The series boldly leans into the darkness and tension that comes with getting caught up in an unimaginable mess that's impossible to get out of unscathed, with two leads who ground the absurd concept and pull off an inventive story that's fresh, fearless, and simply fantastic.

It’s fun to spend time with a well-crafted, smartly paced, expertly acted comedy whose variation on Walter White, Martin Marvin, is a guy you don’t have to be a seething sociopath to root for.

While not hilarious, Sunny Nights works because of Carden’s performance, the premise’s clash of sensibilities, and its ability to give viewers a glimpse at Sydney’s seedier side.

The characters are always fun to spend time with and the tone is deliciously skew-wiff: a comedy bent like a thriller, and a thriller tinged with comedy.

As you probably guessed, “Sunny Nights” switches from chuckles to beatings (a waterboarding scene goes on much too long) and even bloody deaths. The disparate parts create a gumbo filled with so many ingredients that it keeps us surprised and discombobulated.

The season picks up with a home stretch that’s characterized more by cynicism and looming threats than anything overt, setting up promising storylines for what I hope will be future installments.

Sunny Nights really gains steam in its last installment, dropping some surprises (one involving a spray-tan flamethrower) and setting the stage for a promising—if not for the Marvins, then certainly for the show—new chapter, one with no doubt the same reliable banter but hopefully tighter plotting.