Chargés à bloc

I had never heard of this show. I was scrolling through my Yahoo news feed and saw a review of the show. The title of the review was so condescending I just had to read it. The author obliterated the show (pun intended). She was extremely critical of all the sex and gratuitous nudity. She basically said the show was a waste of time.

Of course, this made me want to watch it. I have to say, it lacks direction, the writing is poor, and there is a ton of filler to bloat it to eight episodes. Having said that, I LOVED THIS SHOW for the exact reasons the critic stated. It dumb as hell, but its a fun ride. The actors have really good chemistry and I binged watched it.

An elite special forces crew thinks they have stopped a nuclear terrorist attack in Las Vegas, so to celebrate, they get hammered on a combination of drugs, alcohol, sex, and other basic debauchery (a camel is involved). They then learn the plot they stopped was a decoy, so they have 7 hours to stop the real bombing. Still obliterated (hence the title) they spend the next 7 hours whacked out of their minds while trying to find a briefcase nuke.

Ava is a hardened CIA operative running the team who recently lost her fiance on a mission. McKinight is the Team Lead and resident hunk with an ego problem. Trunk is the muscle who can't ever seem to get something to eat. Gomez is the sniper, a Michelle Rodriguez knock off who is a lesbian and hides her emotions. Paul is the married helicopter pilot with family issues. Maya is the tech nerd who is in love with McKnight, but is too shy to say it. Lastly, there is Haggerty, the explosives expert who spends most of the series in a drug induced stupor. There is another character named Lana, a ditzy blonde who the team rescued during the original mission and she tags along as she has intimate knowledge of one of the villains. These characters all seem pretty standard on these types of shows, but the actors imbue them with just enough personality to make them stand out. Unfortunately, the villains are pretty one-dimensional which is really the biggest failing of the show.

There are a ton of gunfights, fist fights, sex, graphic nudity, humor and some pretty extreme torture scenes. In fairness, all the actors wind up nude at some point so there is definitely no inequality there.

Sadly, I think this is one of those one season events. The premise of the show could not be repeated and I don't think there is enough originality to the show for it to sustain a second season. Still, it was a fun watch and the show knew exactly what it was and didn't try to be anything else.

Okay, maybe I have a few.

Obliterated is an 80 IQ hot mess of nonsensical nonstop fun and I really hate how much I enjoyed it.

There are disgusting prosthetic phalluses and oddly tight character arcs. Shoehorned diversity mixed in equal parts with political self awareness. For every genuinely depraved scene there's an equally wholesome and touching family moment. This series is everything that is wrong with bad action films, and everything that made the hangover a classic. It is so reductive that it manages to be original. This show has three plot holes for every topless woman. I've never, ever, in all my years seen something quite like this show.

7 out of 10, I hate it.

Yes the dialogue is cringy at times and the acting isn't great.

Yes its nonsensical and predictable.

But it's also over the top super fun. Reminds me of 90's comedies where they didn't give a damn and just made fun movies.

There's lots of comedy some of which I even burst out laughing which hasn't happened in a while. Action is decent with enough chases, gore, explosions, and fight scenes to keep it interesting. Then there's the over the top nudity scenes which are gross and sometimes hilarious.

Is it the best thing that has ever came out... No.

But it's an entertaining show worth watching.

Outrageous, gratuitous nudity, violence and chaos. And I love it for that. Reminds me a lot of Blue Mountain State and the American Pie movies where things aren't supposed to make sense or provide deeper meaning, they're just fun for fun's sake. Honestly this show was a breath of pure entertainment fresh air. I loved the characters cartwheeling and crashing through each scene, and enjoyed turning off my brain and just letting it all wash over me. Choosing to do it as a series instead of a movie was a brilliant idea, crammed into a movie it would have felt washed out and done a million times before. Letting it all roll out over 8 episodes lets the show and characters really establish themselves. I hope more series like this get made!

Obliterated is what would happen if the Mission Impossible Movies and the Hangover Movies had a baby, raised their child in Florida, then set it to the biggest party college in Nevada. Then, after the child discovered there was no "super spy" degree, said child dropped out of college and got a job at the Las Vegas Tourism department.

Definitely not for everyone. It is raunchy, stupid, full of sex, drugs, and guns, but it also has a surprising amount of heart. The relationships can be very sweet, the characters are fun, and if you can suspend disbelief for the duration of the show, it's a fun ride.

To quote one of my favorite reviewers, "It's trash, but it's my trash."