Round Two: Space Force

Space Force: Season 1, Episode 2 “Save Epsilon 6!” (B)

I’m still trying to get an exact read on this show, since it’s clearly a parody of real life but also contains some moderately – if questionably – intelligent characters. Mark is the best example since he, like his Sec Def boss, played by Dan Bakkedahl from “Veep” and “Life in Pieces,” he’s more interested in trying to bomb the hell out of problems rather than listen to scientific solutions, but he saw the value in learning math with his daughter when he finally got home and took the time to help her with her homework. I’m sure that Mark is meant to be a parody of many real-life people, and the one who most strongly comes to mind is, of course, Donald Trump. That came through most specifically when he was trying to give instructions to the chimpanzee, seemingly at home with the sophistication of the language and instruction. Presuming that a chimpanzee would be able to follow any complicated commands was absurd to begin with, and baiting him with a fake frozen banana wasn’t particularly kind. I liked the response of every other person in the room when he tried to rally them with a call that they’re all American, which was to show him that the staff is actually quite diverse and international. I neglected to mention the presence of the late Fred Willard in the pilot, and he did a great job representing an older person very susceptible to scams like the one that found him sending money to his granddaughter’s alleged kidnappers. If nothing else, this show is watchable and entertaining, so I’ll stick with it to see what happens next.