MovieChat Forums > Top of the Lake (2013) Discussion > Good show but for the crater-sized plot ...

Good show but for the crater-sized plot holes

posted 10 years ago by dm-5
2 replies | jump to latest

Overall I liked it for the zany characters and great scenery. But the plot doesn't hold for more than 10 minutes.By the last episode it's shattered in so many pieces that it's impossible to put it all together.

Spoilers throughout

1. If you're Bob Platt and going to screw over the most feared man in town, why not flee first and sign over the deed from a position of safety (e.g., Auckland)? Even if you think you still have time to flee, you don't think anything is amiss when the screwee's two sons arrive wanting to go fishing?

2. Why did Matt first try to stage the reveal that he is Robin's father on the boat? He wanted to show her the videotape.

3. No cop would go to Matt's place to record a confession in the name of indulging in his desire to "maintain control," or whatever claptrap Robin justifies it with. Just a silly attempt to heighten the drama with panic codes. What if she is shot with a silencer if she uses the bathroom? Drugged and raped by Matt or one of his unstable associates? Even just bit by a dog on the way out? Any halfway competent cop tells Matt that if you want to confess, you come to the station for proper videotaping and witnesses or don't confess. I also liked how Robin says, "So shall we just jump right into it then." You don't want to ask him his name for the record or if he is under the influence of drugs or alcohol?

4. The whole rebellion of the sons at the end was laughable. Transparent attempt to redeem them at the expense of their father. Made the father more simplistically evil, so we don't feel quite so bad when he dies, and maybe we feel that regardless of whether the sons continue the meth empire, they were obviously victims, not responsible for their own actions.

5. As sergeant tells Robin, every potential informant on Matt has ended up dead. So what does Robin agree to with Matt's maid who shows up at her house high, willing to testify against Matt? See you day after tomorrow! She goes to Robin in broad daylight - if nothing else, Matt could easily catch wind of this very meeting and suspect the maid has turned. But Robin makes no mention of safety concerns to the maid. No thought to put her up at a hotel far away for a while.

6. The absolute height of ridiculousness, that the sergeant would involve Tui in the pedophile ring. First, the sergeant felt some mix of fear and friendship towards Matt. Either one of those logically would have led the sergeant to not involve Tui. Second, neither Matt - whom we are led to believe is the kingpin of this neck of the woods - nor any of his sons or associates knows anything about this pedophile ring to ever suspect the sergeant of Tui's rape?

7. What was the point of Robin passing out at sergeant's place? We, like her, question whether he raped her, despite his assurance that he didn't. Okay. Seems to have no consequence on anything else either way.

8. Tui just gives birth on her own, probably severe internal injuries, and they don't take her or the baby to the hospital?

9. Where is Tui's mom in all of this? We see her once and that's it. Absence especially glaring at the end, after Tui's birth, when Robin is playing mom.

[–] brunolly-1 10 years ago

1. If you're Bob Platt and going to screw over the most feared man in town, why not flee first and sign over the deed from a position of safety (e.g., Auckland)? Even if you think you still have time to flee, you don't think anything is amiss when the screwee's two sons arrive wanting to go fishing?

I found that more than a little weird, too. Characters didn't seem to fear what they were supposed to fear as much as they should. Perhaps Bob didn't think it would anger Matt as much as it did?

2. Why did Matt first try to stage the reveal that he is Robin's father on the boat? He wanted to show her the videotape.

I got a sense maybe that they wanted to do away with Robin on that boat after revealing the truth to her. Plans changed after they were discovered by Johnno. If that's true, though, I don't know why they didn't make another attempt at the house later on. It's ambiguous, at best.

3. No cop would go to Matt's place to record a confession in the name of indulging in his desire to "maintain control," or whatever claptrap Robin justifies it with. Just a silly attempt to heighten the drama with panic codes. What if she is shot with a silencer if she uses the bathroom? Drugged and raped by Matt or one of his unstable associates? Even just bit by a dog on the way out? Any halfway competent cop tells Matt that if you want to confess, you come to the station for proper videotaping and witnesses or don't confess. I also liked how Robin says, "So shall we just jump right into it then." You don't want to ask him his name for the record or if he is under the influence of drugs or alcohol?

I'd like to believe that Robin felt she had no other alternative, because she suspected the cop of collusion with Matt. She really SHOULD have suspected that, but I will say she didn't seem like she did at times. Perhaps she was really, really good at convincing the cop that she trusted him, but knew that he couldn't be trusted. Or maybe she wavered in regards to trusting him. As far as her personal safety, this is definitely the Clarice Starling School of Blindly Thrusting Oneself into Life-Threatening Situations at People's Homes 101.

4. The whole rebellion of the sons at the end was laughable. Transparent attempt to redeem them at the expense of their father. Made the father more simplistically evil, so we don't feel quite so bad when he dies, and maybe we feel that regardless of whether the sons continue the meth empire, they were obviously victims, not responsible for their own actions.

Agreed.

5. As sergeant tells Robin, every potential informant on Matt has ended up dead. So what does Robin agree to with Matt's maid who shows up at her house high, willing to testify against Matt? See you day after tomorrow! She goes to Robin in broad daylight - if nothing else, Matt could easily catch wind of this very meeting and suspect the maid has turned. But Robin makes no mention of safety concerns to the maid. No thought to put her up at a hotel far away for a while.

I guess she felt that Matt didn't see her come? IDK. If he didn't know she approached her, her safety might not be an issue until she gave an actual deposition.

6. The absolute height of ridiculousness, that the sergeant would involve Tui in the pedophile ring. First, the sergeant felt some mix of fear and friendship towards Matt. Either one of those logically would have led the sergeant to not involve Tui. Second, neither Matt - whom we are led to believe is the kingpin of this neck of the woods - nor any of his sons or associates knows anything about this pedophile ring to ever suspect the sergeant of Tui's rape?

I saw Matt & the sergeant more as equals. I didn't sense much fear from that sergeant about anything, including Matt. The two had a reciprocal relationship that allowed each other to continue their respective crimes. Just because Matt seemed to care about Tui, I don't know for sure it means he didn't supply her to the sergeant and his pedo ring as a part of this reciprocal relationship. The guy was a sociopath. If anything, he seemed most concerned about there being no baby to prove his own wrongdoings with her (assuming he WAS the father, which may also have been a case of the sergeant lying to protect himself and/or his pedo ring).

7. What was the point of Robin passing out at sergeant's place? We, like her, question whether he raped her, despite his assurance that he didn't. Okay. Seems to have no consequence on anything else either way.

At the time it happened, I was going back and forth as to whether or not the sergeant was evil/corrupt or not. It seemed pretty obvious to me she was drugged, but there was a lingering question as to whether or not she just overdid it on the booze. Of course, by the end, we can be fairly certain he drugged her. It was a mechanism to play with our (and thus her) feelings of trust or distrust for the sergeant.

8. Tui just gives birth on her own, probably severe internal injuries, and they don't take her or the baby to the hospital?

Tui is extremely bright and resourceful, and had studied how to give birth with Jamie from the book the crazy old man gave them. She probably took steps to diminish the possibilities of childbirth complications. I don't think there's any reason to assume she had severe internal injuries; historically, young girls have given birth in all sorts of circumstances, and many of them did not have medical complications.

9. Where is Tui's mom in all of this? We see her once and that's it. Absence especially glaring at the end, after Tui's birth, when Robin is playing mom.

I just assumed lost to drugs.

[–] DerrrrDerp 10 years ago

I agree. Many better than average shows don't spell everything out but are cohesive. This, there's just straight up plot holes. Mainly, like you point out, in the motives of the characters. People do things in this show because it serves the plot and it is lazy. I did enjoy it but it's no where near a fav nor would I recommend it really.