The original press release assured us Barons would be full of “risk, mischief, soul and beauty.” Perhaps the fruity language should have been a bit of a warning sign. We were also assured that it was to be an epic series that impressed “both avid surfers and lovers of international TV Drama.” This dualistic ambition has always been the holy grail of any TV or film production that deals with surfing and it’s not an easy one to achieve.
I’m four episodes in and thus far Barons features a hodgepodge script that attempts to cram in every possible 1970s surf story and social issue, whilst happily murdering any semblance of the truth along the way. Vietnam and conscription, drug runs, Aboriginal rights, the feminism movement, creepy teachers, the birth of the Bells contest and more are all covered as a swirl of themes and loosely referenced events get tossed up on screen. As interludes we get beach parties and mushroom trips.
It’s true that the surf industry’s fledgling era went down against a backdrop of major social change and these are all valid themes, but there is a lack of subtlety or sophistication in how they are addressed in Barons – perhaps because too many are taken on at once. On the flip side the kaleidoscopic scene swapping ensures the drama and action keeps arriving in different forms, which probably suits a younger audience who are less interested in the core story of the surf industry.
Maybe it played better to the non-surfing masses but to a surfer Barons had the whiff of surf culture appropriation. As in a bunch of non-surfing scriptwriters sitting around a room trying to channel the mystique, romance and rebellion of surfing without properly referencing the abundant source material available. One gets the impression that the creators felt that the real story of surfing wasn’t somehow compelling enough so it had to be tarted up. The end result is something that occasionally feels like a more risque episode of Home and Away. From the outset, everything just feels a little bit overdone and forced. The moustaches are too big, the ocker in the accents is dialed in too high and the soundtrack is too heavily relied upon to connect the scenes when the dialogue is falling flat.
From a surfer’s perspective it might have been more compelling to select one or two threads of the surf industry story and explore them with a little more honesty, grit and dramatic tension. Something a little more surf noir than history-bending romp. Perhaps the producers were too scared about being sued by the real life characters if the story stuck to the truth. There were rumblings about this when Barons was in development.
That said, much of the fun is contained in trying to pick which real life person has been used as inspiration for a particular character in Barons. Many of the characters are in fact an amalgamation of several surfing identities. You can certainly throw Alan Green, Doug Warbrick, Gordon Merchant, Albe Falzon, Jack McCoy, Shirley Rogers, Jeff Hakman, Brian Singer, Bob McKnight, Wayne Lynch, Michael Peterson and the town of Torquay into the melting pot of influences. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out who’s who and what’s what?
Of the plotlines pursued, it is perhaps the story of the earnest, young American, Bernie Hunter Jr (obviously based on Bob McKnight) that has the ring of authenticity. Bernie bails out of college, travels to Australia, and falls in with a hedonistic crew of surfers, two of whom have started the aforementioned surf brands. Bernie just has to figure out a way to dodge the expectations of his rich parents and form a US partnership with his new Ozi pals. George Pullar is convincing as Bernie and brings some welcome understatement to his role. Sean Keenan is an experienced actor who handles the lead role of Bill ‘Trotter’ Dwyer with delicacy, but the script regularly draws him into soap opera liaisons instead of sticking to the details about his industry aspirations. Keenan also surfs well enough to forgo calling on a surfing double. Meanwhile, Karina Banno is forceful and engaging as Jules Zemanik, Trotter’s hard-working seamstress. Hunter Page-Lochard as Reg Thompson also brings conviction and verve to a role that sees him involved in drug runs, complex family dynamics and attention-grabbing anti-Vietnam protests.
The set and props team on Barons have obviously worked very hard to get the surfing aesthetics right. The boards, clothes cars and props have all been crafted and sourced to accurately match the era and deliver the necessary authenticity. The surfing is well shot, save of a few, cringe-worthy lineup moments, and there are welcome appearances from the likes of Rasta as surfing doubles. Also, keep an eye out for cameos by other noted surfers like Kyuss and Rasmus King.
Barons has certainly bitten off a lot and works hard to be entertaining while striking a balance between its myriad themes and agendas. However, somehow it falls short of artfully illuminating an important era of surfing and Australian history, perhaps because it tries to do too much. As a surf tragic I can’t help but keep watching. As a TV viewer it’s hard not to compare Barons to other series and not wish that the material might have been handled a little more elegantly.
