Avenue 5 Review: I Was Flying (Season 1 Episode 1)

A pleasant cruise through the galaxy turns to chaos on Avenue 5 Season 1 Episode 1, “I Was Flying,” as its crew and inhabitants begin to realize just how dangerous this whole space travel thing really is.

The very first impression is that the lunatics are in charge of the asylum; that is to say, no one appears equipped to handle the pressures of the situation. Avenue 5 is a comedy of errors, no one truly capable and finding themselves way over their head. It’s a fun place to start at, trying their best to right the trajectory of the ship, but there are some elements that could use work.

As an introduction, though, the episode does have some solid moments.

Hugh Laurie’s Captain Clark is pitch perfect as a leader of the tomfoolery, completely out of his depth and falling on a jokey panic in order to cope. His annoyance at Judd’s lack of attention and confusion at hearing his own voice on the holographic ads around the ship are great little quirks that add up to finding what makes him tick and what will be his driving force moving forward: keeping up appearances.

But as the show continues, Clark’s driving force may be to accept responsibility for the situation until a more convenient leader can take over.

His British accent slipping out as he grows more animated is a fun character quirk, that he dons an American persona as though everything is a performance. Everything Clark portrays is false, in the end, even down to the way he speaks; this opens him up to be a walking contradiction, left to lead when he clearly cannot.

Josh Gad’s Judd is a strange guy, but there’s something comically alluring to the genius facade. He’s another of the bumbling fools despite his self-aggrandizing and immense wealth, making him a potential speed bump if he ever plans to take control of the situation since he is paying for all of it.

Perhaps the only two truly capable of changing things for the better are the women: Rav (Nikki Amuka-Bird) back at mission control, and Billie (Lenora Crichlow) in engineering. Despite the time delays and freak accident to Joe, both Rav and Billie are (for now) fairly composed while they internally panic. Avenue 5 could have a lot of fun placing the women in charge after the men made a mess of things.

With the passengers, they are more fodder fare and instigators, never quite rising above their concern and their barbed comments. Some of their lines can be amusing, but the first episode is more concerned with establishing the crew and the situation, and so they are mostly sidelined and will likely become more integral later on as they are fleshed out.

One character stands out among the rest, however, with Zach Woods’ Matt Spencer. He’s completely unhinged and unpredictable, finding a mean-spirited groove of being dialed up to eleven. After his brilliant performance throughout Silicon Valley, Woods here manages to strike gloriously unlikable with a mild tone as an agent of chaos, using both to massage this character into something of a wild card.

One thing of note is the darker element of violence inspiring comedy, something Iannucci perfected with his film The Death of Stalin. Clark’s mentions of flexibility turning to realization that it’s broken limbs, along with the image of so many people hurling into each other and Joe the engineer getting killed and bursting blood as he thaws, all exist in this plane of violent comedy.

It is a specific kind of comedy that may not work for everyone. Fortunately, this madcap style of comedy does end up working well overall, despite never quite descending into the laugh-out-loud stylings of Iannucci’s previous show like The Thick of It and Veep. It relies on big personalities, and with the expert cast and well-tuned writing for their characters, there is a huge wealth of potential.

The world that Avenue 5 inhabits is one full of little hints at how life is so different compared to our current one. There’s no more Google, there are liquid gloves, and there have been many manned trips to Mars. The show smartly never dwells on these, making them quick asides to show how far technology and innovation have come, and could lead to some fun jokes down the line.

The rise to action, the need to change the trajectory back, is a clever way to keep the show going for as long as needed. There will surely be setbacks and successes along the way, but the show isn’t really about the plot, as intriguing as it is: the show rests on the writing and the characters, and with both, Avenue 5 Season 1 Episode 1, “I Was Flying,” is a success.

Simply hanging out with these characters as they lose their cool and try to do what’s required of them, without any knowledge of how to do anything, is a fun place to start everything. No one is who they seem, because in the future, appearances are everything.

While Avenue 5 may have some initial bumps, mostly through its varying tone, it’s rewarded through fascinating and bizarre characters who are elevated by the sharp writing. There’s plenty to keep on this voyage, where extra time can hopefully provide in the other areas the show may be currently lacking.

 

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Avenue 5 airs Sundays at 10/9c on HBO.

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