Mercado on TV: The Edgerton’s rule in Underground Railroad & Mr Inbetween

Australia’s Edgerton brothers are involved in two of the best new shows around right now. Joel Edgerton stars in American slave drama The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime) while brother Nash Edgerton directs the third and final season of Aussie crime drama Mr Inbetween (Wednesday on FoxShowcase).

Mr Inbetween gets off to a blazing start with new crims Ian Roberts and Dylan Oakes, but nothing still seems to faze Ray (creator Scott Ryan). His work might be dodgy, and his family is a worry, but there is always a smile and a laugh to be had.

This season – which could be the best one yet – features a hilarious new caviar-guzzling kingpin Rafael (Jeremy Sims) and farewell cameo from Brooke Satchwell. Look out too for Nash Edgerton’s daughters playing Ray’s daughter, Brittany (Chika Yasumura) and Ian Roberts’ daughter Angel (Zumi Edgerton).

The Underground Railroad (Amazon Prime), which stars Thuso Mbedu and Chase W. Dillon alongside Joel Edgerton, is about slaves fleeing plantations in the 1800s. It’s directed by Barry Jenkins, whose movie Moonlight won the Best Picture Academy Award in 2016.

The 1939 Best Picture winner was Gone with the Wind and although it ran for 221 minutes, just 14 minutes of it was given to the clichéd black slaves. The Underground Railroad reverses this dynamic, re-positioning the African Americans as the protagonists, and making the white plantation owners cruel and dehumanising.

The Underground Railroad

The Underground Railroad is rated R for extreme violence and the first episode lives up to that. Episode four is fascinating too, as it tries to explain how Joel Edgerton’s slave catcher character became so twisted. But despite the darkness, Barry Jenkins fills the screen with sun-dappled colour and beauty whenever he can.

Thumbs up to The Celebrity Apprentice (Sunday on Nine), my favourite reality show so far this year. Watch to see The Veronicas try to out-Camilla Camilla Franks in the wardrobe department, and new host Lord Sugar, who is not posh, telling the contestants to “piss off”.

Creamerie (SBS Viceland) is a black comedy that proves, yet again, that New Zealand will always take a chance with a bold concept. It’s about a plague that kills off all the men in the world, so what the women now need is there in the show’s title. Spoiler alert – it’s not cows.

Shareena Clanton’s guest role finishes in Neighbours next week with a joyful send-off in a convertible (Monday on 10Peach). Whilst investigations continue into the racism behind the scenes, on screen her character has been fascinating and educational.

Sheila (Shareena Clanton) has been teaching the other Sheila (Collette Mann) the Indigenous language of Noongar, which is where her character (and Clanton herself) comes from in Western Australia. More of this, please.

See more Mercado on TV columns here.