Stan’s Black Snow brought the story of Australia’s South Sea Islanders to the world stage in a thrilling fashion, leaving fans attached to the miniseries. Black Snow explores an area of Australian history rarely talked about, with Isabel Baker (Tlijah Blackman-Corowa) putting a face and voice to the tale. The entire plot feels like a story right out of the papers, which left many fans wondering whether the story was based on a true story.
Despite being ideologically correct regarding the plight of Australia’s South Sea Islanders community, Black Snow is totally fictional. Many real-life hate crimes are similar to the show’s main story, so it is possible that Lucas Taylor was inspired by one of them while writing the script. The plot also resonates with many Australians and global viewers because the story of Ashford is similar to that of other towns worldwide with a history of colonization and servitude.
There is no denying the addictiveness of the show, which has earned a huge following and hit the magical 7.4 rating on IMDB. The stellar cast, led by the legendary Travis Fimmel (Vikings’ Ragnar Lothbrok) and the super-talented Talijah Blackman-Corowa, brought life to the show with a perfect balance of passion and emotion in the scenes. It is, therefore, understandable why fans want to know more about the show, so let’s delve into it.
Is Black Snow based on a true story?
There is no real-life cold case involving the murder of Isabel Baker, so Black Snow is just a fictional TV show out of Lucas Taylor’s creative imagination.
The town of Ashford is also fictional, although its history and storyline agree with many towns in the Australian South, where many islanders were kidnapped from neighboring Pacific Island Nations and forced to work in the sugarcane fields.
In the 19th century, over 62,000 people, mostly men, were kidnapped or coerced into working on sugarcane farms, mostly in Queensland. The process was called Blackbirding, as narrated in the show, which, at its peak, accounted for up to half of the male population of some of Australia’s neighboring islands.
The working conditions were horrible, and the people were only paid around $6 per year, deposited into a government savings account, and would probably never reach them. The only thing they got for their labor was food, shelter, and clothing, so they were called Sugar Slaves.
What Victor did to Lesul’s cousins in Black Snow depicts what happened during Blackbirding, although the names used are only fictional.
The Commonwealth Government recognized Australia’s South Sea Islanders as a unique cultural group, like the Aboriginals, in 1994, the same year as Isabel Baker’s murder in the show. Isabel’s story and the year the events are set are very important to the community.
Who plays Isabel Baker in Black Snow?
Talijah Blackman-Corowa, who portrays Isabel Baker, is a talented Australian actress, having made short cameos on multiple stage plays and local TV shows in Australia, including Murder In The Wicked West and Where Murder Lies in 2021.
Black Snow‘s Isabel Baker is the biggest role of her career so far, with her performance receiving many positive reviews. She is now practically the face of civil rights activism for South Sea Islanders after her electrifying performance.
Talijah was born in 2002, meaning she was 20 years old by the time she portrayed Isabel Baker in the show, making her three years older than her character in the show.
With the positive reviews that came with her performance, it is obvious that bigger roles are on the way for her, making her one of the big future talents to watch out for in Australia.
Her performance overshadowed that of experienced A-listers in the cast, including Travis Fimmel (James Cormack), whose portrayal of Ragnar Lothbrok in Vikings and Caleb in Raised by Wolves earned multiple awards and nominations.
Where was Black Snow filmed?
Black Snow was filmed in the beautiful tropical town of Proserpine, in the Whitsundays region of Northern Queensland. It is one of the last pristine rural towns in the region that still maintain big sugar mills since the 1800s.
Lucas Taylor, the show’s creator, described Proserpine as “a place of stunning beauty that is hiding dark secrets” while comparing it to the town of Ashford in Black Snow.
The vast cane fields in the town, as well as its stunning tropical forests and grasslands, made the scenic locations that are part of the reason why Black Snow is such a big success. The shooting was a huge project in the rural town, with the presence of Travis Fimmel and the other celebrities making big news in the region.
Is Black Snow streaming on Netflix?
Unfortunately, Black snow is not currently available for streaming on Netflix. The show was released as an exclusive Stan Original show on January 1, 2023.
It is still a global success and has since been released on other streaming services, including Sundance Now and AMC+, making it more available globally. With its growing popularity, other streaming services may pick up Black Snow. It might therefore stream on Netflix in the future.
Will there be a second season of Black Snow?
Stan hasn’t confirmed a second season of Black Snow as of March 15, 2023, but that might change in the future as the show’s popularity continues to rise. The six-part mini-series was designated as a limited series, and since the murder mystery of Isabel Baker was already solved, the story of Ashford may well be done.
If a new murder mystery is developed for James Cormack to investigate, then Travis Fimmel might return for a second installment of the show, but the same cannot be said for the rest of the cast. However, there is no confirmation from Stan that a second series is in the works yet, so we are only speculating based on the first season’s ending.
The show’s global fan base would welcome a second season, but it is a shame they won’t see more of Isabel Baker even if it is renewed.
