TV Review: The Tick (2017), Season 1A. An interesting and original superhero tale with a unique personality.

Image courtesy of Amazon

Tv Review: The Tick (2017) by Ben Jeffries (26/8/2017)

Season 1A Episodes 1-6 (25/8/2017)
6 Episodes (30 minutes each)
Superhero, Action, Comedy, Satire
Streaming on Amazon

This newest incarnation of the big blue man comes with a fresh, more introspective approach, but is hampered by some rough edges.

From the mind of Ben Edlund comes this latest re-imagining of his cult superhero, The Tick. A parody of comicbook superhero cliche, The Tick (Serafinowicz) is a massive man in a blue latex bodysuit, fond of pontificating on the nature of justice and seemingly invulnerable to damage. In this newest version he emerges from apparently nowhere to aid the troubled Arthur (Newman) in his quest to track down The Terror (Haley), a super villain thought dead for 15 years whom Arthur believes has actually been in hiding, operating a criminal network from the shadows. Arthur wants the Terror brought to justice for the death of his father, an event that has haunted him for his entire life, leading to an obsession with The Terror that has seen him institutionalised, medicated, and labeled as unstable. With his newfound, but not always wanted, ally Arthur might finally have the courage to succeed where so many have failed.

Created by Ben Edlund in 1986 as a mascot for a comic store newsletter, The Tick has gone on to feature in his own series of comics, a Saturday Morning cartoon, a video game and even a previous albeit short lived live action show in 2001 which starred Patrick Warburton. Known for long winded and rambling diatribes filled with incongruent imagery and odd phraseology, Tick is often accompanied by characters that are obvious parodies of popular superheroes, but is most closely associated with his erstwhile crime fighting partner, the ironically unimpressively named Arthur. Peter Serafinowicz is well cast as the titular hero, aside from his impressive stature he provides Edlund’s trademark off-beat dialog the familiar booming delivery, playing the character with a willful simplicity that makes him compelling to watch, as you never know what he might do next. Griffin Newman plays Arthur with a desperation and frustrated self doubt that lends a genuine touch to the character, simultaneously grounding the show and allowing the characters around him to reach for even greater heights of weird. As Arthur’s long suffering sister Dot, played by Valorie Curry, struggles to keep him on the straight and narrow she unwittingly creates the shows emotional tension, as her good intentions repeatedly pull her brother away from a life where he can become the superhero he always wanted to be and avenge the death of their father.

The newest incarnation of The Tick first appeared a full year ago in one of Amazons “pilot seasons” where they commission single episodes of shows that they make available to subscribers as test audiences. While some of that pilots rough edges have been smoothed in the intervening months, some elements remain challenging for the audience. An obvious bump in budget has meant a change in the look of the show; in the pilot Tick’s suit was streaked in different shades of blue and textured, but supposedly a proper budget has allowed them to create a more faithful solid blue suit. It’s a change that doesn’t go unremarked upon; in an example of the meta humour The Tick is known for, Arthur comments on how The Tick looks “a little different.” To which a confused Tick replies that he has “nothing to say to that.” Unfortunately, a bigger wardrobe and effects budget aren’t enough to stave off the “budget” feel that creeps in at the edges here and there. While I’m sure a lot of those design choices are deliberate, and in keeping with the counter culture nature of the show, in combination with occasional moments of clumsy directing or restrictions of either budget or time, they hurt the overall presentation of the show.

The main problem the show has is a dragging narrative. In the pilot episode The Tick references “the heroes journey” directly in another example of the franchises familiar meta comedy, relishing the idea of Arthur going “mano a monomyth” as he accepts the call to action. But he doesn’t. Which, of course, is the joke the show is going for but it’s carried too far to be funny. Arthur spends much of these first six episodes avoiding his new blue companion and his clarion call to heroism. There’s plenty of action in the meantime, and the “Origin Story” of it all takes up a fair amount of story real estate as the show introduces the world and a deep back story, but Arthur is ostensibly the main character here, and watching the main character refuse to engage with the narrative quickly turns from charmingly subversive to frustrating.

Speaking of frustration, if you aren’t a fan of cliffhanger endings you might want to put off watching The Tick for a while. AMazon has this season slated as twelve episodes but only the first six have been released, ending on a definite cliffhanger, with the second round of six episodes not due until next year. Apparently, the producers themselves pitched this idea to Amazon, the idea being that they want to recapture some of the anticipation that weekly broadcast used to create. While I can understand the thinking, I personally wasn’t engaged enough to be checking the trades for any news of a date for new episodes.

Don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the time I spent with the big blue hero and his little chum, it just took a little long for the story to get underway. Performances are strong, effects are serviceable, dialog is clever and funny and truly original. The take on the mundane reality of living with superpowers is intelligent and not something I’ve seen done this well since The Incredibles. I’m definitely interested to see what the show has to say in it’s next outing, I’m just not exactly counting the days until it airs.

6.5/10

The Tick Stars: Peter Serafinowicz, Griffin Newman, Valorie Curry, Yara Martinez, Jackie Earle Haley

Created by: Ben Edlund
Written by: Ben Edlund, Luan Thomas, Susan Hurwitz Arneson
Directed by: Wally Pfister, Kate Denis, Romeo Tirone, Sheree Folkson, Thor Freudenthal, Rosemary Rodriguez, Lev L. Spiro
A Production From: Amazon Studios, Sony Television
Distributed by: Amazon