Ah, the yesteryear of conspiracy holes. SCP documentations, creepypastas, the mole man, leprechauns, bigfoot, etc. Well, chug that up with some contempory storytelling and edgy humor with the blessings of Alex Hirsch and you got yourself a show that is so irreverent, it helps you get through the day without thinking about reality for a bit. Like a good escapist show would.
While some of the nihilism and deeply traumatized characters do ground the show, sometimes it doesn't do a good job, missing the mark leaving it feeling like you could actually care less about them, but the show retains a lot of its funny, edgy nature. Keeps you second guessing nearly every scene.
This is Netflix's first in-house animated production. With involvement from Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls and Mike Hollingsworth, supervising director of BoJack Horseman. The show creator, Shion Takeuchi was a former writer of Gravity Falls and has made a deal with Netflix to create more content for their new studio.
The show is centered around a team of enforcers, who work for a company working for the shadow government, that are tasked to make sure all the conspiracy theories that are actually proved to be true, hidden and subverted away from the world. Led by a genius inventor/socially akward millenial, who is also the daughter of one of the CEO. Along with her newly recruited helper, a yes-man, dogooder who doesn't actually qualify for much elsewhere.
The group involves a diva who controls social media, a Korean mad scientist who's easily aroused and gets hooked up on substances, a man-dolphin hybrid military commander, and a sentient mushroom species that likes to swear a lot and spews verbal diarrhea. Yeah, great comedy cast.
The cast of VAs also includes Christian Slater, who plays a jerk of a father that traumatized Elliot from Mr. Robot. In here, he plays a pretty similar role, except its unironic. Kind of on the nose referenced joke and it stays around for awhile. John DiMaggio has a running support role for the show as the man-dolphin guy. I mean it's John DiMaggio, he was Bender from Futurama.
The comedy in this show is pretty fast paced, like everything hits in rapid succession of innuendos, crass jokes, irony jokes, sarcasm, puns, all smothered in smorgasborg of millenial humor. Most of the characters are pretty ruthless and offensive towards each other, understandably considering they're working for a semi-evil corporation and their job involves controlling human lives.
I really did like the first episode, it gave me a good idea of the kind of show this was going to be without dealing with high expectations. Everybody's miserable yet that misery had a nice, sweet tinge to it. The characters while a bit insufferable, knows how to become a little endearing.
It throws these hotchpotch of hard 90s, 2000s, and 2010s references, it's basically asking the millenial in you to check it out and the best part, it doesn't insult your intelligence. Well, it kind of actually does but with well intentions. Film nerds will love to get a crack at all the references and easter eggs thrown in every episode. Couple that with a few good plot twists as well, just to leave your head spinning for a bit.
But it does meander a bit, like lost in interest around the premise and story. The references pretty much prepare you for the kind of show this is going to be and that nothing much else very different is in store. Even if in episodic format, the gags don't really elevate the story and tension much. But you do get to enjoy how the characters react and the jokes that come along the way.
Of course, this is more likely one of those "if it isn't good now, it'll get much better with second season". Especially since it ended on a cliffhanger, some speculate there's a part 2 of this that is coming real soon. And, I hope I get to see it real soon. There's potential for more. Maybe even improve the show on almost every aspect of it. The talents are all there and Netflix might be willing to blow more budget into this. Let's hope that happens.
This show of course, might not be for everyone. It has ways of offending people, sometimes even getting pretty carried away even. But I've seen enough to know that it can't be much of a bother as it doesn't reach the heights, per say other controversial shows have. It basically knows how to do a bit more than just tap dance around the issues, with a Tutu of course.
Netflix usually likes to experiment whether a show has its worth or not, before giving more budget for it to renew. In this case, I hope this does get a new season. It is anxious to bloom, with so many stupid deep web conspiracies to pick out there.
While it does fall short in certain areas, there's room for much improvement. Especially thanks to the stellar voice cast involved with the project. I could definitely see myself watching season 2 when it comes out.