The Unusual Suspects: No, it isn’t those guys

The Unusual Suspects comes from Australia. In 4 episodes, it takes a group of women on a journey of discovery, connection, and into a heist. It’s full of wonderful performances and some, dare I say it, unusual comedy. This mini-series is on Hulu.

The Unusual Suspects features a large ensemble cast. If I had to pick the two main characters it would be Sara (Miranda Otto) and Evie (Aina Dumlao). Both are outstanding. Sara is a social media influencer. Everyone thinks she’s rich but she’s actually broke.

Evie is Sara’s Filipino nanny. There are many Filipino domestic workers in Australia – usually women who left their families behind and are sending home money. Evie does absolutely everything for Sara, who treats her like dirt.

When Sara gets so broke she can’t pay Evie, the crisis situation of the series is set in motion.

Let’s meet some of the others. Roxanne (Michelle Vergara Moore) is a Filipino woman married to the white man, Jordan (Toby Leonard Moore). He gives her a huge, gaudy, diamond and emerald necklace that Roxanne gets appraised at $16 Million. A safe is installed in Roxanne’s house to protect the necklace.

Jordan tells Roxanne the necklace is her insurance policy, just days before he is arrested for fraud. There’s a small problem, however. The necklace actually belongs to Jordan’s horrid mother, Jeannie (Sandy Gore).

The maid who works at Roxanne’s is Amy (Lena Cruz). She might be Roxanne’s sister – I wasn’t clear on that relationship.

Gigi (Susana Downes) arrives from the Philippines. She’s supposed to be a house cleaner at Roxanne’s. However, she imagines herself a life coach. Everyone’s close neighbor Birdie (Heather Mitchell) befriends Gigi.

That’s almost everyone, except for Sara’s husband Garth (Matt Day) and a former artist beau of Sara’s named Nick (Peter O’Brien).

The Heist?

This group of women are all disgruntled with life and their men and their lack of independence and money. They decide to steal the emerald necklace. They will drill into the safe! Easy!

They work out a careful plan. Sara, Evie, Roxanne, Amy, and Birdie are the gang of thieves. They team up with the wife of a mobster named Rae (Susie Porter) who says she can fence the necklace for $10M.

There are twists and surprises, lots of complications in the plan, and everyone faces the threat of ending up in jail. It gets more and more comedic as the episodes roll by. The ending is a treat and a delight and truly poetic justice.

Jessica Redenbach created the series. Natalie Bailey directed 3 of the episodes. Mixed in with the comedy antics was a strong message about the way immigrant women are undervalued and exploited. Don’t underestimate your nanny!

There’s a trailer on Hulu you can watch. I couldn’t find a good one on YouTube, so I’m giving you a look at a Behind the Scenes video instead.

Please share your thoughts on this series if you watch it.