Brandon’s Review:
The highly anticipated, and incredibly divisive series on Netflix starring Steve Carell has arrived. Space Force is just another nugget or bread crumb of something fresh and fun in the wake of the world’s current state of devastation. After hearing various reviews of the series, I knew going in that I’m either going to love it or hate it. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either. In fact, I found myself chuckling more than I thought I would during the first few episodes. There are obvious jabs from both sides of the political aisle, and some of the funniest moments come from the Joint Chiefs Of Staff ribbing each other. Including the blatant riffs against the Coast Guard not being a real branch of the military. Har har har…
If you are a fan of The Office and are expecting a similar type of comedy, you will be disappointed. Space Force is heavier on the serious tone, with a lot of dry humor sprinkled in, with Steve Carell’s staple “confident idiot” type of character as he plays the General that is assigned to lead Space Force. John Malkovich is amazing as the lead scientist bringing levity, heart and humor to the story. Lisa Kudrow plays Steve Carell’s wife who is incarcerated in Federal prison for some reason. All we know is that she is sentenced to 40 years and we learn more about why she is there slowly throughout the series. Another highlight is the one-star General who serves as Carell’s secretary, played by Don Lake. His character is so flighty and reminds me of Johnny from the movie Airplane!… Google it, kids. Finally, Fred Willard plays Carell’s father who is suffering from dementia and looks as frail as ever. Despite that, he is probably the funniest part of the whole show. He will definitely be missed.
As long as you set your political views aside, understand that there is a political bashing on both sides, and don’t go into this series expecting it to be The Office, and you might enjoy it! Or you won’t… I still have 2 episodes to go until completion, but I give Space Force a sideways thumb. Maybe if the world wasn’t burning down, and I wasn’t completely depressed by the state of our country, I may have been in a better head space to enjoy it more.
