Rank: 1.5/5
“Ten years ago, I killed a man,” Chip says, beginning the pilot episode of Netflix’s newest series, “Flaked.”
The series hit Netflix on March 11 with eight 30-minute episodes.
A man-child and recovering alcoholic, Chip, played by Will Arnett, tries to make sense of his directionless life and now manages a furniture store. One might call this a mediocre lifestyle, but to Venice’s Alcoholic Anonymous community, Chip is an icon.
He uses his misfortunes to his advantage and with this, refuses to take responsibility for his actions. Struggling with his identity and self worth, he is dishonest, damaged and just a downright bad friend.
Chip is in a casual, “almost serious,” relationship with Kara, who he met in Alcoholics Anonymous, but quickly develops a crush on London, his best friend Dennis’ love interest. He betrays Dennis by inviting London to live in his studio apartment.
He seems to feel remorse once in awhile, but not often enough to change his behavior. Chip is selfish, superficial and the situations he finds himself in are completely cliché.
Arnett, along with “Arrested Development” creator Mitch Hurwitz, developed the series. Reviews have been mostly negative and the show has a mere 32 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Rather than exploring the themes of addiction and drunk driving, viewers seem to just simply jump into a random day of Chip’s life. The pilot, like Chip, is relatively stereotypical. He just doesn’t seem to have it all figured out just yet.
The show, like the characters, is chaotic. Chip and his motley crew are not only vapid, but also, mundane, and just simply boring. The series offers nothing new and is tragically familiar to many other dramedies nowadays.
“Flaked” is an original comedy series, but the pilot episode lacked humor altogether. After watching the 30-minute episode, it’s still impossible to understand the point, or plot, for that matter.
This is yet another run-of-the-mill series — the ideas it’s based upon are used up and fail to create interest. The show had potential for success, but failed miserably.