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[berzeli]

Top of the Lake: China Girl is a crime mystery story that finds Detective Robin Griffin recently returned to Sydney and trying to rebuild her life. When the body of an Asian girl washes up on Bondi Beach, there appears little hope of finding the killer, until Robin realises "China Girl” didn’t die alone. Robin looks to the investigation to restore herself, but her problems are personal. Haunted by a daughter given up at birth, Robin desperately wants to find her, yet dreads revealing the truth of her conception. But her search to discover “China Girl’s” identity will take her into the city’s darkest recesses and closer than she could have imagined to the secrets of her own heart.

Written by Jane Campion and Gerard Lee
Directed by Jane Campion and Ariel Kleiman

Starts on BBC Two from Thursday 27 July at 9pm. The full series will be available on BBC iPlayer from 10pm on Thursday 27 July.
Also airs on:
BBC First on August 20 (Australia)
Sundance TV/Hulu in September (USA)
CBC in Fall 2017 (Canada)
ARTE in 2017 (France)
SVT in ??? (Sweden)

Cast:

Elisabeth Moss as Robin Griffin
Nicole Kidman as Julia Edwards
Gwendoline Christie as Miranda Hilmarson

Alice Englert as Mary Edwards
David Dencik as Alexander “Puss” Braun
Ewen Leslie as Pyke Edwards

Videos:
Trailer
Elisabeth Moss: Getting into 'Top of the Lake' Character "Like an Old Pair of Jeans" | Cannes 2017 | THR

Reviews:
The Guardian: Top of the Lake: this singular drama is still gloriously weird
THR: "With its sharp writing, superior cast, evocative locations, seductively seamy subject matter and delicious performances, Top of the Lake is decidedly back in a major way."
Indiewire: "“Top of the Lake: China Girl” is as beautiful and soul-stirring as anything you’ll see on any kind of screen this year." (A)

Articles:
Vanity Fair: How Top of the Lake: China Girl United TV’s Greatest Female Badasses
The Guardian: Jane Campion: ‘The clever people used to do film. Now they do TV’
The Guardian: 'Go deeper, go darker': on location with the stars of Top of the Lake
Radio Times: Top of the Lake’s Elisabeth Moss and Jane Campion on the gender war that brought them together
The Independent: Gwendoline Christie on Top of the Lake: 'Jane Campion had been dreaming about me and wrote me a part'

 

[LewieP]

I am in.

 

[- J - D -]

Great. I enjoyed the first series (which has sadly been removed from US Netflix).

 

[Sadsic]

Will this be on Hulu in real-time with Sundance's airings?

 

[brianjones]

Great. I enjoyed the first series (which has sadly been removed from US Netflix).

bummer i was thinking of rewatching it

looking forward to this !

 

[berzeli]

Great. I enjoyed the first series (which has sadly been removed from US Netflix).

bummer i was thinking of rewatching it

The first season is up for streaming on Hulu.

Will this be on Hulu in real-time with Sundance's airings?

Within 24 hrs unless I misread that press release of theirs.

 

[kunonabi]

Hmm, do i watch for christie or do i avoid it like i usually do when kidman is involved. Decisions, decisions.

 

[Vert boil]

Oh shit, new episodes of Top of the Lake.

*watches two episodes*

Oh, shit new episodes of Top of the Lake.


Why the fuck is Hightower doing a Stephen Merchant impersonation?
Why is Kidman made up like a witch?
Why is Puss a cartoon villain?
Why is it filmed like it's a comedy?

At least GAF gets repped hard in the show.

 

[Timbuktu]

I kinda enjoyed the first series but don't remember that much about it. It blurred with all the other season long crime shows that have came about the last few years. I might watch this, but also wary about a series titled 'China Girl' that is about white people.

 

[H.Protagonist]

Oh, brilliant. Loved Top of the Lake, and if Christie is in it too, then bonus.

 

[strafer]

You had me at Christie.

 

[Discotheque]

First season was so good. Beautifully shot and just so oppressive and seedy. Town was full of scumbags.

Looking forward to seeing this. Should at the least be a top 5 show of the year I imagine.

 

[Patison]

what the hell, where did this come from, i'm in!

 

[mujun]

I'm interested to hear what people think about this. I loved the first season, one of my favorite shows ever.

This seems terrible to me. Weird writing in terms of dialog and the way characters act. The mystery seems shallow and obvious. Etc, etc.

 

[Shy]

I watched the whole second season over the weekend, and loved it.

 

[CDX]

I watched the first season on Netflix awhile ago. I've been waiting for this season since I've first heard about it awhile ago.

Great. I enjoyed the first series (which has sadly been removed from US Netflix).

The first season is up for streaming on Hulu.

Within 24 hrs unless I misread that press release of theirs.

So it seems Hulu has the rights to this series now, at least in the US. OK good to know, because I would've still searched for it on Netflix.

 

[Vert boil]

Whelp, finished it last night. I've never seen a show/season that chooses to take on serious subjects then handles them in such a childish way. Quite maddening.

 

[blanky]

I really liked the first season.

I really don't know what to think about this one... it's all over the place.

 

[brianmcdoogle]

Didn't know there was a new thread...

Cross posting:

Part of the reason I loved Top of the Lake was in its title. There's an initial crime that sets the series running, and we learn from it that, well, the top of the lake is just the beginning. What's also great is that nothing was hidden from the viewer. Upon a rewatch, I was kind of amazed how everything, and I mean everything, was right in front of the camera. Why did she write "no one"? Who were those people in the background when the detective was on the phone? It was all there, all the time.

Why was season 2 called Top of the Lake? There's no lake to dive into in this season. Everything was self-evident in the first episode. No mystery, no suspense, no anything. That, and a theme. The first season seemed to be about woman's role in society surrounded by men. In fact, almost every male character was a bit of an archetype to reinforce this. And there was a levy of strong female characters, individualized, showing different aspects of femininity and womanhood against or subjugated by patriarchy. What was this season about? What is this season saying about motherhood? What the hell was up with Nicole Kidman's performance and character?

I just finished it, so I should still try and process it, but this season felt like such a step down from that first season (which I just rewatched in anticipation for this season). The first episode gave me hope. Was this season going to deal with sexuality, a la the lesbian mother and the gay brother? But, I left with many questions. Also, what the hell was up with the "loose ends" of the first season popping up for an episode and being discarded?

At the end, I was left with two central questions. What was the point of this season? Why was it so cruel to Elizabeth Moss's character (and the other characters as well... this whole season as opposed to the first just left me with the word "cruel" in my mind while watching it)?

Lastly, and I mean this as a slight, this season felt like a television show. Not just in scope, but in pacing, editing, and I swear there were conversations where the eye lines of characters didn't match at all.

 

[Grizzlyjin]

Finally watching this. Sundance aired the entire season back to back in a 3 night "event." Once more into the binge I go...

Ummm is this a comedy? I'm on Episode 2 and theyre veering off into absurdity. It almost reminded me of Dexter, like how all the supporting cast that worked at Miami Metro were basically cartoon characters. There is absolutely no subtly to be found here at all lol

Liking Nicole Kidman so far though.