The Tourist, Max’s amnesia thriller, is a hidden gem that more people ought to be aware of. The drama, which is co-produced by the Australian network Stan, the UK’s BBC One, and Max, stars Jamie Dornan from Fifty Shades of Grey as an Irishman who ends himself in rural Australia and has no memory of who he is or how he got there.
The show has a lot to love, including its fast-paced, lighthearted humour, and contemporary take on classic crime thrillers with stoic heroes.
But among the show’s most enjoyable elements is the unexpectedly sweet romance between Danielle Macdonald’s Constable Helen Chambers and actor James Dornan’s The Man/Elliot, which is returning for Season 2 later this month.
The nature of their relationship alters as The Man discovers more about himself, even though at first it seems more like the buddy-cop crime team we frequently see on network TV.
As he learns more about his identity as Elliot Stanley, Helen plays a crucial role in helping him comprehend who he was in the past and helps him realize how he wants to change moving ahead.
Helen and Elliot Help Each Other Grow in ‘The Tourist’
One of the best parts of the story is how their friendship turns into a romance, which happens organically from a platonic relationship. It is also rather unexpected because Helen and Elliot receive minimal screen time in the first part of the series, with most of the focus being on Elliot’s history with Luci.
But as the show goes on, this decision becomes more and more appropriate because, when the two do connect on an emotional level at the end, it fits more closely with the character growth that their characters experience in the first few episodes.
From being Elliot’s “only friend in the world,” Helen becomes someone he starts to have romantic feelings for. Conversely, Helen transitions from being a law-abiding officer to breaching the law to assist Elliot as they are mistakenly pursued by the police.
The arcs of Elliot and Helen are expertly handled by the writers, who also make sure that they are supportive of one another. Though her journey of self-discovery isn’t as literal as Elliot’s, Helen embarks on her own while he is pushed to become a better man and give up his life of crime.
Helen is engaged to a man who consistently belittles her and for whom she feels no genuine feelings of affection. As she spends more time with Elliot and becomes aware of how capable he believes she is, Helen’s confidence in herself and her relationship with her fiancé Ethan (Greg Larsen) are called into question.
In the end, Helen realizes that Ethan isn’t as nice a person as she first believes—he gaslights her and takes up all of her time. Helen eventually realizes that she is better off with Elliot, who is much more supportive of her and encourages her to expand her wings even further, as a result of Ethan’s lack of faith in her and insistence that she not take her profession seriously.
