Bad Monkey: Season 1 (2024-present) TV Drinking Game
Down a Shot: every time Yancy mutters ‘fucknuts’ under his breath
Down a Shot: every time Yancy’s dad goes off on a tangent about turtles or manatees during one of his life lessons
Down a Shot: every time Rosa eats. Woman’s got one helluva appetite!
Down a Shot: every time someone hangs up on Yancy mid phone call, even though it’s his pet peeve.
Down a Shot: every time Yancy shares a factoid about Key deer or turtles (like father like son)
By: Vidal D’costa (Two Beers) –
Based on Carl Hiaasen’s novel, Bad Monkey follows washed-up detective and local Chatty Cathy, Andrew Yancy, who is entrusted with solving the mystery of a severed hand that washes up on shore. Once without a purpose, Yancy is led down a rabbit hole involving shadowy figures, many of whom stir up literal trouble in paradise and slyly yearn for their own slice of the metaphorical key lime pie- ranging from a rather unfriendly-looking ‘Dragon Queen’ to greedy land grabbers and a trusty gun for hire who doesn’t miss. In the process, he realises that crocodile tears are a lot deadlier than the actual gators residing in South Florida’s swamps.
A Toast
Shane Black may not be pumping out enough of his signature colourful and deliriously camp as well darkly comedic neo noir buddy cop flicks (also known as my favourite kind of movie), but Bill Lawrence of Scrubs fame proves to be a capable successor in keeping this genre alive and thriving via this Apple TV+ web series. Illogical, corny, yet delightful and absorbing, Bad Monkey’s aesthetics and the antics of its characters also match those of The Nice Guys and Inherent Vice.
It is also a blend of absurd yet unapologetically sincere, even coming across as a tad inspiring with a heroic protagonist like Yancy who won’t back down and faces up against the chaos as well as near death situations amidst the ugliness of the Florida Keys (don’t get me wrong, the coastal scenery is still a sight for sore eyes, though) which is fast being devoured whole by capitalistic greed and proves to be a temptation for everyone from your average born again Christians to born again waitresses, scummy cops, and conmen alike, even Obeah priestesses who cast a spell to keep land grabbers in check but are simultaneously susceptible to sweet deals themselves and ready to sell their souls if the price is right. An apt slowed-down cover of “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty playing during a rather adrenaline-pumping finale probably helps our selfless, go-getter protagonist’s case too.
The show also navigates multiple timely topics such as straying from one’s roots, a literal and philosophical search for identity, and paying it forward to the community, with consistent storytelling that’s surreal, humorous, and morbid in equal amounts.
It also preserves the typical archetypes and other oddities of the neo noir genre through familiar characters such as the one-armed man and his femme fatale, and subverts others, i.e. gender swapping the usual testosterone-fueled buddy cop duo for an equally capable female sidekick in the form of Rosa, a coroner who doubles as Yancy’s better half and fellow sleuth.
Yancy’s rivalry with Mendez, whom he describes as the bad cop who makes others look bad, also drawing comparison between him and ‘that one chimp who ate a woman’s face so others couldn’t keep chimps as a pet’, as well as him rightfully directing his anger towards the scummy neighbourhood realtor who is played by SNL alum Alex Moffat (a beef that leads to the frustrated detective going to the extent of hiring a bee keeper to install a hive in the latter’s illegal eyesore of a mansion as revenge for his crimes against nature, and subpar architecture) also lends comic relief.
The relationships, in fact, are another of Bad Monkey’s major strengths, as Yancy discovers the importance of befriending like-minded people over plates of grilled cheese and conch fritters (honestly this show made me hungry at times) in his battle to turn the tide against the grifters and, in the process, throwing old foes off his scent. His in-depth conversations on nature with his retired cop turned hippie dad are yet another highlight; amusing, endearing, and thought-provoking and in keeping with the themes or overall tone of the series.
Vince Vaughn is at his most Vince Vaughn in the lead role of the deadpan detective with a gift of the gab and a penchant for licking bone shards (no follow-up questions, please). Vaughn also shares a palpable chemistry with co-star Natalie Martinez as Rosa, who is numbed by death and feeling claustrophobic by her career choices even on a large island. It is especially fascinating, even wholesome to watch the duo’s relationship progress from bonding over an ice box of mango popsicles (not an innuendo) to hooking up in morgues and graveyards (again, don’t ask any follow-up questions). Alas, both Yancy and Rosa will eventually realize that sometimes, love isn’t enough to survive or make it off the rocky island in one piece, especially with their respective emotional baggage in tow.
Rob Delaney and Meredith Hagner deliver compelling performances as the deadly combo of Nick and Eve Stripling, the antagonists of the series, with Hagner standing out as she straddles the line between chirpy and precocious to crafty and downright sinister. Jodie Turner-Smith commands attention as the regal, cryptic, and steely Dragon Queen who, much like Rosa, has been conditioned into spending the rest of her life on a slowly disintegrating island. David St. Louis is also intimidating as the Striplings’ perpetually grimacing muscle, simply named ‘Egg’.
Michelle Monaghan makes a comeback to this genre after Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, oozing sensuality and manipulative energy as a shrewd, twisted version of a manic pixie girl- a middle-aged boho teacher with a problematic past who is yet to face the music and continues running from her dirty history sans repercussions with the law hot on her heels.
Ronald Peet as Neville, John Ortiz as Yancy’s tolerant ex-partner Rogelio, and Zach Braff in a cameo as a sketchy doctor (a stark contrast to JD from Scrubs) round out the rest of the formidable performances.
Beer Two
While I understand that this particular genre obviously demands a lot of suspension of disbelief from viewers, it was rather frustrating as well as contrived to watch the characters repeatedly travelling from one city to the next (more specifically covering the distance between Miami and So Flo) in unbelievably record time, to the point that it made me question whether a lot of the characters were experts in the art of teleportation. The Dragon Queen is probably the only exception to this rule since in her own words, ‘she just walks very fast’.
Verdict
Watch Bad Monkey for the themes, the thrills, the main character’s wisecracks, or simply for the vibes. A buddy cop adventure, neo-noir dark comedy, whodunit, and romance that’s as unapologetically sweet as mango popsicles, all rolled into one, there’s something for everyone to enjoy in this show.
