NuMystic

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

Disappointed given all the high praise. It's by no means a bad show, but as far as UK comedies go it falls far short of excellent recent offerings like End of the F***ing World and Catastrophe. A few of the jokes land but the odd mash-up of 80's stylings in an otherwise modern setting actually mirrors the very outdated nature of the high school tropes being trotted out here that would have been better left in the last century. Watchable but in an age where there's literally too much great programming to keep up with this it just doesn't make the cut.

What an unfortunate downturn for one of my very favorite shows of all time. Unlike many, I have no problem at all with the shift in setting. In fact, last year I was quite impressed by them managing to keep the show fresh with that shift while maintaining the trademark humor and wit. This year the premier was the first episode in the history of Archer that didn't elicit a single genuine laugh out loud moment. The closest was a few chuckles from Krieger as a parrot but that is hardly enough to carry a show that lives and dies on its ability to deliver in the humor department.

25 minutes in I thought I'd just stumbled across the best new show of the year. Unfortunately those thoughts had vanished utterly by the end of the hour. Grammer is superb, the direction is incredible, and the general tone and setting is pitch perfect. Unfortunately the Writer (or perhaps Producer?) didn't seem to trust that a "straight" drama would be compelling enough and dips into the realms of the absurd resulting in a loss of all believability. Some of the things done would have been more at home in a comic book or superhero film portrayal of villainy / anti-hero. Adding insult to injury is a smoldering but incongruous sex scene utterly lacking in context. (and I have absolutely NO problem with gratuitous and graphic sexuality as long as it has even the merest justification) Grammar may get a well justified Emmy nomination for his performance, I just wish that the writing was equally as worthy of acclaim.

It seems to me that many people walked into this with skewed expectations. I never for a moment expected anything remotely sitcom, or LOL funny. Yes it is a "comedy"â