Take Three: Avenue 5

Avenue 5: Season 1, Episode 3 “I’m a Hand Model” (B)

Overall, I think this show is working, though it’s definitely a bit wilder and more out-of-control than past Armando Iannucci efforts due to the scope of its disastrous events. Of course Cyrus would have forgotten to account for every single person on board the ship, which meant that his six-month calculation had to be added to the three years that the actually intelligent Billie had already confirmed was the correct estimate. Ryan freaked out when he was told that everyone on the bridge was actually just an actor, something that shouldn’t have surprised him all that much given that he was one and the same! At least there is a crew of real scientists who just weren’t attractive enough to meet Judd’s standards, and maybe they’ll be able to help defray some of the total chaos that’s reigning at the moment. I was happy for one victory in the form of Ryan’s successful manipulation and enlistment of Karen to be the passenger liaison after he accidentally revealed his British accent and shared more with her than he meant. Taking the brunt of the heat for the new delay by suggesting five years as the reported timeframe was smart, though there are too many other passengers like her who aren’t going to easily accept that. Rav is having a tough time holding down the fort, and the videos that Matt sent her didn’t alleviate that stress at all. He really is capable of turning anything bad into something good, but also the opposite, which doesn’t always serve as productive in the moment.