Share
Clip description
It’s early morning. Teenagers Joe Pelluci (Paul Pantano), Heidi Benson (Rose Byrne) and Glen Murdoch (Omar Baladjam) have carried out a ram-raid on a clothes store. A high-speed police chase ensues. After officers ignore radio orders to call it off, the teenagers’ car narrowly misses a truck. The police officers are not so lucky. Doctor Maxine Summers (Rachael Blake) is among the first to arrive at the accident scene.
Curator’s notes
The chaotic action, frenetic editing and camera movement in these opening minutes quickly give the viewer an idea of what to expect from the series. Director and series creator Mike Jenkins has named US cop shows like NYPD Blue (1993-2005) and Hill Street Blues (1981-87) as stylistic influences and this is visible here, although Wildside also has its own feel.
The change in pace after the crash, cued by slower editing and a variation in the music, provides contrast. Similar shifts from fever pitch to slow boil and back again are employed throughout the episode – but a feeling of simmering tension is constant.
That Maxine is present at the crash scene and tends to the injured police, when later she will treat the ram-raiders, is the first demonstration of the juggling act her character is faced with in the series.
