He Had It Coming review: not subtle but a killer comedy

As a campus comedy that kicks off with an arts lecture focused a little too intensely on classic nudes – which is then interrupted by a sweary jock complaining his bitch ex has ghosted him – He Had It Coming isn’t interested in slow starts.

Outside, a feminist protest featuring a sign reading ‘Dead Men Don’t Rape’ is tackled by the local men’s rights trenchcoat squad, and soon the feminists’ leader is dragged away shouting ‘KAM’. That’s short for Kill All Men. The gender politics at Cecil James University is clearly on the heated side, and that’s before a castrated corpse is found in the quad.

University life (and death)

Some mysteries bring the audience along for the ride, carefully scattering clues so viewers can join in on the fun. He Had It Coming is not that kind of mystery. There are plenty of suspects and no shortage of motives. Creators and co-writers Gretel Vella and Craig Anderson are more interested in how two of the main suspects – that’d be Elise (Lydia West) and Barbara (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) – got themselves involved in a serial killer’s murderous rampage and how they’re going to get out.

For Elise, an English exchange student at uni on a bagpipes scholarship after a five-year gap year, all of this would usually be background noise. Failing her first arts assignment for not being radical enough (seems putting clothes on classical nudes is no longer shocking), she’s artistically adrift, academically flailing and socially… well, nobody seems able to get her name right, which is not a good sign.

When fashion influencer Barbara latches onto her as a way to escape a clingy male fan, they end up spending a night drinking, dancing and destroying university property. It’s the last one that’s the problem. Fired up over their sexist classes and sleazy professors, they decide to get in on the FTP (that’s Fuck The Patriarchy) action and trash the heritage-listed statue in the quad.

Feminist slogans are painted, the statues’ crotch gets a hammering and after a job well done, they drunkenly head home. But someone thinks they didn’t go far enough, judging by the castrated corpse of the campuses star rugby player that’s found at the base of the statue the next morning.

Blunt force approach to comedy

As the murder investigation swings into action, both Elise and Barbara have good reasons not to step up and confess their role in what happened. Elise will lose her scholarship; going political will kill Barbara’s endorsement income. So they have to sneak back and hide the evidence. Which as everyone who’s ever watched a mystery series knows, always leads to more trouble.

As comedy goes this is pretty blunt – Elise has a habit of stress vomiting, because why not – and the jokes are often hit and miss. But even the misfires help establish a tone that’s over-the-top and kind of smutty. (There’s a ceramic artist who puts his fluids into his work; and a major clue points towards the killer wearing a C cup.)

That’s essential to the series’ success; when you’re dealing with gender politics and murder it’s important to make it very clear exactly where you’re coming from, and there at least He Had It Coming doesn’t put a foot wrong.

As the body count grows, the men on campus are increasingly gripped by fear. It’s a situation the women on campus are already familiar with, and He Had It Coming isn’t shy about drawing ironic parallels. The points being made aren’t exactly subtle (or new), but this series commits fully to them.

Watch the He Had It Coming trailer

Strong leads bring sparky chemistry

It helps that there’s a lot of variety in the characters. Some stay serious, like committed campus cop Detective Shepherd (Liv Hewson). The faux feminist Professor Phoenix (Harry Greenwood) is more of a cartoon, while the self-serving Vice Chancellor (Lisa Kay) is your typical bureaucrat, just wanting all this drama to go away. Is murder enough to get people to put aside their differences? For a comedy, this can be surprisingly hopeful at times.

The strongest element here is the two leads. Elise is the dorky outsider, talking to her mum every night and still carrying around the walkie-talkies they used to keep in touch. Her dream of following in Pussy Riot’s footsteps seems a little unlikely to say the least. Fingers crossed that all this burying evidence and staring down blackmailers will help her find her inner Alpha.

Meanwhile Barbara is wedged firmly into the heart of university society. She’s increasingly out of sync with her vapid friends and MMA-loving boyfriend, trying to salvage her social standing by attending a memorial Pimps and Tarts party and saying kind words about the deceased. Sure, he was a known rapist and groper – but only when he was drunk.

Together West and Bordizzo have a sparky chemistry that throws their characters into sharp relief every time they’re together. You can see why Elise and Barbara are drawn to each other, even as they couldn’t be more different. The murder mystery might be the big attraction in He Had It Coming, but seeing their friendship develop is the real reason to keep returning to the scene of the crime.

He Had It Coming premieres on Stan on 20 November.

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