But Black Snow also gives us a palpable sense of the Islander community as a unique and complex part of Australia, one that many outside it likely know little about. It’s up to the cast of first-timers to bring it to life, and a few wobbles aside, they do so brilliantly.

Leading the charge are Blackman-Corowa, whose affectless delivery is strangely winning, and Jemmason Power, who plays the grown-up version of Isabel’s younger sister, Hazel. She’s initially hostile to Cormack’s investigation, before becoming his greatest asset. Unless, that is, she has something of her own to hide.

As for Cormack, he’s got his demons too. We first meet him paying someone to beat him up in an alley outside a pub. Clearly, he’s not just your average copper, and Fimmel – best known for his Ragnar Lothbrok in Vikings – makes him bristle with volatile ambiguity, righteously dedicated one minute, on the brink of implosion the next.

The supporting cast is terrific too. Brooke Satchwell never fails to impress, though she doesn’t have quite enough to work with here. Alexander England has perfected the promising-lad-gone-to-seed vibe, while Rob Carlton and Kim Gyngell – as a farmer and local copper respectively – nail that menacing sense that country hospitality might turn to hostility in a flash.

Black Snow is a Trojan horse of a show. It’s an effective crime drama that does pretty much all you could ask of it. But lurking inside there’s a whole legion of more challenging ideas.

Stan is owned by Nine, publisher of this masthead.

Email the author at kquinn@theage.com.au, or follow him on Facebook at karlquinnjournalist and on Twitter @karlkwin.

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