Netflix’s FLAKED Review (Non-Spoiler)
Let’s continue our Netflix review binge with Will Arnett’s Flaked. Full disclosure, I grew up on Arrested Development, so I’m a fan of Arnett’s earlier work and his undeniably gifted voicework as seen (or heard) on Bojack Horseman and The Lego Movie. But this was a change of pace for my familiarity with Will’s work because Flaked is more drama than comedy, a show with a tone that would ultimately be decided by whether or not I bought that Will Arnett is a recovering alcoholic. That’s right, my third Netflix television review and each of these original shows slap this impairment on their protagonist as a trait that has mostly been ineffective.
Until now.
While Netflix’s Flaked isn’t perfect, it does a good job of telling a brief, interesting, and cohesive story with a handful of well-realized characters.
PLOT
Chip (Arnett) is a recovering alcoholic with an obscurely unfortunate past who’s taken it upon himself to motivate, inspire, and mentor others facing the hardships he’s seemingly put behind. He lives with his best bud Dennis (David Sullivan), one of his ex-mentees in his mother’s townhouse in Venice, and almost immediately love-triangle’s with the mysterious newcomer, London (Ruth Kearney).
Between losing his “stool store” and his many relationship issues, Chip struggles to balance the people he cares about. He also doesn’t have a phone because he’s hip like that, something that probably would have saved him a lot of said relationships considering his biggest flaw is communication.
CHARACTERS
Chip is such a charming mess it’s hard not to root for him. This is a testament to how well Will Arnett executes this anguish-filled role. Unfortunately, the writing doesn’t always keep up with his performance, it felt as though the writers were constantly trying to one-up his acting and make him as unlikable as possible, a tug-of-war eventually won by Arnett… Who’s also a writer on the show…
His attempts at goodwill are as believable as they are deceiving, and I found myself agreeing with his double-motive decisions that inevitably lead to Dennis’ episodic nag.
Let’s talk about Dennis for a second. Dennis is constantly nagging; I never once believed these two were best friends prior to the first episode. His jealousy towards Chip both sabotages his personal life and any sympathy I may have had for this character. While the writers do a good job of explaining why Dennis acts the way he does, Will’s portrayal of Chip was so likably unlikable, it was hard not to root for him whenever they had any conflict. Fortunately, Dennis comes into his own a little over halfway through, finding a good relationship dynamic in Chip’s ex-girlfriend Kara (Lina Esco).
London is the Venice newbie who coincidentally entangles her life with both Chip and Dennis. While she’s occasionally charming, her acting is notably out of sync during some of her earlier scenes with Chip, unable to match Arnett’s effortless performance. While her sole purpose seems to only be that of an eye-candy cardboard cutout, London gets some added depth as the series progresses in an admittedly unpredictable fashion. But even so, this happens a bit too late in the season to properly flesh her character out. After spending a season with her, I still have no idea who she is and what her intentions are.
I should also note that Christopher Mintz-Plasse plays Topher, who’s more or less a rich “McLovin” with a minimal, forced side-plot.
WRITING/TONE
It seemed as though the writers were too fearful of handholding the viewer through this series, the first three episodes are a maze of character names we haven’t met and locations that are so visually similar, they muddle together.
“It’s hard to ever invest in anything or anyone.”
And while this is very representative of our protagonist’s lifestyle, each character’s personality seems to take the same sporadic approach, actions made for the sake of plot progression without logical motives. The combination of these two writing choices lessens any stakes the viewer is supposed to feel, and without that, the earlier portions of this season carries little weight.
Fortunately, the show presents a fantastic change of location during the fourth episode in what is easily the highlight of the season for me. It’s a beautifully shot episode that adds a lot of depth and emotion to our leads, offering some backstory that fills in a lot of the logical blanks created earlier and provides insight to character perspective for the first time. It also takes us away fromt the repetitive world of Venice and has some of the genuinely sweeter moments in the series.
The significance of this episode serves as a ripple effect for the rest of the season. Venice suddenly has a personality upon our return, and the town’s tone shone after the viewer witnessed the psychological state of our leads outside of their frantic, everyday lives. Speaking of Venice, I’ve never been, but it was refreshing to explore this less-explored section of the west coast.
Because the season is only eight episodes, relationships tend to suffer. Engagements are cut short and the lifespan of these relationships can only last two to three episodes. Chip’s earlier fling was hard to root for considering I never witnessed a moment where they weren’t on the opposing ends of a conversation; it’s difficult to invest in these characters’ personal lives.
Conversational banter is rarely witty and mostly forgettable. Some of the more introspective moments can come off as pretentious because the writing fails to keep up with the very ideals it’s preaching.
A lot of the major reveals and misunderstandings were a bit of a stretch in a last ditch effort to tie everything up. Again, I feel like all of the problems Dennis had with Chip could have been resolved with an open conversation to avoid any escalation. The major twist was a classic case of a “what are the chances” scenario, and while it may not have been executed perfectly, it was still effective. Unfortunately, this revelation occurred a bit too early, leaving little significance for a finale that attempted to damage control. The result: an anticlimactic finish to a show that had built momentum late in the season.
Some of the editing went unpolished. Several lines of dialogue were clearly added in post with VO. These instances happen far too often and the character’s vocal tone rarely matches the scene and occasionally took me out of the experience. The inconsistent voice work and sloppy editing is unacceptable by Netflix’s standards.
MUSIC
Flaked primarily features some pretty generic music. I found the transitional guitar wails to be quite irritating in the pilot episode; it added to the show’s inability to capture any immediate personality. But while the melodies took me out of several early moments, the soundtrack progressively found its character during the latter half of the season.
IN CLOSING
Again, Netflix’s Flaked is by no means perfect. But Venice’s atmospheric tone, interesting character development, and Will’s believable performance make this show both worthwhile and deserving of a second season regardless of its lackluster finale. So much care went into the aesthetic of this tightly constructed series, it’s hard not to appreciate it. And while some episodes mesh without an overarching plot, I ultimately cared about where these characters would end up. Will Arnett proves that he can successfully (temporarily) step away from under the comedic umbrella and deliver a captivating performance without abandoning what makes him so compelling on-screen.
