The first season of "Avenue 5" comes to a conclusion with an episode that befits the improving nature of the show.
Wracked with guilt over last week's deaths, Matt (Zach Woods) changes the codes to the airlocks and hides. Unfortunately, he does this just as the deadline for jettisoning the cargo and cutting the mission time, is arriving. Meanwhile Rav (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and the supply ship arrive - which causes much debate as the single spare seat for the return visit to Earth is identified and up for grabs.
As with most of the second half of this series, this episode was pretty good. This time arriving at a much more natural reason to have all the cast in the same room - they played off each other nicely for a generally amusing set of scenes, involving a bit of farce around the seat on the ship home.
It might be a coincidence, but I don't think it is, that the show has gotten better as the actors have settled into who the characters are. Josh Gad's Herman Judd is the prime example, just a shrieking nonsense in the first couple of episodes, we've settled here into him being what he should always have been, a man whose staggering wealth precludes from having an common sense. Less cruel and more dumb, as with this character, dumb is funnier than cruel. Hugh Laurie remains the star of the show though, more capable of a witty putdown than anyone else, but also well rounded enough that the show can centre around him.
What would I like for the second season? It sounds obvious but more of the good stuff and less of the bad. Forget about mission control and what's happening on Earth - there's nothing useful to be had there now we understand why there isn't a rescue mission. Mia and Doug's storyline (if you can call it that) can go too, it's been boring and unfunny since the first episode. I'd like a little more science to it, for example, to understand where the ships resources are coming from . . but ultimately, just be funny like the last few episodes were and not awful like the first ones.
When it was awful, it was truly spectacularly awful, but fortunately it picked up no end as the season ran on.
Wracked with guilt over last week's deaths, Matt (Zach Woods) changes the codes to the airlocks and hides. Unfortunately, he does this just as the deadline for jettisoning the cargo and cutting the mission time, is arriving. Meanwhile Rav (Nikki Amuka-Bird) and the supply ship arrive - which causes much debate as the single spare seat for the return visit to Earth is identified and up for grabs.
As with most of the second half of this series, this episode was pretty good. This time arriving at a much more natural reason to have all the cast in the same room - they played off each other nicely for a generally amusing set of scenes, involving a bit of farce around the seat on the ship home.
It might be a coincidence, but I don't think it is, that the show has gotten better as the actors have settled into who the characters are. Josh Gad's Herman Judd is the prime example, just a shrieking nonsense in the first couple of episodes, we've settled here into him being what he should always have been, a man whose staggering wealth precludes from having an common sense. Less cruel and more dumb, as with this character, dumb is funnier than cruel. Hugh Laurie remains the star of the show though, more capable of a witty putdown than anyone else, but also well rounded enough that the show can centre around him.
What would I like for the second season? It sounds obvious but more of the good stuff and less of the bad. Forget about mission control and what's happening on Earth - there's nothing useful to be had there now we understand why there isn't a rescue mission. Mia and Doug's storyline (if you can call it that) can go too, it's been boring and unfunny since the first episode. I'd like a little more science to it, for example, to understand where the ships resources are coming from . . but ultimately, just be funny like the last few episodes were and not awful like the first ones.
When it was awful, it was truly spectacularly awful, but fortunately it picked up no end as the season ran on.