After three seasons and 24 episodes, Colin from Accounts has officially wrapped up. Photo: John Platt.
The Australian sense of humour is unique, with its banter-fueled, often put-down nature being its own special breed of comedy that outsiders struggle to understand.
It’s less about set-up and delivery, and more about sharp wit. That’s exactly why great scripted comedies in Australia are few and far between.
Sure, there have been some great hits like Kath and Kim, Utopia and Fisk in recent years, but few have captured international audiences quite like Colin From Accounts.
Its third and final season has just wrapped up on Foxtel’s streaming service Binge, and it’s safe to say the comedy about a paraplegic dog named Colin and the on-again, off-again nature of his owners, Gordon and Ash, is the best Australian comedy of the decade.
A show that started with Gordon accidentally hitting a stray Colin with his car while being dazed by Ash flashing him as a thank you for letting her cross the road became a very real, very funny story about two people navigating a relationship and owning a dog in Sydney.
Its final season picks up three years after the end of season two, when Gordon’s proposal to Ash at her best friend’s wedding went severely wrong, leading the pair to call it quits.
Gordon has sold a majority stake in his pub. Meanwhile, Ash has become a qualified GP. In a chance encounter where Gordon books a flu shot, the two reluctantly rekindle their former romance, but not without some hiccups along the way.
I can’t stress enough in this review how funny Colin from Accounts is. If you have seen it, you understand; and if you haven’t, watch it and you will.
It’s a simple premise elevated by its incredibly quick-witted writing, wacky ensemble cast, and brilliant lead performers (real-life couple Patrick Brammall and Harriet Dyer).
While an underlying story runs through the season, each new episode throws Gordon and Ash into a crazy new situation that every real human can at least understand.
Whether it’s being stuck in West Wyalong with an EV out of charge, being uninvited to a strangely themed party but showing up anyway, or even deciding which nursing home to put your aging parent in, each sticky situation is laugh-out-loud funny.
It’s all unashamedly Australian, too. Not in the sense that there are exaggerated accents or caricatures of people-like kangaroos either. It’s the little things like complaining about craft beer, sitting down to watch the NRL and the quick back-and-forth banter with the casual inserts of swears that other cultures would raise an eyebrow at.
There are some minor nitpicks to be had. It did feel like the final season manufactured a bit of drama between Gordon and Ash to extend out the question of whether they will get together.
Some side characters, particularly Gordon’s 2IC at the pub, Chiara and Ash’s best friend Megan, also felt like they had a little less to do this season.
Despite these minor gripes, it didn’t damage the overall product; by the final scene of the final episode, the show stuck the landing so satisfyingly that I felt the need to rewatch the entire show from start to finish.
With the show only being 24 episodes from start to finish, Colin from Accounts knew what it was and how to make audiences laugh without overstaying its welcome.
In turn, we got an amazing comedy series from start to finish that is proving a winner not just here in Australia but over in the US and the UK as well.
All three seasons of Colin from Accounts are now streaming on Binge.
