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The unmissable new show that will make you rethink your biggest life choices.

Stan
Thanks to our brand partner, Stan

What would you give for a second chance?

What if you had the power to not just turn back the clock, but to potentially slip back into your past body and life, to be able to walk that same path once again but this time around with a well-worn map to guide your way?

These are questions I am willing to bet have kept most of us up at night more than once – ideas that slip quietly into our minds during those stretches of time between laying our heads down on the pillows and drifting off into darkness.

It’s an intoxicating thought, what you would sacrifice to free yourself of all regrets, and one that will be explored in-depth in the upcoming Stan original series Bloom.

It’s very questions such as these, dilemmas with no real clear-cut answers, that form the basis of the predicament faced by the show’s characters.

So far, many of the exact details surrounding the plot-line of Bloom have been shrouded in a delicious sense of mystery. A mystery that we’ll all finally have the answers to come January 1, 2019, when all six episodes of the high concept new drama become available exclusively on Stan.

What we do know so far is that the element of Bloom that will really get you sifting back through your past decisions and regrets is the character journey of Gwen Reed, portrayed in one instance by Australian legendary actress Jacki Weaver. The younger version is portrayed by internationally acclaimed Australian actress Phoebe Tonkin.

Like so many life-changing decisions that take place in the real world, the life-changing catalyst for the characters in Bloom can be linked to one major event.

The events of the series take place one year after a devastating flood has tragically killed five locals in an idyllic country town. Now, a mysterious new plant has appeared to some of the townspeople, a plant with the power to restore youth.

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In one of the beguiling Bloom teasers released ahead of the show’s premiere, Phoebe Tonkin’s Gwen can be heard dreamily uttering just off camera “I remember everything…..” before then saying the words “what would you give, for a second chance?”

Take a look at the hauntingly beautiful teaser for Stan original series Bloom.

Video by Stan

The presence of Jacki Weaver’s older version of Gwen in Bloom allows us to begin to examine the duelling ideals that come with age. In one instance, you are now gifted with lived experience and acquired knowledge, two strengths that allow you to look back on your past decisions with fresh eyes, almost if your own life in is a TV series playing out on screen and you can whisper advice in the leading ladies’ ear to stop her making a decision that will end in regret.

Phoebe Tonkin as Young Gwen in Stan original series Bloom. Source: Stan.
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Perhaps you would tell yourself to protect your heart, or in some cases to love more fiercely and with more freedom.

Would you tell yourself to follow a road less known, but one that could just as easily lead to wild success as it could to dismal failure?

Age and life experience always come into play with conundrums like this. So it will be interesting to watch this show with women of different generations, or in different life stages, and see what they feel they would do differently. Or if they'd do anything different at all, given the chance like certain characters in Bloom.

For me, it's already got me thinking about some of the big life choices I've made, and whether a "re-do" is something I'd want or need.

If I had a second chance I'd work harder to get my dream job because I know what it feels like to have that slip away. I'd tell the first person I thought I loved to walk away sooner because I know how good that freedom feels. And I'd hold onto some old friends just a little but harder, because I now know how different life feels without them.

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However, as good and as safe as it feels to think that you could take a paintbrush to portraits of your past life and touch up the bad parts....Bloom is here to remind us that nothing comes without a price.

As we hear Gwen's character say "what would you give?", it's a reminder that wishing to change the biggest decisions you've made, the moments that have made you who you are, is not always a complete path to happiness.

We'll know for sure when Bloom launches January 1, 2019 on Stan. It's top of my New Year binge watch list.

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Stan

Don’t miss the thought-provoking new Stan Original drama series Bloom, premieres New Year’s Day – only on Stan. Watch the trailer now https://www.stan.com.au/watch/bloom