Obliterated

There are frequent conversations among the editors at Gamereactor UK about the state of the film and TV space and how there is a place for entertaining slop. What I mean by the term 'entertaining slop' is that not every film or show needs to be a masterpiece. If it's fun to watch, it is, to some degree, worth investing your time in it. We've seen this recently with films like Five Nights at Freddy's, and well... nearly every Christmas movie that gets made every year. Netflix's Obliterated attempts to fall into this category too.

This show is a satire on the action genre, and follows a crack team of operatives as they save Las Vegas from being blown up by a nuclear bomb. Following their successful mission, the team parties like there's no tomorrow, Vegas-style, and halfway through the party they receive a call from command telling them their successful mission was in fact a ruse and that the real nuke was still in play in the city and set to detonate in seven hours. The show then spins into a real-time, 24-esque romp, where the team must save the day all while heavily inebriated and dosed on a cacophony of drugs. Needless to say, this leads to a The Hangover-like turn of events.

The actual premise of the show has a substance to it and potential, but the main problem with Obliterated is that it's incredibly poorly implemented. The storyline and dialogue is tragic. Yes, it's meant to be bad, it is a satire at the end of the day, but it's so bad at times that it's difficult to stomach. The action sequences are ridiculous and lack much of any gravity, and the character development is paper thin. The villains don't come across as villainous and their sole motivation seems to be bad just for the sake of it. And then there's the comedy. Sometimes the absurdity will catch you off guard and lead to a giggle, but for the most part, it's overly crude, doesn't land and fails to impress.

But here's the thing with Obliterated. It's like watching a car crash. It's entertaining because you just want to see what's coming around the next corner. It's an undisputedly terrible show in almost every aspect, but it's entertaining to watch because of its complete silliness. It is fundamentally, entertaining slop.

However, don't let those kind words fool you. In almost every conceivable aspect, this show is a disaster. The plot is barely engaging, the performances are middling, the chemistry between the stars is negligent, the narrative twists obvious, and the dialogue is atrocious. Obliterated could go down as the worst TV show of the entire year, it's an unmitigated disaster in many ways. But it sure is a blast to watch as the boat sinks and chaos ensues.