C*A*U*G*H*T

I am surprised at all the negativity about a series which is obviously a send-up, hence the corny (bad) acting and often silly scenes. However, it is often a lot of fun (with some laugh out loud moments), and yes, some scenes are in bad taste (but these are in the minority). The "downunder" actors Bryan Brown, Erik Thomson and Lincoln Younes are particularly funny in their "against type" roles, and the inclusion of American stars, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Nicholas Hammond, and Matthew Fox, make the series attractive to international audiences. I hope that if there is a DVD version it includes outtakes, as I suspect the cast found it hard not to break into laughter during the filming of most scenes.

I was really looking forward to this show based on the trailer, but wow, was that trailer misleading.

We barely made it to episode 4 (mind you, this was against the will of the majority of our household who wanted us to stop at the end of ep 2) but we had to switch it off at that point. The acting was just awful throughout, genuinely really hard to watch and some of the scenes were incredibly tone deaf. The attempted humour missed the mark on nearly every occasion.

Overall it was just pretty poor and not entertaining at all. The cameos were weird & didn't add anything except make me wonder how they got roped into it.

I wouldn't even normally bother with a review for something I didn't like, but this was so annoyingly bad I was still resentful of the time I wasted watching it hours later so yeah, that's how this review came about.

First few episodes were funny, a bit cringe but still got a chuckle out of it. Liked the cast and genuinely seemed like they were vibing. Then things took a weird turn by episode 4... why did we have to see a man sucking a bullet out of another man's gouch? We quickly hit shock value, and the plot just goes down hill from there.

Really hoped things would improve in the final two episodes, but alas it did not. All the promising ideas and plot points from the first episode quickly get thrown out the window for dick jokes. The actors all seemed to be giving their all, but the plot just fell apart my so quickly, like a snake eating it's own tail.

This show went from bad to worse so quickly... not sure what they told Sean Penn this show was to convince him to be part of this but I could bet money this wasn't it. Also Ragnar from Vikings appears for a hot minute, but does nothing to improve this hot mess.

This series isn't for everyone. It's crude, silly, childish and at times pretty disgusting. The writing is hectic and the plot is at times, so random that sometimes I wasn't sure what was going on.

However, it's the first time I've laughed out loud at a show in ages. And I ended up watching all of the episodes.

The casting is spot on and there's some good cameos (Susan Sarandon, Silvia Colloca, and Travis Fimmell is unrecognisable).

If you're looking for subtle, witty, understated humour, look elsewhere. If you're ok watching something stupid funny, (think Will Ferrell or an early Adam Sandler movie) press play.

#hotsoldier.

This series is so bad, one wonders if its purpose transcends conventional expectations. Could it be a deliberate endeavour to craft the epitome of rubbish television in the streaming era? Potentially this stellar cast, in this fanciful scenario, willingly embraces the challenge under the persuasive guidance of a showrunner who pitches the joyous creation of intentional terrible TV. An inside industry joke, perhaps, where the allure lies in deviating from the pursuit of excellence and relishing the unique thrill of producing a fantastically terrible piece of television. In this whimsical pursuit, the cast, with their remarkable talents, breathes life into intentionally absurd narratives, blurring the lines between satire and sincerity. If this were indeed a clandestine effort to redefine the boundaries of televised storytelling, then kudos to all involved for navigating this uncharted territory with audacious rubbish.