Tastentier

I've waited until after the less-than-satisfying conclusion to write this review because I really didn't know how I felt about the show. It has its occasional moments, some of the supporting characters are likeable enough, and the cinematography and location are beautiful. But it's also a disjointed mess and the meandering story feels AI-written, as do many of the dialogues.

AI-authored or not, it's clearly content that was created for the sole purpose of churning out more content, like so many Applezonflix productions nowadays. It's marketed as a black comedy crime drama, but it offers precious little in terms of comedy and there is definitely nothing black to it. There is a little gore, but aside from that everything seems perfectly safe and sanitized so as to not rattle any cages on either side of the political aisle.

It often feels like there used to be a better and bolder script until some corporate suit went through it and took a red marker to everything remotely shocking or controversial, and then a disgruntled writer got blackout drunk and wrote up some bla-bla to replace the censored parts. I guess in the end it all comes down to how much you like Vince Vaughn and enjoy hearing his constant wisecracking (which, again, is all very tame and corporate-safe and doesn't step on any toes to the left or right). Personally I don't particularly care for him and found him a bit exhausting, which may be part of the reason why I had a tough time sitting through this exercise in content for content's sake. But if you're a huge fan of Vaughn go ahead and give it a go I guess.

The initial three episodes were watchable at best. To be honest, I might have given this one a wide berth after the first episode if it wasn't for the stellar voice acting cast that includes Matt Berry (What We Do in the Shadows), Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd) and Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso). But the fourth episode actually grabbed my attention, got a few chuckles out of me, and even felt kind of touching at times.

Here's to hoping the show has finally found its footing and continues in the vein of ep. 4. There is certainly potential here and some of the characters are starting to grow on me as their personality traits are becoming more refined.