TV Review - Space Force (2020)

This is the second TV series this year that Greg Daniels has done. It's also his second series centering around technology. It follows his show on Amazon Prime called Upload. This one is less comedy science-fiction that leans toward the fantastical, which Upload does. This show instead leans more toward being down-to-Earth, which is ironic, given that it's about America's attempts to blast off into outer space and establish a military presence there. It's less fantastical in that the narrative doesn't utilize technology that doesn't yet exist. One could see this as a bit fantastical, given that it involves scientists pushing the limits somewhat. In that regard and in that tone, I would liken this series to something like HBO's Silicon Valley (2014).

Steve Carell is the co-creator here. Carell is probably best known for his role in NBC's The Office, which Daniels developed. It's not surprising that this series feels the most like The Office. However, the show seems to want to have this serialized story that it wants to tell like Silicon Valley. Yet, it mostly has the format of stand-alone episodes like The Office. Some shows find a balance between serialized storytelling and stand-alone storytelling. This one doesn't really do that. The series feels mostly aimless for most of its episodes, almost as if there is no real direction. The series feels like it's spinning its wheels. Some might feel that that was the vibe of The Office, but, for some reason, it's just not as funny as The Office.

Carell stars as Mark R. Naird, a General in the United States Air Force. He's a 4-star general, pretty high up in the ladder. He's selected or appointed to serve in the Joint Chiefs of Staff or a similar body and round-table. He's not the chief of the Air Force, as it were. He's the chief of what's known as the Space Force. The military already had a branch that handled outer space, but, under President Donald Trump, that branch has been reorganized and called "Space Force." Mark is an old-school military guy, very masculine, very strict and rigid. He's a bit Trump-like in that he's not into science and has some narrow-minded views. He can't be accused of trafficking in the same kind of toxic masculinity and bigotry as Trump. That kind of trafficking is reflected in the other members of the Joint Chiefs, but Mark is arguably more sensitive and liberal.

The reorganization and creation of Space Force is something that just started in the real world in the fall of 2019. For this series to tackle Space Force now is pretty fast. The series seems to be a spoof of the whole idea of there being a Space Force, but, since the Space Force hasn't even existed a year, this series isn't spoofing the actual existence of Space Force. It's merely a spoof of the idea, which means there's no real substance in this spoof. It's more just the usual jokes made about Trump, which are his aversion to science, the possible Russian conspiracy and his focused rivalry with China. All of those areas are ripe for jokes, but, here, they fall flat or just get off track.

John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich and In the Line of Fire) co-stars as Dr. Adrian Mallory, the head scientist at the main Space Force facility in Colorado. Mark isn't the equivalent of Trump. He's more the equivalent of the generals who have worked for Trump and been a kind of proxy for the president, men like John F. Kelly. Yet, Adrian is more the equivalent of someone like Dr. Anthony Fauci, even though he's in a different field of science. Adrian is more refined, more erudite and more snobbish really. He's also way more pragmatic and realistic, as opposed to Mark who is more ambitious and optimistic. Mark is less likely to give up on a mission or venture, but Adrian is the opposite in that regard.

The series is largely about the relationship between Mark and Adrian. It's largely about these two people who are opposites in many ways developing a kind of friendship. They seem unlikely as two people being friends as anyone, so seeing them become friends is interesting. Seeing their friendship be reinforced occurs in two big and bold ways in two episodes. Yet, that reinforcement has problematic aspects to it that provides mixed feelings, as to how to interpret it.

Episode 3 has Mark and Adrian visit Washington, DC for a Congressional hearing. In that episode, there is a scene where Mark and Adrian have to work together to answer questions from Congress members. It's a nice showing of the two's growing solidarity. Yet, that scene includes a character who is supposed to be a version of Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. It's a parody of her, which is fine to do because she's a public figure, but her criticism of the budget for Space Force is made to seem like she doesn't care about the morale of the soldiers in it or her being against the existence of it all together, which I don't think is accurate or fair. However, there is a parody of an elderly, right-wing Congressman that's way over the top, so I guess that's balance.

Episode 6 though has Mark suspect Adrian of being a spy and leaking information about Space Force to other countries. Mark suspects Adrian because he sent a private message. The episode becomes about what was in that private message. It's a round-about way to get to the revelation that Adrian is gay and the private message was a video to an astronaut whom he loves. It's a joke about who Mark should trust and the punchline is Adrian's homosexuality, which is a lame punchline. It's also frustrating because the fact that it took till Episode 6 for that part of Adrian's life to be revealed is troubling, especially since the friendship of Mark and Adrian is a main focus here. The fact that the show would take till Episode 6, which is a long time relatively, only downgrades that gay character in the status of this show.

The way the show juggles its other characters doesn't make me much care about them either. The only exception is Tawny Newsome who plays Angela Ali, a captain in Space Force who starts out as just the personal pilot for Mark. She's basically the person who flies the helicopter that he uses to get to certain places. In one episode, she has to babysit Mark's teenage daughter. Yet, she wants to be more. She aspires to be an astronaut. Her pursuit of that is given short shrift, but it's more than any other character gets. Mark's daughter, Erin, played by Diana Silvers (Ma and Booksmart) gets a bit of an arc, but it's not as satisfying as it could have been.

Rated TV-MA.

Running Time: 30 mins. / 10 eps.

Available on Netflix.