Jared Richards
Colin from Account ★★★★
That’s sweet Colin from Account‘ the third season is his last. A popular Australian romcom, created by and starring a real-life couple Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyerhas captured hearts around the world for a good reason.
A tight ratio of rom and com, it’s been different and interesting since its first moments – a tumultuous Sydney doctor-in-training Ash (Dyer) and brewery owner Gordon (Brammall) involving a nipple flash, a car accident and a shared $12,000 vet bill for a border split.
When a relationship was formed around their new wheelchair-assisted dog (episode title), Colin from Account it had an ease of following its curves and snarky jokes thanks to the chemistry that lived in it, as well as a pleasant balance of sweetness and acidity. One of those qualities can be hard to come by in the comedy of the streaming age, which tends to lean toward the absurd or downright weird. The only thing that’s rarer is the show going on its own terms, which is why it’s hard to be too upset that Brammall and Dyer announced that “creatively, it feels like the right time” for the series to end.
So where to Ash and Gordon? The third season begins after Gordon’s drunken proposal at Ash’s friend’s wedding on a crowded dance floor. Although I’m sworn to secrecy about the specifics, it’s safe to say that the gesture was not well received, and we reconnect with the couple at a very different place and time in their lives.
In four of the eight episodes available for review, Ash and Gordon find themselves – separately and together – questioning the meaning of their magnetism to each other. Is it a sign that they are meant to be? Or the result of two broken and wounded people seeing themselves in each other?
Don’t worry, comedy is still at the forefront. Neither Ash’s friend Megan (Emma Harvie) and her new-age partner Rumi (local thief Virginia Gay) nor Gordon’s company partners (Genevieve Hegney and Michael Logo) have any time to make smoke. Other supporting characters remain as unique as ever, including Justin Rosniak as Gordon’s brother, and Ash’s heroic mother (Helen Thomson).
New characters that are well organized. Thomas Cocquerel (All His Mistakes, Age of Courage) plays a kind of golden retriever who loves pickles and forgets to shower after a shift at the fish market. “He doesn’t smell good,” says Rosniak’s character. “But at least he’s boring and he licks his fingers a lot.
And yes, Colin is here, too – the same scratchy, scarred, strange-looking dog that captured Gordon and Ash’s hearts in the first place. It looks familiar.
Colin from Account (season three) streams on Binge starting July 27.
