So this series kicks off with its fourth wall breaking narrator in the form of the season’s villain Mr. Nobody played by Alan Tudyk, which I’m not gonna lie; threw me for quite a loop.
Not the fact that Alan is playing Mr. Nobody; that actually just makes...all the sense, but the fact that the villain is narrating the heroes. I’ve honestly never heard of that being done before
Off the bat it makes sense, because the first few scenes are explaining his origin. /He pays a small fortune to this Nazi after World War II to partake in a metahuman experiment that goes...wrong? Right? Meh? It’s kinda hard to tell at this point./
That’s when we start getting a chunk of the heroes of the series, starting with Cliff Steele played by Brendan Fraser, who I have missed the fuck out of
He was a famous race car driver in the 80’s who’s been having some...problems with his marriage. (silence) Okay fine, he’s fucking cheating on her
/It’s implied that his wife knows about his affairs in the first established shots despite Cliff constantly being one step ahead of her, but then we find out during a race that she’s also cheating on him and that both of them are pretty much the textbook definition of whack in this situation. One can argue that she may be a bit more whack because she revealed that info mid-race knowing he could crash into another driver and end both his career and his life, but y’know... tomato potato./
Fast forward to the mid-90’s after we find out that Cliff DID crash, and that he’s been kept alive by a scientist named Niles, done in a few scenes that gave off some OG Robocop vibes for me, real talk
Unfortunately for Cliff and similar to Robocop, he finds out that only his brain was salvagable and that he’s now a cyborg. He didn’t really take the news too well...
That’s when we get to know about the other two that are in the manor with Cliff and Niles; Rita and Larry
Rita’s dolled up in Golden Age film fashion while Larry’s rocking the Invisible Man bandages /and rocking a bomb-ass fur collared trench bitch; I WANT THAT!/
Being assigned as Cliff’s caretaker during his rehabilitation, we find out LARRY’S origin story
/He was a husband and a father that worked as a military pilot in the 60’s; a pretty novel guy who had a lot of respect. Then one day when he was testing out a “stratospheric rocket” he and his ship got hit with the same cosmic cloud that created the Fantastic Four (I know it’s not the same fucking cloud; just go with the comparison) and crash-landed back on base. When his armymates arrived at the crash, they saw to their amazement that he was still alive and HOLY CRAP DID HE HAVE A SHITTY TIME./
So after seeing Cliff and Larry’s origin stories, all I could think of was:
Man. All these origin stories are intense as fuck
So what does the show do to help water down the intensity? Show RITA’S origin story of course!
/Turns out the reason why she dresses like she’s a Golden Age actress is because she WAS a Golden Age actress in the mid 50’s and-/
Wait. Rita and Larry’s origins happened in the 50’s and 60’s? And this takes place in the mid 90’s? But Rita hasn’t aged a day and Larry is still moving and sounding like he did 30 years ago? Does Niles has some type of anti-aging slash immortality juice lying around the manor? How come you two haven’t aged
Sorry; my continuity sense was tingling a bit. Moving on:
/Yeah, she was an actress in the 50’s and was filming on location in Africa for a movie acting like she’s never seen an amputee black man before./
And while I was watching this scene and realizing that it was the 50’s, I was curious to know exactly what the trigger was.
Was she caught off guard that he was a black man behind a camera on that racism tip? Was she caught off guard because ol’ dude was missing an arm and was being an asshole about it?
(Why not both scene)
/Turns out she WAS caught off guard because he was an amputee, considering the majority of the film crew were black because they’re in fucking Africa, and prepares for her next scene./
(Trips and falls). Oop!
So while she’s underwater and struggling to get topside, this Ghost...snake goes inside her mouth?
/Then when she does get topside, she finds out that she’s become hideously deformed/
Because karma is a bitch
So with that, we have three individuals that had shitty things happen to them, with the only one of the three that ISN’T a scumbag being Larry with his fly-ass trench that I want for myself
Yet despite Larry being the better of the three morality-wise, I can’t help but to feel sympathy for Cliff the most during this episode, and that’s mostly due to how much they focus on his overall struggle adapting to his robot body while flashbacking to his happier moments in his life.
Like remembering his precious moments with his daughter in order for him to learn to walk in his new body, or back when he and his wife weren’t at such odds and ends with each other and actually in love
Everything involving Cliff is shot so well and Brendan Fraser pre and post Robotman is emoted and resonates so well that he stands out amongst the rest of the ensemble, despite him being a scumbag
And that’s when the episode decides to shift our perspective of Cliff.
Because yes, it WAS a crash that did him in. But it wasn’t on the racetrack.
You see, he WON that race despite what his wife told him and was feeling super guilty about all the shit they’ve been putting each other through.
/So he calls her up while he’s on the road, then leaves to pick her and his daughter up to try to reconcile and save his family/
THEN the car crash happens. With HIS ENTIRE FAMILY IN THE CAR. He didn’t really take the news too well...
So then we fast forward to 2019, where Larry, Rita and Niles...STILL haven’t aged AT ALL... BUT THAT’S FINE
/And it’s revealed that Niles has a metahuman daughter named Crazy Jane, who has 64 split personalities AND THEY ALL HAVE THEIR OWN POWERS ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS??/
So while her introductory scene makes me immediately not want to look forward to seeing more of her
Especially after she talks the others into going on a joyride into Studio Backlot Town USA after Niles has to leave on business and tells them all NOT TO LEAVE THE FUCKING HOUSE
Everyone gets their own moment to shine while they’re all being appropriately gawked at
/Especially Larry, who we find out his life wasn’t as perfect as his initial origin scene led on to believe./
Yet despite this reveal, while it is extra baggage, it doesn’t put him in the Asshole Category as Cliff and Rita, and I still count him as the heart and morality of the group
Why? Because it was the 60’s. And the most common way to survive in the 60’s being queer without being a pariah was to live a lie
Rita on the other hand, we find out that whenever she gets stressed or overly emotional, her meltiness begins to happen
/And we find out the result when it’s pushed to her limit. So that’s fun./
Of course Niles finds all of this out when he gets back into town and instead of chastizing his daughter who was CLEARLY the one responsible for all of those shenanigans happening in the first place, he convinces the majority of them that they all need to leave because revealing themselves to the world got the attention of Mr. Nobody
Cliff decides to stay behind to protect the town, and while everyone else is on the bus driving away, Crazy Jane decides to convince them to (Turn Around bit of Total Eclipse of the Heart plays)
/That’s when we get our first good look at Mr. Nobody’s new form, and our reluctant heroes get a good look at what all he can do. I’m sure they’ll be fine/
