The First Half Of The First Season Of The Tick Is A Surprisingly Funny And Enjoyable Affair

It isn't just in your local multiplex that superheroes have become a recurring presence, the boob tube is also an entertainment locale where superheroes can be found in heavy doses. Each of the five major networks, save for CBS, have at least one superhero show on their airwaves while all sorts of cable networks have their own superhero TV shows. Some of these programs, in order to fit into the smaller budgeted nature of TV shows, are deconstructions of superheroes focusing on normal people, like NBC's Powerless or the Playstation Network's one stab at original programming Powers. The Tick is kind of sort of being made in that storytelling mold but its savvy knowledge of superhero tropes is used more for good-natured rib poking than outright mockery. Plus, it's refreshingly not at all ashamed of embracing the sillier aspects of superheroes, one of a number of positive elements of this program.

The Tick (the third TV show adaptation of this character) has had the first half of its first season, amounting to six episodes of content, released this past Friday and in this half-a-dozen batch of episodes, we get to follow the tale of Arthur Everest (Griffin Newman) and how he goes from being normal to being entangled in superheroic situations. Before he becomes an accomplice to the titular superhero though, we learn that Arthur Everest has been traumatized ever since he watched his Dad die at the hands of notorious supervillain The Terror (Jackie Earl Haley). Soon afterwards, famous superhero Superian (Brendan Hines) apparently killed The Terror, but Arthur fervently believes this super-foe is still alive and has been collecting evidence to prove his theory.

While trying to obtain new proof that The Terror is alive, Arthur crosses path with The Tick (Peter Serafinowicz), a superhero with super-strength, invulnerability and maybe not the sharpest brain in the world in his head. Soon afterwards, The Tick gives Arthur a super suit he recovered from a recent scrimmage with evil henchman with The Tick believing that destiny itself is calling Arthur to put on the super suit and take up the life of a crime fighter. The subsequent episodes in the season detail Arthur's coping with the idea of being a crime-fighter, with him at first rejecting the idea before gradually realizing he might indeed have a larger role to play in the potential thwarting of a possibly still alive The Terror.

Something legitimately surprising about The Tick is that it's able to play up the idea of this show and its characters existing in a more realistic world without falling headfirst into the waters of pervasively grim. This is especially apparent on a visual level in the Pilot episode which has Arthur, The Tick and everyone they come into contact with inhabiting sets designed and lit to look extremely realistic, but while more stylized visual touches (including brighter lighting and a different aspect ratio) are incorporated into the rest of the season, a more realistic atmosphere does permeate appropriate elements of the show. For instance, while the superhero stuff remains stylized, Arthur's internal turmoil related to his own mental health issues are handled in a more deft and realistic manner.

Griffin Newman's performance goes a long way towards making Arthur's plight as emotionally engaging as it does. I've had zero exposure to Newman before this (I know he runs the Blank Check podcast a bunch of my friends love) but he's certainly got talent as evidenced by his great performance here, which manages to make Arthur a human being with a personality in addition to quirkier traits stemming from his mental health issues instead of having him solely by quirky traits stemming from his mental health issues. Newman's a border-line revelation in this key role while Peter Serafinowicz is also superb in the titular role as The Tick.

Serafinowicz's choice in playing this character is to go for sincere bravado, The Tick believes every word of righteous gobbledygook that comes out of his mouth 110% and the kindness he exhibits to Arthur has a similarly completely sincere quality to it. That keeps the character from being unbearable as he may have been in less capable hands and the writers have fun creating some memorable lines for The Tick to deliver with the Adam West Batman influenced personality Serafinowicz brings to the show. The supporting cast isn't all that fleshed out beyond one-note traits, but Mrs. Lint (Yara Martinez) makes for a fun baddie and the anti-hero Overkill (Scott Speiser) is a hilarious parody of the gritty bloodthirsty anti-hero ala The Punisher.

Six episodes in though, key supporting character Dot (Valorie Curry) seems underdeveloped at this juncture. Her trying to be a helpful sibling to Arthur is interesting to watch and one of the shows best aspects but I'd like to see more personality granted to her in the future since she feels one-note currently. While we're on the subject of flaws, splitting the season in half means plotlines that I assume are meant to run through the whole season that deal with plot elements The Tick's amnesia and a man blown up to larger size go nowhere in this batch of six episodes. Even more pressing, the occasional use of harsher langauge and violence, even when it's coming from that Overkill character, feel weirdly out of place in a show that otherwise seems to be channeling a family-friendly-ish spirit, very odd piece of inconsistent writing there.

But thankfully the writing really comes through on one of the key aspects of this comedy TV show, the humor. Like I said before, there are tons of great lines for Peter Serafinowicz to deliver as The Tick here and there's also fun to be had with exaggerations and/or pastiches of conventional superhero archetypes, such as a super-powered dog that goes onto TV shows to promote his new book he wrote after his superhero owners died. It's that kind of full-on embracing of the lunacy the majority of superheroes have that serves The Tick well in terms of gags. Instead of choosing between absurd superhero antics and more intimate character-driven drama, it chooses instead to go for both and actually succeeds nicely at that.

Heck, The Tick even gets a good superhero costume, something quite rare in the landscape of TV superheroes. The outfit he dons in the pilot is overly detailed and too skintight, but once the second episode rolls around, The Tick gets a mighty fine looking costume with a pleasing to the eyes texture and design that's appropriately stylized, especially when it comes to depicting overgrown muscles. Best of all on his costume is the subtly moving antennae, those provide plenty of chuckles throughout these first six episodes of The Tick, which surprised me in how well they handle the more complex character stuff and also in how they unearth some new laughs in the well-trodden comedic avenue of superhero parody. Color me mighty curious where the surprisingly entertaining and well-made The Tick goes next in the remainder of its first season.