The show has it's merits as it attempts to have the quirky comedic side story parallel the serious detective story. The quirky side has characters and plot lines that go from inane to stupid, the detective side has serious business going on. Unfortunately the inane and stupid too often migrate to the serious side. The police are either invisible or incompetent, the bad guys get to be bad without consequences episode after episode, and poor old Marta Dusseldorp gets hung out to dry (luckily she has a much better gig in Sydney circa 1950's).
Jack seems confused more than not, and manages to get himself nearly killed every episode, and the cops just laugh. And they're not even shooting for satire!
Review of Jack Irish
