She is very Catholic - as Max notes in one of the episodes - and has strict morals. But underneath it all, Christine was falling apart, having never really gotten over the affair between Tim and Nat. I guess she spent so many years of her life pretending to be over it, that no one else close to her really notices her unhappiness, not even her own husband.

In season two, Christine seems to get over everything that has happened between Tim and Nat in the first season. It is almost like she realised that she didn't have to fight for her marriage anymore (Tim also told Nat in season one that he would always choose Christine), and as a result of all that, she was a lot more relaxed and carefree in a way. She was so much more relaxed in fact, that she developed an attraction to another man, Spiros Georgiades (Don Hany), who was working as a political adviser to Tim. Their increasing attraction to one another was unnoticed by Tim, even though it was right in front of him a couple of times throughout the season. Given how Catholic Christine is, it is probably safe to say that she will more than likely feel guilty about what happened in the final episode of the season.

In season three, Christine has to deal with the fact that both Tim and Max have left - Tim moving over to Singapore for work, and Max moving into Ally's house to live with Nat. She also has to deal her affair with Spiros, something she seems quite depressed about in the first episode. However, the affair itself was hardly mentioned again, although Max did have an idea of what happened between the two and was rather angry towards Christine because of it. The season finale ends with a cliffhanger, one that will never be resolved as Tangle was not renewed by Showcase.

Catherine really takes on the character of Christine quite well. It has been interesting to watch her character change over the short amount of time its been on air (22 episodes, it seems so little). She has been well-deserved of the awards that she has both won and been nominated for in this challenging role.

Having not ever lived in Melbourne (holidayed there twice), I can't say that I recognise a lot of exterior locations seen in Tangle. Despite that though, it is nice to see such great scenery - and the houses which both families live in are also amazing - especially Tim and Christine's house in the suburb of Kew. It almost makes me want to live there!

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Christine: Max. Parents make mistakes. They're... it's... they're not moments that... (pauses) I screwed up... I wasn't in a good place. I know it's very hard to find out that parents are human, but I, um... whatever you think of me right now, I want you to know how important you are to me. And how much I love you.

[season three, episode 1]

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