After what can charitably be described as an abysmal trailer dropped way back in June of 2021, feelings on “Q-Force,” Netflix’s newest adult animated show created by Gabe Liedman (“Broad City,” “PEN15”), it's easy to see why most were dreading its September 2nd premiere date. Exactly what the queer world needed, another show rampant with stereotypes, sex jokes, and “Gee whiz, ain’t they a gay bunch” humor.
And then something amazing happened. Unlike Netflix’s last attempt to make a queer centric action show, 2018’s awful “Super Drags”, “Q-Force” is a delight that succeeds because of two main conceits: it takes the time to craft some truly likable and endearing characters, and, unlike other adult animated shows, it wants to be nice.
As much as “Archer” and “Bojack Horseman” deserve their critical praise, it can get exhausting for even the most devoted fans to watch episode after episode filled with barbed insults and hostile relationships. What Liedman has brought to his show is a sense of optimism.
Sure, the team is regularly disrespected by their organization and has had a decade without a legitimate spy case, but they never let it get them down. Their reliance on each other fuels the show's unflinchingly optimistic attitude to the point that most moments don’t go by so much with laughs, but with big grins.
Like one would hope, it also has the benefit of having a cast and crew made up most mostly queer people. Liedman is an openly gay man, most of the behind the scenes crew are queer, and the cast consists of, among others, Sean Hayes (“Will & Grace,” “Sean Saves the World”), Wanda Sykes (“Over the Hedge,” “The New Adventures of Old Christine”), Patti Harrison (“Shrill,” “Together Together”), Matt Rogers (“The Special Without Brett Davis,” “Our Cartoon President”), Laurie Metcalf (“Rosanne,” “Lady Bird”), and Stephanie Beatriz (“Brooklynn Nine-Nine,” “”The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part””).
Hayes voices Steve Maryweather, a top of his class secret agent who, after using his valedictorian speech at his graduation to come out, is quickly brushed to the side and assigned to West Hollywood without a case for a decade. There he assembles an elite team of other agents, like Deb, voiced by Sykes, the team’s mechanic and driver, Twink, voiced by Rogers, the team’s master of disguise and drag queen, and Stat, voiced by Harrison, the team’s goth loner hacker.
Eventually they’re assigned a real case and get their big break, overseen by Steve’s one friend in the agency, the enigmatic V, voiced by Metcalf, and are also forced to bring on the obnoxious and piggish Buck, voiced with tongue planted firmly in cheek by David Harbour (“Stranger Things,” “Black Widow”).
Yes, before going any further, the show’s premise is indeed similar to most other adult animated shows, especially that big one bearing H. Jon Benjamin’s involvement. If there’s anything to criticise the show for, it’s not that original beyond featuring a large cast of queer characters. Most of the plots are your standard sitcom fair and while it is consistently very funny, it has its fair share of overly done gay jokes.
The big beating heart at the center of it all is the characters and their relationships. They truly grow over the course of the show’s 10 episodes and come to form a great team. It really does feel like they’ve learned to work together and care for each other. Even Buck gets heartwarmingly redeemed and embraced as a member of the team/family by the end of things. There’s also something to be said for a show that has loving queer relationships, queer sex, and characters just existing on-screen. This isn’t the fare of a “very special episode,” this is just life for these characters, plain and simple.
It's also remarkably nice to look at. Most adult animated shows tend to have a similar, “Family Guy”-esque art style that tends to create some pretty ugly looking character designs and stiff animation. But the folks at Titmouse Canada, known for working on shows like “The Midnight Gospel,” “The Venture Brothers,” and “Animaniacs (2020)” have created a gorgeous and flowing world. The animation is remarkably smooth, with only a handful of awkward moments, and the entire thing is dressed in a retro-futuristic art style, reminiscent of the same sort of thing that inspired “The Incredibles,” making it a show that’s nice to watch and nice to look at.
There are plenty of things to praise and criticise “Q-Force” for. It definitely has its fair share of stereotypes, and the overarching plot might dabble in themes a bit too heavy than some would like. But the overall niceness of the entire affair, the great characters, and the fact that it’s clearly made for and by queer people lends everything a remarkably wonderful atmosphere. It's easy to roll your eyes but give “Q-Force” a chance and you’d be surprised at how good of a time it can be. 3.5/5
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