Australian Stand-Up comedian Kitty Flanagan returns for a third season of her Netflix series “FISK”. Created by Flanagan with TV and Filmmaker Vincent Sheehan and written with her sister Penny Flanagan, the series has taken home the award for Best Comedy Series from the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts for each of its three series.
The half-hour sitcom takes us into the life and times of Helen Tudor-Fisk, a newly divorced Wills and Probate attorney who is starting fresh, leaving a husband, a home, and her career in Sydney and returning to her roots and family in Melbourne.
The acerbic Tudor-Fisk landed in Wills and Probate, reasoning that most of her clientele would be dead. A perfect match, as she doesn’t care for people, dead or alive.
Once home, she lands a position in a small brother & sister run firm when the brother half of the duo realizes she is the daughter of a retired Supreme Court Justice. Delighted by the prospect of upping the firm’s profile by hiring a Fisk, he hires her without reservation and without references.
Tudor Fisk’s paper-thin tolerance for any of her clients or co-workers’ idiocentricities drives most of the razor-sharp wit that is laced throughout every episode. FISK is television at a level once the standard for television, think “Rosanne”, “Absolutely Fabulous”, “Murphy Brown”. Unfortunately, TV this smart and sharp is all but absent from today’s television screens.
Flanagan has surrounded herself with the perfect ensemble cast, starting with her quirky co-workers, always offering some conflict or irritant to elicit the great frustration of Tudor-Fisk. This is where Flanagan shines brightest. Here you will find no hysterics or histrionics. The exceptional Flanagan does not need words to communicate the complete absurdity she feels surrounding her on every side. The actress tells you everything you need to know with the gaze of her eye and the expressions on her face.
Julia Zimiro as Roz, the sister half of the Gruber and Gruber firm, who is an eccentric to say the least. Her constant forays into fringe situations are played both brilliantly and hysterically. The earnestness with which she portrays each new hyperfixation is dazzling. Marty Sheargold, as Ray, the other half of the Gruber pair, plays the guy that every office has daily, doing the minimum, investing himself in nothing. Hell, half the time \you think he is hiding because you can never find him.
Aaron Chen rounds out the office staff as the “gatekeeper” of the Gruber & Gruber Firm. Shielding the others as needed and organizing the occasional mud cake to commemorate a major announcement within the firm when necessary.
Rounding out the ensemble are John Gaden and Glenn Butcher as Helen’s father, Anthony, and his husband, Viktor. Butcher’s Viktor is every over-the-top bitchy queen I have ever known. Exhausted by even the slightest deviation from his desired plan, don’t look to Viktor if you need to borrow the George Forman Grill without an appointment.
John Gaden offers a layered performance as Tudor-Fisk’s father, a retired Supreme Court justice. His gentle portrayal is perfect for a character who was widowed two years prior and has found love and a second marriage, only this time with a man. In any other situation, his performance would stand out from the pack. Fortunately for us, Flanagan has put together a cast that has each created their own standout character, creating a puzzle piece that alone is confusing, lacks sense. Put all of these pieces together, and what a beautiful picture is created.
Seasons 1-3 of FISK are all available to stream now on Netflix.
