What I have to say about this will probably make me really unpopular for saying… But I want to say it. As the sister of a dead Sydney heroin junkie, I find myself deeply troubled at the glamorisation of the people who have brought such misery into the lives of so many. ‘Kiwi Terry’ – officially believed to have murdered a half dozen people – is guilty of a lot more than half a dozen. This series made these people seem young, fun and innocent – far more innocent than they were. Alison Dine, for all her ‘kindy teacher’ innocence, her prettiness and sweetness – was not! You cannot bring in a couple of hundred pounds of heroin, process it, and get it to market ‘innocently’. It's true that it's an amazing story – but maybe we'd all have amazing stories – even bigger than these ones – if we had three-quarters of a billion dollars to play with. These people weren't cutting edge or cool or fun… They were vicious, mean thugs who not only turned on innocent people – killing anyone in their way – but they also turned on each other. One of the big draws to gangs is the ‘family’ they offer. But what kind of family turns on each other – sends hitmen to kill each other- The truth is, removing the cinematic masterpiece that this TV show is, removing the dramatic and well-placed music, the dry Aussie humour (which I do love), you're left with an absolutely grizzly storyline. That's the danger of this… It's so entertaining. But if only people could have seen Terry Clarke's ‘clients’… My brother, for example, a heroin user who contracted AIDS. This is the reality of Terry Clarke's heroin empire. I'm simply not sure how to rate this… It would be top marks for TV viewing – but bottom marks for making these nasty guys out to be just ‘good ole boys’. But since that's said – I have decided to rate it based on its viewing appeal – therefore, top marks.
