S01.E03: Dead Reckoning

[Danny Franks]

I can't take this show seriously. Every time I hear Mark from greys anatomy yelling about the Russians coming to get us I wonder what decade they filmed this in. It's so retro and cheesy.

 

I get the feeling that all those involved in making the show are definitely at their most comfortable swimming around in 80s, Reagan-o-riffic tropes. Cold War jingoism for the win! I fully expect an evil Muslim cleric to show up at some point, who inspires his followers through zealous rants about the virus being the punishment of Allah for them not wiping out America.

 

It's so silly, and I keep forgetting that all the stuff Adam Baldwin is growling now is supposed to be taken sincerely, rather than to set him up as a bit of a buffoon, like in Chuck. And Chandler himself is just so absurd. He's like if Michael Bay, Tom Clancy and George W Bush designed their perfect American. Smart, brave, tough, competent, handsome, charismatic, has the devotion of his crew, always makes the right decision, never blinks or hesitates. He probably even has to shave two or three times a day, just to stop his raging testosterone from making him look shabby in uniform!

 

On the other hand, of course the Russian rules through fear and has contempt for the lives of his men. Hell he'll shoot one in the head, just to make a point. Not sure what that point was, other than 'I'm crazy and I like killing people'. But it's okay, because his crew are all as evil, as crazy and, most importantly, as Russian as he is. I don't know why he didn't just join forces with the Americans, so they could find the cure together, other than the obvious 'Russians are baddies' reasoning, of course.

 

I guffawed out loud at , "I love you! Stay away from me!" from Lt Square-jaw. Based on the first three episodes, he clearly does show his love by being a complete ass, but his winsome young lady friend (who is also an expert marksman) is just so gaga for him that she seems happy to accept the emotional abuse. Or has been so far, anyway.

 

The humour in this show is all unintentional so far (unless the writers are much better at parody than I think), and that's sad. Because it's so ludicrous that I really would feel better if I thought they were in on the joke.