The difference between well thought-out and pointless change
In my opinion these slides are the perfect example of well-thought out changes. They were part of the press kit that came out before the series premiered. As you can see (to zoom in on each slide or just click on it) there is a surprising amount of detailed information about the parents, who played an important role in this adaptation. This was one of the biggest unexpected changes but it has been extensively explained and justified by what we saw on screen. Let’s take Rachel Maxwell as an example. As written in her slide (and mentioned in episode three) she’s a former English teacher who gave up on her career as soon as she created a family. She’s tried to keep herself busy with creative writing classes, charity work but no one of the activities she took part of filled the void of a failed marriage as his husband, Daniel, has been not only an absent partner, but also an absent dad. We know that Fi in the show suffers of anxiety/panic disorder and takes Sertraline pills. She’s lived a sheltered life unlike Ellie, Corrie or Robyn or girls her age. But why? Of course, being all Rachel had (along with Chris) she’s ‘locked’ them up in their own world, to shield them from what’s outside and avoid the risk of losing them. Involuntarily, this lifestyle is something that might have precluded Fi from being friends with girls or boys her age. Chris is the other face of the coin. His life pre-war was without rules and responsibility, presumably because, again, for the fear of losing him, his mother tried to be as gentle as possible when a more decisive approach might have given him a different look at life, more ambitious and responsible. Look at what the war does to this family: it’s the chance for Daniel to finally realise how his absence has had an impact on this family. He now knows he needs to at least try making himself worth being forgiven and redeemable in the eyes of his two children and his wife. For Rachel, it might be too late. For Chris, war is an opportunity to fix his relationship with his dad, as we saw in the episodes, he seems to be getting closer to him at the showground. For Fi, it’s the life-time opportunity of expressing herself in a group of strong personalities and be the key of successful guerrilla attacks. Kath Mackenzie. A single, selfless mother who works at Wirrawee’s hospital. Her daughter, Corrie, is the child she’s had with Geoff, the biggest disappointment in her life. She did what she could to make sure Corrie would build the foundations of a happy, fulfilling future. Out of the parent-child relationships in the show, their bond is the strongest. War has not destroyed their love, with Kath making sure that, as brutal and confronting decision as it was, Corrie would leave this world in the less painful way possible. These tragic losses have different impacts on people (like we’ve seen with Umar, I’ll get back to later) but Kath has managed not to lose her control and good heart. Despite everything, she’ll still make sure to do all possible to help the enemy’s patients, and she’s the only one in the group keen on saving Kevin at the showground, when Ellie’s mother forbid them to say anything. Liz Linton’s description is accurate to what we have seen in season one. She “has a natural praticality and lack of sentimentality”. Indeed, we saw her not beating around the bush in a couple of occasions: the moment when Kevin needed help and when she assumed Rachel betrayed them (but what she did was giving Kath the medical treatment for Corrie). Liz is able to see past everything and focus on what needs to be done: this, however, becomes a more complex issue during a war. Ellie, despite being her daughter, differs in that she allows herself a lot of self-doubt and morality questioning to keep in mind she’s human and doesn’t want to lose herself in the process. She tries to do everything to hold herself emotionally after every breakdown. In the books there was no info of the parents at the showground, but from Ellie’s memories we can tell that what we saw of her dad in the show, Jack Linton, is so on-point. Ellie’s stubbornness comes from him. He can be easily offended and takes things very seriously. Notice how, while the group of kids has Homer as the visionary one who comes up with plans to form a resistance, Jack brings the same sort of dynamic to the showground. Another thing I found really interesting is the relationship between Jack and George Yannos. You could tell by the interactions we’ve seen on screen that they were friends but have a weird ‘coldness’ after something has changed between the two of them. When Homer discussed with Lee about his mother’s death, he mentioned that if it weren’t for Ellie and her parents his relationship with his father would have fell apart. They kept the two of them together after the tragic loss of Maria. It’s easy to see why Jack would be a bit resentful towards George for giving up things he believes in (including the small-farm business) not to get in trouble. He, however, means well and like Liz Linton, is realist. Umar Takkam. The show drew the most interesting parallel when it comes to a loss with Umar and his son, Lee. As every good parent, before the war he wanted to get the best out of his son. Every plan, however, falls apart as the enemy takes Therese’s life away. Both are devastated. Lee heads to town to kill as many soldiers as he could. Umar plans to kill the colonel. Lee, after several failed attempts, realises that killing the enemy won’t bring back the person he loved, and that he wouldn’t want to be the cause of someone suffering the traumatic loss he went through. Umar, left alone in his restaurant/house, cannot metabolise the loss and brutally kills Colonel Lee. One of the most touching scenes in the show is the last hug between Umar and Lee. Being so thoughtful, Lee knew in that moment he’d never see him again and the man he knew as Dad is long gone. The slides contain so many details, like how many years the relationship lasted, where some of the characters moved, and so on. This is when change make sense. The writers cared enough to work out all of these details and made sure everything would be connected. This takes time, thought and heart. Pointless changes don’t even require as much analysis because there is nothing to discuss when it’s all ‘random’. With this series, however, it was not the case. There were significant variations from the books, but they were explained, and cleverly sorted-out.
