Where to find it: Netflix
Length: Ten 25-minute episodes
Synopsis: Adult animation in which all conspiracies are true and engineered by the Deep State
Recommendation rating: 2/5
What I like about it: sometimes funny (especially when satirical), Lizzy Caplan, good opening titles and theme
What I don’t like about it: juvenile gags, uninteresting characters
Review:
I’ve disliked ‘adult animation’ for as long as I’ve been an adult – there’s better content for adults in masterful children’s cartoons like Bluey and Steven Universe; while the obligatory gore, swears and cynicism that separates them from animation’s traditional target audience seem more adolescent than adult. This show from Netflix isn’t the worst example of the genre (that would be their latest offering, Farzar) but it’s far from the best (which is Tuca and Bertie).
The core gag is that all conspiracy theories, from Roswell to ‘crisis actors’, are true and organised by a shadowy corporation called Cognito Inc. Main character Reagan (Lizzy Caplan) is the daughter of Cognito founder Rand (Christian Slater) and is passed over for promotion to Big Boss in favour of a bland young executive named Brett (Clark Duke). Reagan and Brett’s relationship is the familiar cat-and-dog dynamic of a smart, aloof woman and an active, unthinking man. It isn’t strong enough to carry any interest beyond the gags, which are a handful of good historical/political jokes filled out with four hours of standard adolescent animation fare.
Content notes (may contain spoilers): violence, drugs, sexual references, anti-autistic bullshit in episode 3