When “Obliterated” showed up in my Netflix recommended content, I was highly skeptical. The cover shot gave me Adam Sandler vibes: it looked so incredibly stupid, it’s something I didn’t want to watch. Now, it’s been a few weeks since I finished watching the show, and I still feel well-entertained when I look back. And yes, if you like Adam Sandler movies, you’re most likely to like this series, too. For me, as I really hate Adam Sandler movies, this was a huge hurdle I had to overcome. But after watching the trailer, I was like, yeah, let’s give it a try. And I wasn’t disappointed.

The first episode sets the frame for the plot, which is as generic as it could be – Russians bad, Americans good, a hidden bomb, and a limited amount of time to save millions of people. This could be straight from any 1980s action movie, but with a funny little twist: the squad is absolutely hungover. Unfortunately, the show can’t maintain that condition throughout, but that was to be expected. When comparing the 1980s to the 2020s in a sociocultural and geopolitical context, some parallels come to mind:

• The world is fucked.
• It’s a gun-rattling standoff between the USA and Russia.
• The world of mass media is expanding.
• New technologies, such as home computers, have entered people’s lives.
• Life seems more complicated and complex than ever, and people crave simple solutions (that don’t exist).
• The necessity of environmental protection measures is significant.
• Sexuality is breaking free – it’s the age of coming out and recognizing transsexuality.

But what does all this have to do with an entertaining TV show? A lot. These factors shaped the art, culture, and society of the 1980s and early 1990s. And it’s happening again. As mentioned above, the plot is not new. Also, the characters are nothing more than a bunch of stereotypical clichés. But there are some things that were changed to meet a contemporary audience:

• Diversity is real.
• The leader of the pack is female.
• Nerds can be naughty and badass too.
• Homosexuality (and LGBTQ+ in general) is normal.
• The super-soldiers are people like you and me, with strengths, weaknesses, and families.
• Pretty women can make good villains.

And as much as I appreciate these contemporary additions, there’s a downside to almost each one of them:

• Although the team is diverse, in the end, they are still just a bunch of stereotypes. Diversity feels like a must-have.
• The leader is always questioned or even attacked by men who seem to have a problem with a female boss. This reflects reality, yes, but I think filmmakers should rather show the way it should be, depicting a reality where men don’t behave like assholes and accept stepping back behind a woman.
• The Nerd is an Asian girl. Well, at least it’s a female. Of course, someone has to take that role, but a less stereotypical approach would be nice. Why not the black or white full-body muscle?
• LGBTQ+ is normal. So why still make a fuss about it when one friend finds out about another? Even worse, when a man finds out about his best friend, there needs to be a talk. But it’s totally normal when a woman “accidentally” turns a bride on her bachelorette party.

Yet, I found the series highly entertaining. It has all the stuff I liked in the movies I grew up with in the 80s/90s. I know I might be way too critical for such a no-brainer entertaining show, but the subtext defines a frame. However, I really enjoyed watching it. If you don’t overthink it, it’s fun. The world’s not only black and white, right or wrong. There are a lot of assholes in the USA, and not only assholes in Russia. And so this series is neither good nor bad but very entertaining.

And yet, I found the series highly entertaining. It has all of the stuff I liked in the movies I grew up with in the 80s/90s. I know, I am maybe way too critical for such an no-brainer entertaining show, but the subtext defines a frame. However, I really enjoyed watching it. If you don‘t overthink it, it‘s fun. The World‘s not only black and white, right or wrong. There are a lot of assholes in the USA, and not only assholes in Russia. And so this series is neither good nor bad, but very entertaining.

To be honest, I never read the books, but it’s impossible to have never heard of them if you read (crime) books. I always wanted to read them, but there are so many books and so little time. I even bought the books, but they’re still unread on my e-reader. However, I think we can all agree that reading books and buying books are two different hobbies. Ideally, you have both of these hobbies. However, I think Simon Beckett’s books about Dr. David Hunter, a forensic anthropologist with a tragic past, wouldn’t be such worldwide bestsellers if they were as boring as the TV series. So yeah, spoilers ahead. Here’s the first one: read the book, don’t waste your time watching this pathetic attempt of a film adaption.

After I started watching the epilogue of episode 1 and the intro, I stopped watching because I wanted to watch it with my wife. It gave me some True Detective vibes, and we both loved the first season of that show. With that, my expectations grew, but it only got worse from there. The entire series (6 episodes) is the definition of a mediocre TV production. It’s like an early 90s TV production in the glossy (or in this case gloomy) HD look of today’s zeitgeist. I really hoped to eventually learn some interesting chemistry things, but no, all I got were lousy flashbacks of a family tragedy.

But where to start? Well, maybe with the misleading name of the series “Chemistry of Death,” which is the name of the first book. To my surprise, that was settled in the first two episodes. The following four episodes are an adaptation of the second book, “Written in Bone.”

I could go on about the acting, the special effects, the storyboard, the annoying flashbacks, the pacing, the direction—you name it, everything is just meh. And as this show wasted 6 hours of my time, I won’t waste any more of your time reading about (another) film adaptation gone terribly wrong. Go read the books!

But to finish with a highlight: the title track Aftermath by Mogli is really sweet.

Update: When I wrote that post, I had only seen the first season. Meanwhile, I finished season 2, and now I’m waiting for season 3 to come to Germany. So the following review only applies to season 1.

I hadn’t heard of the series before Netflix recommended it to me. With the familiar face of Alan Tudyk, it caught my attention. I know him from “A Knight’s Tale,” “Firefly”, and “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.” He’s one of the less commonly known actors, I guess, but I really like the roles he chooses, and I love how he brings life to his characters with little funny or absurd details that make the usual unusual.

The same goes for Resident Alien. The plot is pretty trivial: an alien crashes in the boring city of Patience (the name…) in Colorado (why do aliens always land in the USA?), disguises himself as a local outsider, lives undercover in a small-town community, and gets unwillingly to know the people. The alien replaces Dr. Harry Vanderspeigle, who happens to have the bad luck to meet the alien after the crash, and moves into his lonely cabin at a lake. Coincidentally, the local town doctor dies, and Harry gets called to the crime scene. And so the climax begins.

As the higher-developed aliens seem to know everything about the human species, they don’t understand why humans do human things. Again, this is not new: the super-intelligent, highly logical, and non-emotional alien 🖖🏻, but Tudyk just fills the role in his very own manner.

Also, not new: the aliens want to eradicate mankind from the surface of the Earth because humans behave like assholes and destroy their own home planet. Again. They’ve done that already multiple times, e.g., with the Mayas. As I mentioned previously: humans doing human things.

But then again, there is this thing with the feelings and emotions that are unknown to the alien species, but through Harry’s body copy, the alien suddenly is confronted with being human not only from the outside but also from the inside. That leads to questioning his mission.

Besides Alan Tudyk, the other members of the cast also form a great ensemble: Sara Tomko, Corey Reynolds, Alice Wetterlund, Levi Fiehler, Judah Prehn, Elizabeth Bowen, and many more.

And it’s the subtle details that make me smile, like the names “Patience” or “Mayor Hawthorne”, and that make Resident Alien a lovable show.