Comedy Central could very well be at its peak. It continues creatively pushing exciting content on a regular basis and, although some of their best shows right now like Key & Peele and The Daily Show are either soon-to-be-terminated or soon-to-be-retooled, there’s a constant stream of invigorating, inspired and supremely entertaining programs coming at full steam. Perhaps standing out even more so than most, though, is Andy Daly’s Review.
Low ratings almost left the mockumentary series without a ratings board, but the high critical acclaim and loud support from online fans brought the darkly satirical re-imagining of Phil Lloyd’s Australian series of the same name back to form, and thank God it did. For if this season premiere, “Brawl, Blackmail, Gloryhole,” is a firm indicator for the tradition set to continue this year, we’re in for a phenomenal run. Daly and his team, including director Jeffrey Blitz (Rocket Science), dedicate themselves as bravely and boldly as our lead Forrest MacNeil (Daly), concentrating on how to make the stakes of each review not only permeate in how our host — in his own words — proves to himself and us that “the destruction of my life is anything but pointless” but also accelerate on all the wacky and irreverent activities he can get into in the process in his absent-minded curiosity.
It’s sensationally good television, proving itself more than ever to be one of the most ferocious, wicked and piercing programs — in all the right ways — on the tube right now. Best of all, though, it doesn’t waste a second. Despite the emotional turmoil fostered during last year’s finale, Forrest gets right to the thick of it in this premiere. Only those who followed the station’s loose marketing campaign of late would be familiar with what exactly happened between our host quitting the show and on-the-run to him now back in his signature brown jacket and fielding requests for activities to criticize. But really, the only thing viewers new or returning needed to know is this: Forrest is back, more chipper than before and, while last season left him divorced, emotionally vacated at times, nearly broke and with a father-in-law in the ground, things are as they were before — with one significant catch.
Unlike last time, his producers grant him the luxury of operating a veto booth. Should any of these critical considerations come at the risk of our host’s physical, economic or psychological well being, he has the liberty to put his foot down. And although the mild-mannered personality is asked to participate in a bare-knuckle brawl during his welcome home to the program, he doesn’t let his new freedom be exercised. Maybe he should have thought otherwise, however, for the simple request to give a certain someone a knuckle sandwich or two finds our inexperienced protagonist with three bullets in his stomach and two months from his life stripped resting in a coma.
An entirely morbid scenario, providing a hilarious re-introduction to the relentlessly depraved genius on display through Daley’s twistedly committed style. For as relentless as Review can seem in its most cold-blooded moments, this episode — much like last season’s game-changer “Pancakes, Divorce, Pancakes” — extenuates how to make something dark without being so just for the hell of it. Daly, further proving his gift for finely tuned delivery and twisting expectations at any given turn with greater exposure, never lets the material dictate the comedy. Rather, he lets the terrible moments and decisions in Forrest’s life make him grow more deranged and malicious as a person progressively, and how that affects others just as much as it destroys himself — all acting under the pretense of thinking he betters humanity with his reporting. There are few shows more deliciously wry, and even fewer comedic shows willing to push their character dynamics in such deliberately maniacal directions for its well-meaning, oblivious lead. It’s kinda thoughtful stuff, made all the more captivating and stimulating by fantastic story structure and well-elevated stakes.
Best of all, though, Review knows exactly how to play with different comedic sensibilities. Dark humor was already expressed upon, and those actions only become more blissfully demented upon ruining the life of his new girlfriend, nurse Marisa (guest star Allison Tolman, from Fargo), and their relationship together as he wholeheartedly searches into the consequences of blackmailing relating to her habit of stealing prescribed pills from dead patients. But not long after must Forrest discover the pleasures of a gloryhole from a nearby men’s restroom — falsely believing a woman brings him such succulent gratification — and the show bounces into the more bawdy content without hesitation and nary a stumble. So shows you how astoundingly assured this still-new program remains, as it only grows more daring and rigorous in its treatment to Forrest and becomes surely more rambunctious in its results. Should that be the case, there’s little reason to believe Daly's contributions won’t deserve a top-score rating.
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com
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