Episode 7, ‘Shoes of the Fisherman’, is a breath of fresh air. It’s been sometime since we’ve seen a story from the ‘other side’. Now it’s time for one particular crew member to learn about the plight of foreign fishermen.

The problem with doing a story like this is that it has to steer clear of becoming too political. Producers can easily fall into various traps and provoke debate that takes away from the central story. At the end of the day, the illegal fishermen are human, just like the crew of Hammersley. ‘Sea Patrol’ is to be applauded for doing such justice to this very relevant story.

The opening is one we’ve seen before. Hammersley is chasing an FFV. But this time it’s someone they’ve come across before. The master of the FFV taunts RO via the radio. Poor RO was wounded last time they met. As the crew make jokes at RO’s expense, RO convinces himself that he needs to be on the boarding party. This is personal.

‘Sea Patrol’ often battles to prove it’s a character based drama but this episode undoubtedly succeeds at doing so. We feel for the crew as they search for a crew member who is suspected of committing suicide. The crew is drawn closer as they battle to work out why the crew member may have done this.

This powerful drama includes a short but very moving scene with Mike and Kate, who blame themselves. The story also provides a chance for Dutchy to reveal some emotion. Out of anger, Kate dismisses and belittles him. But he is truly hurting and blaming himself.

We finally get a glimpse into what makes Dutchy tick. Again the scenes between Conrad and Lisa feel very real. They have an unbelievable chemistry on screen, which makes for great viewing. Hal, Di and the writers must be pleased that they plotted out this rocky road for Dutchy and Kate because Conrad and Lisa deliver week after week.

Bird again has to ask questions of the crew to find out what is going on. This continues to be a great educative device for the audience. My feeling that Bird is underused persists as she ends up in the background once again. I’d really like to see her step up and be counted.

Kristian shined as RO in Episode 5, ‘Paradise Lost’, and he actually delivers an even finer performance in this episode. RO learns a very real lesson in humility whilst staying true to the essence of his character.

After a dog attack, RO is scared he has rabies and attempts to confront his fears head on. This eventually lands him in trouble with an old adversary to whom he has become oddly indebted. The altercation for RO is very confronting. He is not a people person by nature but on a small and smelly fishing boat he has to learn to work with strangers. No ComCen to hide in here.

As the dog dies, and the master of the FFV becomes ill, Robert fears the worst. He needs to get back to the Hammersley. However, he’s not exactly in a position to bargain.

Guest actor Lap Phan plays the master of the FFV very authentically. There is a hint of some awkward dialogue, but this is understandably driven by anger. He’s annoyed and very upset with the navy.

In Series 1 I didn’t really warm to RO. I started to enjoy him in Series 3 as he provided so much humour. But since ‘Paradise Lost’ and now ‘Shoes of the Fisherman’ I think RO has really started to evolve. Kristian delivers a great performance every time the spotlight falls on him. I hope we get to see Kristian shine again before the series is over.

This episode is fantastic. Although still shying away from heavy action, the character driven plot is thought provoking and very refreshing.

1 ) Congratulations on Series 5 being confirmed for 2011. Will we see a return to the mini series format? Can we look forward to another 16 episodes?

No, the Network wants us to stick to the separate stand-alone stories for each episode but the interpersonal storylines between the crew members will continue over 13 episodes this season.

2 ) Without giving everything away, can you confirm how many of the current cast are returning for Series 5? Or how many additions to the main cast there will be in Series 5?

Can’t say too much at this time, but there will be some movement and one crew member will leave. Stay tuned.

3 ) The Hammersley crew has been made up entirely of Caucasians, though from a variety of European backgrounds. Will we ever see an Asian or dark-skinned member of the Hammersley crew?

Good question. Interestingly there’s not an extremely high representation in Navy for non-Caucasians. So to avoid tokenism, we’ve stayed in the middle on that issue for our crew but of course we have a United Nations of guest actors.

4 ) The fan episode reviews have been of major interest to the fans on Sea-Patrol.com. What sold you on the idea?

It was Hawker’s idea and a good one. We love our loyal fans and thought fan reviews would be a way of rewarding them. Particularly as regular TV Reviewers don’t seem to pay much attention to a show like Sea Patrol in its fourth season. We guess they’re attitude is “been there, done that?”. Pity, because as the fans know, the show has changed so much and kinda grown up so beautifully the critics are missing out. So the fan review redresses the balance somewhat – but we never edit or change them. They’re all in a fan’s words.

5 ) Everything from the editing to the way humour is incorporated into the show seems to be much more fluid in Series 4. To what do you attribute this observation? Do you sense a similar improvement in the storytelling since Series 1?

One of the things we love about television is you can quickly learn from your mistakes and improve episode by episode. Every season we insist upon a goal of being better in everything we do, so the end result – the finished episode is a better, more satisfyingly entertaining hour of entertainment than the one before.

We have a near 90% retention rate of cast and crew, series to series – now for four series. We all love working together, we’re eager to ensure we lift the bar each season and we get a lot of pleasure and pride from doing so. Good television is about team work. With nearly 200 people learning to pull together, improvement is inevitable – and frankly, essential.

6 ) How did you feel about Sea Patrol 4 returning to a Thursday night timeslot after two years on a Monday night? What impact do you think timeslot changes have on a show?

Timeslot is a Network decision. We’re happy to be anywhere in primetime. From memory Water Rats used to be on a Thursday so there’s a tradition for Aussie drama there. Don’t forget timeslot selection is both an aggressive and defensive strategic decision for the programmer, having regard to the lead in (Getaway) and lead out (The Footy Show) as well as what the opposition is playing and trying to achieve. It’s a very complex game of chess that’s not in our skill set.

7 ) Series 4 is quite relationship orientated and some people feel the Hammersley has become the love boat. Can you comment on this?

With more screen time to air, we’ve been able to delve deeper into the relationships, particularly Mike and Kate, but also in the past with Nav and ET, and now Bomber, RO and 2 Dads too. Compared to any other show, as far as the ‘Love Boat’ moniker is concerned, we’re pretty low key. We think Navy’s real life example is terrific. Its admirable to see young men and women working well together without jumping into bed (or wherever). As to Mike and Kate’s explosive get together, they were no longer serving on the same boat and their long held feelings got the better of them. But they’re both professional sailors so have had to bury those feelings again. Self discipline is also good drama!

8 ) Some people feel that the new crew, together with Mike and Kate, are getting too much air time and that Swain and Bomber have faded into the background. What do you say about this?

Everyone has favourites and of course some jobs, i.e. CO/XO/Buffer are more important than others, so inevitably we see more of them. But just wait. We make sure that every one of our principal cast have their time in the spotlight, so stay tuned!

9 ) How has the production team’s relationship with both the Navy and the community of Mission Beach evolved over the past five years?

With Navy the trust has grown considerably and the little (and quite understandable) pockets of suspicion/concern/sensitivity have largely evaporated as serving or ex serving personnel realise our intentions are honourable and we’re showing Navy in the best light possible. We hope even the little mistakes we have made in procedures, uniforms, etc, are largely forgiven too.

As for Mission Beach, they welcomed us with open arms and over the years we’ve just got closer and closer. We all love our time up in FNQ in that idyllic community and the locals really make us feel at home.

10 ) What can we expect in the second half of Series 4?

There’s lots to look forward to – the crew of Hammersley meet violent prison escapees, sly grog runners, gold thieves, cattle rustlers, drug smugglers and stalkers. There’s betrayal, tribal warfare, rec diving gone wrong and even a poisoning. We hope you enjoy the rest of the series.

Episode 5, ‘Paradise Lost,’ continues with the slower pace that started in Episode 4. As a fan of action, I much prefer an episode slightly more action-oriented, but ‘Paradise Lost’ still delivers in the drama stakes. There is some humour and a couple of life-threatening incidents thrown in for good measure.

This is very much a RO-Bomber episode and Kristian, particularly, demonstrates his skill in portraying his complex character. RO is a character you either love or hate. He is an enigma in so many ways and that’s what often makes him so captivating, but also what can make him annoying or downright infuriating. RO is as complex and complicated as people are in real life. This is most evident in episodes like this.

After Bomber spills hot milk on RO she tends to his wounds. Poor RO thinks he has crossed the non-fraternisation boundaries and seeks out the Captain to report it. This leads to a very amusing scene with Mike who is a bit lost for words. When Mike confronts Bomber about this incident, she has some choice words for poor RO.

Hammersley suffers damage whilst underway. Charge orders immediate repairs, so they set down the anchor off a beautiful tropical island dubbed Paradise. Some of the crew head off to explore the island.

I never really bring up the aesthetics of an episode and that’s mainly due to the fact I pitched these reviews as ones that would explore what story and character elements fans are most likely to enjoy. But I have to raise the visual delights here. The attention to detail in this tropical paradise is fantastic. Apart from the stunning rainforest vistas we’re used to, we are treated with a ghostly mist at night. And of course, a full moon to pre-empt the drama to come.

Every tropical paradise harbours a dark and murky side. That seems to be a non-negotiable TV rule. Here the darkness involves more than just swamps and rotten egg gas.

Kirsty plays very well off Kristian and also Nikolai. I think Kirsty has lacked some strong screen time in Series 4, but this episode more than makes up for it.

Bomber’s three-year contract is nearly up and Mike asks her if she wants to re-sign but she’s keeping mum for the moment. It’s all up in the air and incidents like the one with RO don’t help her to make such decisions.

After Bomber has an accident on the island, she finds something that she feels she is missing. Is it time for her to consider life beyond the Navy?

Unfortunately, a lot of Kirsty’s performance is inhibited by guest star, Bob Morley (Home and Away, The Strip). He has a pivotal role in this episode, yet is not very engaging. I sometimes found his hollow acting and monotone voice detracted from Kirsty’s performance.

Some of the scenes with Bomber and RO feel very awkward. Then again, due to the nature of his character, many scenes with RO are awkward. There’s always a surprise with RO and that’s what makes him eternally interesting. Thankfully this time neither a golf buggy nor a transexual play a part.

By helping out a crew mate in mortal danger RO becomes an unlikely hero. True to hero status, though, he doesn’t want to take the credit.

Swain (Matt Holmes) has a slightly bigger role in this episode, and a few funny lines too. I really hope he gets a more character driven storyline soon as he can really deliver a good performance when given the chance. I think his abilities last came to the surface in Episode 11 ‘Chinese Whispers’ – since then I feel he’s been underused.

If you can look past the slower pace and some awkward scenes with RO you’ll find a good episode. Despite not being as fast paced as the beginning of the season, it is still a strong episode and one I think works very well for both RO and Bomber – and to a lesser extent 2Dads. It took me two viewings before I warmed to ‘Paradise Lost’.

I think it’s one of those episodes where you easily miss things on a casual or first viewing. Once it’s aired, I recommend you re-watch it on Channel Nine’s catch up service or iTunes to fully appreciate it. Otherwise you will probably miss some of the subtleties of this episode.