The Gloaming Review: The Dying of the Light (Season 1 Episode 1)

One part cop drama, one part ghost story, The Gloaming Season 1 Episode 1, “The Dying of the Light,” starts off strong with a visually stunning and spooky premiere.

It is done very much in the Nordic Noir style with its quiet pacing, cool, muted color palette, and guarded characters full of secrets and grim pasts. 

Detectives Molly McGee (Emma Booth) and Alex O’Connell (Ewen Leslie) are old flames but haven’t seen each other for a long time. Alex returns to his hometown of Hobart on the Southern isle of Tasmania where Molly has already started working the case.

To their chagrin, they are forced to partner up to solve a gruesome murder which is linked to a 20-year-old cold case as well as their shared history. It’s quite the set-up for tension and drama, and the first episode has that in abundance along with some supernatural intrigue. 

The Ex Files

The narrative is mysterious from the get-go—little hints and subtle clues inform connections between characters and their backstories. Upon first viewing, it feels as if small, somewhat inconspicuous, things will be key to big reveals later on as the tale unravels.  

Watching, one kind of assumes the role of detective, establishing an immediate kinship between the viewer and the two leads. The Gloaming does well in piquing the audience’s interest in both the homicide and what could’ve happened between Molly and Alex.

They don’t realize that they will be working the case together until halfway through the episode, and when they meet at the crime scene, the anticipation that had been building up pays off.

There are so many cop shows out there with similar dynamics. The character of Molly instantly brings to mind Sarah Lund/Linden from Forbrydelsen and its American counterpart, The Killing. Just because we’ve seen her “type” before—the tough, hardened female detective with complicated relationships out to solve a brutal murder—doesn’t make Molly any less interesting.

I am ready and willing to see what makes her tick.

Likewise with Alex. He was with Jenny McGinty when …something happened, and I need to know more!

The Art of “Anguish”

The Gloaming‘s cinematography is superb. The majestic setting of Tasmania provides ample postcard-perfect backdrops to the macabre mood of the series. Everything looks beautiful and haunting.

The aesthetic of the show benefits from the well-crafted plot and vice versa. 

I love when real art plays a part in a fictional story. So much can be read into the possible symbolism or allegorical correlations.

The first time we meet the adult Alex, he is at a museum looking at “Anguish” by Danish artist August Friedrich Albrecht Schenck. It depicts an ewe protectively standing over her slain lamb surrounded by a murder of crows.

Birds are often used as visual metaphor in works of fiction. Sometimes it’s merely an artistic choice, but it is most successful when used as an artistic choice with meaning embedded into the narrative.

The use of birds is done cinematically on The Gloaming, already affecting a vague significance by the time we see “Anguish.” In fact, birds are used artfully in the transition to Alex at the museum.

A clue discovered on the victim’s body leads to more questions for Molly. The ominous cawing of crows and the distinct sound of flapping wings takes us from a shot of Jenny McGinty’s school ID to a close-up of Alex, black crows glinting in his dark eyes that are fixated on the painting. 

The photography is stunning to look at and the story is intriguing—a promising start to this new crime drama.

What did you think of the premiere episode of The Gloaming? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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The Gloaming airs Sundays at 9/8c on Starz.

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