WiC Watches: Avenue 5

Image: Avenue 5/HBO

Episode 4: “Wait a Minute, Then Who Was That on the Ladder?”

First off, yes, it is true that scientists have contemplated using human poop to shield astronauts from radiation. So good on the Avenue 5 team for doing their research there.

In fact, I wonder if that was the impetus for the whole show. It will be worth it, the writers told themselves, if we can just get to the episode where the shit shield explodes and we see poop getting sucked into the vacuum of space.

It wasn’t worth it. This episode has the same problems as the last one. If it’s trying to be satire, it’s not working, because it’s not taking any shots. You could argue that it’s satirizing the excesses of the superrich with Judd, a flighty, self-absorbed billionaire who compares himself to Zeus (minus the marrying-your-sister part). But the show is contenting itself with pointing out that he’s awkward around passengers  — he counts how long he hugs them to make sure he’s not going over the socially acceptable limit — rather than inquiring about the harm powerful idiots like him do to the world. As far as HBO-produced satires of the superrich go, you’re better off sticking with Succession.

I did enjoy the bit where the fake protester started rattled off legalese about Judd’s company being immunized from liability. I just think the show should be drilling down on this stuff more.

Sadly, Succession might be funnier than Avenue 5, too. That’s the harder pill to swallow: this show isn’t really working as comedy. There simply aren’t enough good jokes. When the shit shield explodes, we cut to various people reacting. “I’ve never seen so many number twos,” says Rav down at mission control. Really? That’s the best line you’ve got?

I could get still get on board if the characters were interesting enough, but there’s a real gap between the ones worth following and the dead weight. Doug and Mia are making the same married-couple-who-hate-each-other jokes they were in the premiere, and Matt Spencer is as bafflingly terrible at his job as ever. I haven’t mentioned burnt-out-astronaut-turned-tour-guide Spike Martin (Ethan Phillips) in these reviews yet because he hasn’t done anything worth mentioning, but if I go any longer if going to get weird because he’s been here since the start. These characters are providing neither conflict nor laughs; punch them up or shoot them out the air lock.

At least Captain Clark, Billie, Judd and Iris are characters with some…character. After learning last week that the hot dummies on the bridge are just actors, Billie takes Captain Clark belowdecks to meet the actual engineering team, and wins them over with beers and dirty jokes. So even if Clark isn’t an actual captain, his people skills could actually prove useful in the propaganda war. The show could do something with that.

I also liked the image of Billie manning the bridge. If anybody’s qualified to be the real captain, it’s her.

Also strange: the choice to end the episode with a cliffhanger, as Captain Clark — still a little soused from his bonding session with the engineers — must suit up and go outside the ship to fix the shit leak. Usually, you only see cliffhangers in dramas, because in dramas, the idea is that there are actual stakes. Captain Clark could die. Or worse, he could fail and everyone could be at high risk of getting cancer. But does anyone really that to happen on this comedy? If not, what’s the point of drawing out the resolution to this conflict?

I guess I’d be impressed if Clark did die and Laurie bowed out of the show early, although I’m not expecting it. At this point, it might be the best thing for him.

Grade: C

Bullet Points…In Space!

• You gotta love some of the stuff they come up with to appear on random TVs. “‘At this rate they’ll be dead by Christmas,’ says Pope.”
• “The passengers are angry, as I would be if I had their crappy lives.”
• The show continues to drop little ‘This is your pop cultural future’ references, most of which I could take or leave. “I don’t wanna end up like Richard Branson, fed to his own pigs on his private island.” I did like the “Judd Light” beers on the ship.
• I like Daisy May Cooper as Sarah, one of the actors on the bridge, although I’m sure she’ll get annoying fast if she remains a one-note “wacky character.”
• “Faux capitano in the house!” Okay, that was some fun wordplay.
• “Oh, that is just pure ass juice.” That’s not a great line, but Hugh Laurie sells it.
• “He loves his uniform, but he loves danger more.”