I have to admit that I am one of those who, when it premiered in 2020, expected something more from ‘Avenue 5’. Perhaps because it is the next series by Armando Iannucci, who had done something delicious with ‘Veep’. The fact is that, being quite funny, it was somewhat half in the usual tone of satire. What made HBO Max’s fiction somewhat disappointing.
Even so, had some good enough ingredients enough for the second season, which premieres today on the platform, to promise. Especially given the suspicion that these episodes could be the end of the road (although those responsible are optimistic) for the space cruiser commanded by Captain Clark (Hugh Laurie).
devastated
These new episodes pick up about five months after the Season 1 finale, and we see passengers optimistic that there are only four weeks left to return to Earth. And it’s not that the ship’s heading problems have been fixed… it’s just that you don’t know, still, that the new forecast is eight years.
This moment of truth is the central point of the first episode of season 2 of ‘Avenue 5’, in which from the beginning a better rhythm and fluidity is seen in all aspects. Both at the level of characters and actors as in the plot and gags.
This includes the fact that immediately the script puts us back in situation and, unlike other series (yes, including comedies), you don’t need a long “previously on” to remember who is who and what happened. We are well placed from the beginning.
And, just in case, this season we have the premiere of a streaming series based on the adventures and misadventures of the cruise ship’s crew that, although it sometimes runs the risk of being a bit “sticky”, is perfectly integrated even in the plot (as is the case with the third episode).
In general, there is a certain change of course, or rather a readjustment here and there in which everything works much better than in the previous season. This translates to better jokes without burning plus the characteristic and peculiar characters that swarm around the ship. Some with new “roles”.
This is also because it adheres more to the canons of comedy. Perhaps he too often leans towards dynamics and tropes (those escapes from responsibility of the captain, the owner and his idiocy, etc.) that, although they work, are in danger of falling into the hackneyed.
Something that is in the depths of ‘Avenue 5’. Inside his HBO series body and casing, we meet a classic comedy soul which means that, in short, the series has returned in a hilarious way.