The main strength of 'Top of the lake' lies within its tone, its atmosphere. The show really succeeds in creating a tiny little world of its own and it does kind of suck you into it. The scenes are filled with an underlying subtle suspense, but also somehow seemed to portray peacefulness and an idyll to me. It's a strange mixture that works.

Contributing to this are some very good performances and excellent cinematography, as of course the always beautiful landscape of New Zealand.

Therefore it's a shame that the writing lets the viewers down a bit. The story feels too drawn out and inconclusive at times. I liked how natural and unforced it felt a lot of the time, partly because not everything was explained, yet in some important scenes the writing lacked precision, sharpness and logic. More importantly I felt all in all it lacked narrative cohesion.

So, while 'Top of the lake' was great at conjuring up an atmosphere, I felt it was sub par at telling a gripping story despite having set the groundwork to do so early on. It's still a rewarding watch, just not as good as I feel it could have been.