- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
Title: Inside Job
Type: TV series
Year: 2021
Country: United States
Genre: Comedy
Status: Cancelled (RIP)
Platform: Netflix
Appropriate for 30+?: Absolutely
My rating: 4/5 stars
(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)
Inside Job is peak Millennial media. Most of the main characters are Millennials, jokes and cultural references are aimed at 20- and 30-somethings, a major plotline revolves around the Millennial protagonist and the strained relationship with her Boomer dad, and there’s even have an entire 80s nostalgia parody episode.
Overall I’d give the series a B (4/5 stars: good but not great). The humor generally lands and the plots are interesting enough. The characters start out painfully two-dimensional but become more charming over time. Unfortunately the latter episodes somehow lack the charm and fun of the earlier episodes, and alas the series never got a chance to redeem itself in season two after being unfairly axed by Netflix after a mere 18 episodes (and a cliffhanger ending). Perhaps not a “must-watch” for the general public, but I’d heartily recommend it to any fan of western adult animation.
Summarized in a phrase: a funnier, smarter American Dad.
I’d consider anything that falls under the category of “you haven’t watched X!? You really should, it’s excellent and/or a cultural touchstone” to be in the “must-watch for the general public” list. On Netflix right now I think The Good Place is a must-watch, Glass Onion is almost a must-watch (because has there been another movie made that better encapsulated the 2020 experience?), Blazing Saddles is a classic that aged surprisingly well, Arrested Development’s classic seasons are fantastic comedy, and Key & Peele is solid sketch comedy. On the animated side, Bojack Horseman is brilliant (and a must-watch for anyone interested in western animation), and many aspects of Arcane are straight-up exemplary (especially starting with episode 3). Beyond that I think it comes down to taste; for instance I thought Tuca & Bertie was pretty good and definitely unique, but not something I’d recommend to anyone and everyone. On the anime side Neon Genesis Evangelion is basically required watching for anime fans (it and Cowboy Bebop have remained classics for over 25 years for good reason).
I don’t know what to recommend for hard sci-fi shows, partly because I prefer soft sci-fi, and partly because I don’t think there are a lot of hard sci-fi shows out there (afaik they usually don’t get much harder than Altered Carbon). Although I’m a bit fuzzy on where to draw the line on hard vs soft…
Arcane is one I was thinking to post here; I was trying to decide if it fits! I feel like the ending is supposed to be this dramatic moment, and it is; but I was mostly feeling like these poor kids (young adults) have lost all their role models and anyone from the older generation who might help them…
My go-to hard sci-fi recommendation is always The Expanse! I’m still catching up past the second season (read the full series), but I’ve really liked what I’ve seen so far!
FWIW I think Arcane fits this community just fine. Yes many of the characters are on the young side, but the story doesn’t focus on teenage cliches, at least not after episode 3 (much of the plot has to do with navigating the world of politics, class warfare, morality in terrorism, etc).
For the purposes of this community, I think the only deciding factors are: 1) is it animated? and 2) are you over 30 and enjoyed it, and think other over-30s would enjoy it too?