While Ned is working on the story about a politician caught in some unsavory activities, he happens to find a torn piece of paper with the word "Lindara" cryptically written on it. As he begins digging, like any good journo would, he discovers that a pair of teens are missing from the small Aboriginal community. His nose for news takes him to Lindara, where he meets the local teacher, Alex Wisham (Lucy Lawless, Xena Warrior Princess) and he also discovers that one of the teens, Clarence, has come home covered in blood. As it turns out, what began as a joyriding session for two teens in love ended up being a horrible car accident, leaving the young girl, Sheyna, dead. But what really happened on that fateful evening?
Alex enlists Ned's help in repairing a video found on Sheyna's phone that could have answers, but when Ned gets Jesse involved and he gets a bit overzealous having access to the internet again, he begins digging in places he shouldn't, setting off all sorts of alarms. To complicate things further, a beautiful young hacker named Hani (Adele Perovic) has recently appeared in Jesse's life. Ned is suspicious of her, but Jesse is smitten. Is she part of what is happening, by chance? What follows is a dangerous game of cat and mouse between the brothers, a rogue security expert tying up loose ends, and an arm of the government who very much want their secrets to remain in the dark.
Each episode of The Code is a few minutes shy of an hour, but they are so densely packed that they easily feel much longer. The directing and photography are exceptional and feel very feverish in many shots, reminding me a good bit of Tony Scott's work. Time-lapse photography and wide shots are used liberally and to great effect, especially considering the raw and dangerous beauty of some of the parts of Australia, where the series was shot. I also really enjoyed the hefty use of graphic overlays to emphasize what was going on, whether it be phone calls or texts going back and forth, or hacking, or someone simply looking at things on the computer. It made The Code feel very visceral, up-to-the-minute and current.
In addition to the series, there are a number of featurettes discussing the characters and bringing the series to life. Unfortunately, a lot of the same material is repeated in these featurettes, yet each one does have some new info as well, so you need to watch all of them to get the full picture.
The Code is not for everyone, but it is a different twist on the typical political thriller. All of the actors are great, but Ashley Zukerman is especially impressive in his brilliant portrayal of Jesse. If you enjoy political thrillers, check out The Code.
