I'm not sure if this release date was planned a while in advance, and yeah, it would be more interesting to speculate that Netflix are trying to capitalise on the panic regarding a brand new pandemic. Which hey, I'm hoping that panic will look at least a little overblown in a matter of months or years. Not to downplay the damage it'll cause, but I'm hopeful it won't lead to an actual end of times. And if my hope is misplaced, I suppose this review will vanish along with the Internet, so in that case, who cares? I'll be more concerned with scrounging for bottle caps (the inevitable new currency in a fallen apart world) and hunting squirrels or other small critters for nutrition by that point anyway.
Of course, the special itself was not filmed recently enough to capitalise on our most current anxieties and panics. Yet it's certainly thematically relevant, filmed I'm assuming around the mid-point of 2019. There was still a great deal to worry about back then, and so it's not too surprising that Maron looks outward, criticising and analysing external forces and institutions more than his own thoughts and actions. Thinky Pain at least was much more inward, and while this new special is to some degree, it's not as intensely psychological.
That definitely leads to an overall grimmer tone, and Maron gives enough reasons to justify his despair, even if I'm genuinely hoping that a lot of it is exaggerated for the sake of comedy. I might not be as pessimistic (although again: I can't entirely blame him if he really is as fearful as he comes across), but I still found a good deal to be entertained by here. There are a few excellent jokes here and there, while the rest range from decent to pretty good. Nothing here flops too badly; perhaps the final joke was a little weak (the audience didn't seem to get it either), and there isn't always a consistent flow that can elevate a good stand-up comedy special to a great one.
But if you've laughed at and enjoyed any of his past specials, you'll almost definitely find something to like in this one. It's bitter, dark, often a real bummer, but often quite funny at the same time. Not for everyone, and not exactly the kind of thing that fully picked me up in what is currently an overwhelming and quite uncertain time (again: I still have hope a new virus isn't going to totally end the world, although yeah it's probably gonna cause short to mid-term damage), but I guess we'll see.
It's funny. It made me laugh a few times despite my and the world's current downbeat mood. Come to think of it, perhaps that's even more impressive than what I'm giving Maron's latest credit for. Should I not be dead if (or hopefully when) things return to a sort of normalcy, I'll return to End Times Fun and see if raised spirits help me to find it funnier.
Will update, if there's still an Internet to update to at the end of all this...
