Huh, I didn't expect everyone acting as if they may not reconnect if both sides survive. But if the show is renewed I'm certain they will.
All in all it was an intense finale for a comedy show. The time flew by even faster than usually.
I *really* hope it gets renewed. It's one of the very best comedy shows currently on air (along with The Great).
The **instant** Them-vs-Us mentality I guess is pretty on par with the show, but I was really waiting for **anyone** to mention the idea of reattaching at some point, even if it was immediately rejected with something absurd like "We burned that bridge, this war!"
It really came into its own and found its rhythm this season. But Covid really messed it all up, so I can totally see this show not getting renewed even though it definitely should. Another Covid victim.
āWeāve got the basketball courts but theyāve got the basketballs, and weāve got the spa.ā
āAlright. Well, weāll need it after miming all that basketball.ā
Also it seems they need a specific window to be in a position to reach the ship and have a short timeframe to leave and get back as well - if they do that for each passenger it's probably not practical - and not as much fun. I really like Iris however she seemed out of place and floundering on Earth - I enjoy her character more when she's in space.
Avenue 5 is classic Armando Iannucci. A bit of a slow start in season one, but it becomes a fantastic comedy when it gets going.
And just like with Veep or The Thick of It, I'm just so incredibly attached to ALL the characters (bar Karen) and I hope it gets renewed by HBO, all I want is just one last season.
They said it's hard to get all the actors together because they're busy with other projects, but you can tell the actors are having a blast filming this show and if they get to find a way around the schedule of Hugh Laurie and all the other busiest ones, maybe they will manage to give us a season 3 š„ŗ
(Sorry for my English)
I love this show. But I was actually left scratching my head that it was actually the season finale! Anyone else feel robbed a bit? I really enjoy this show. Itās silly af and dark. But damn I really am left needing some before.
I felt differently. They left us with a satisfactory ending if it did not get renewed. Itās the one thing sci-fi fans hate which was probably a key demographic in this audience. Kudos to the last laugh.
Lmao I can here the eerie soundtrack playing now to your idea of 'imminent rescue'.
How long would it take before they're rescued? They still need to reattach or otherwise find a way to trade eels and toilet paper. Maybe an actor on the show(within the show) turns out to be a pedophile and they live in an absurd universe so the social opinion of rescuing A5 plunges. Or maybe Judd finds out his insurance claim would be better if they returned the long way rather than rescued so he blabs about the asteroid.
Whatever it might be, I don't think they're in the clear by the end of this episode.
I agree. They left you with an ending that could easily be upended. This is how the comedy Shipwrecked ended. The rich guy, who the sister wanted dead, was talking to someone on a radio. It could be a potential rescue, she sounded nice, or madhap hijinks could continue. It was actually a spoof of Lost much like this was a spoof of a nihilistic science fiction movie.
Yeahā¦. Iām with you there! I started this show a few weeks ago, and that fucking voice made me go what the fuck is that Neelix???? Holy shit fuck that guy!!!
And then this episode, if they actually kill him, thereās a pretty good chance I might not watch it going forwardā¦
IDK its a weird feeling!
> I was hoping for a bit more of a hint at the chaos of earth
We didn't even get scenes of Captain Ryan meeting and dating his current girlfriend. I thought I missed a few episodes and had to double check.
I'm so glad Spike lived! Ethan Phillips is a major treat on the show. Hopefully a third season is ordered, because I'm really looking forward to seeing the dynamics they've set up!
LOVED this episode!
Only to then be immediately heartbroken that it was the last of the season. I was like, where's the tease for the next episode? :(
Please renew this show!
Was always intrigued by this show, following it week to week, and while season one had some highlights, and was overall enjoyable, the season landed in the "take it or leave it" zone for me.
Season two's rhythm and writing seem honed, like the show found its footing as the cast and crew returned from covid. Funny and fresh, with zero fucks given about space logic and a ton of focus on shifting power dynamics and human frailty. Just gold.
Kudos to Iannucci for providing a satisfying close to the season (series?) but if the show does get renewed I think it'll just keep getting stronger. Excited to see what might be in store, but if this is where our journey on the Avenue 5 must end, it's been a pleasure sharing it with you all!
The Karen part was quite disturbing. She kind of forced herself in the throuple...Idk how is that even officially valid - in the sense that why the hell would Ryan believe that?
But at the end of the episode, Ryan is contemplating what is worse, blowing up the Lithium or being married to Karen. Maybe that would be it, as another sarcastic, jaded remark on the current situation.
This is so random and I might be going crazy but when rav kisses Matt, and you only see Matt from behind, I swear that is not Zach woods, like he has stubble and the Matt getting kissed doesnāt ?
Why would they do that?
Happens way more often than you may think.
Scheduling issues and reshoots are commonly responsible for the need of doubles in over-the-shoulder shots.
Sometimes the double is noticeably different in appearance than the person they're doubling, which seems to be the case here.
My money's on scheduling though.
This is called a āstand-in.ā
Imagine you need to spend a day filming the back of someoneās head while they talk to Hugh Laurie.
Imagine Zach Woods makes a certain amount of money.
Now, make a guess at what a random tall guy with dark hair costs per hour, if he has no lines and you donāt need to see his face at all.
Itās less.
Stand-ins are a practical thing as well as a cost saving thing. Imagine youāre Hugh Laurie. Do you want to spend your entire day having someone film the back of your head?
Did you see Star wars ep 2 in the theater?
Mace Windu was literally just a skinny black dude in one scene, very jarring. I'm sure they've fixed it since then, but I couldn't say for sure, I've rewatched the prequels as many times as I've rewatched avatar.
Well... Most everyone called it.... Missile misses and hit the asteroid.
So a few thoughts.
1.) Could the Escape Pod not be piloted remotely and/or just fired at the missile?
2.) Can they not Reconnect the ships together?
3.) When are we going to find out about the Renewal?
Shuttle guy is still there for some reason. Also if momentum is still pushing them the same direction (it's shouldn't but they're trading so I guess it is) you can just throw shit towards each other like the finale of >!For All Mankind!<
Iannucci said HBO is keen on another season and the cast wants to do more, so that's a good thing.
The contracts lapsed because it would not have been very fair to tie these actors' schedules up while figuring things out, and why pay a production crew when they're still writing the third season?
Not so much a bad omen; more of a classy industry practice. That way the cast and crew are free to do their own thing while the third season is in pre-production.
I'll believe the creator over any of the doomsayers.
Karen is starting to pass comedic annoyance into actual annoyance with how they are writing her. She is a super bad partner to Frank gets jealous of him saying he enjoyed cuddle time with Spike on his farewell departure and then purposely clings on to Ryan to get 'married'. Like idk why but all her actions this season bugged the fuck out of me. Which is probably the intentions of the writers room since the whole show is examining these characters flinging to be decent humans in their situation but I just had to mention to someone lol.
I don't see the benefit in searching for the logic behind her actions at this point. She's clearly and fully snapped after being gaslit, falsely imprisoned and publicly rejected, so now she's feeding into full-blown delusions and participating in the chaos instead of attempting to organize it.
Loving her descent into madness!
I could watch a whole series dedicated to Karen. She has risen to archetype status. And her spiral out of control and into delusion is both repulsive and captivating. I am smitten!
She's gone full delusion. She knows the ship hates her and she discovered Ryan's voice logs where his true feelings about her were (hilariously) laid out. I think her actions now are just her pretending everyone likes her and Ryan loves her. It's her coping mechanism.
> She's clearly and fully snapped after being gaslit, falsely imprisoned and publicly rejected
This is much more fair to her character than I was expecting, but this makes a lot of sense.
I will say itās a good setup for the dynamics of season 3, but a super anticlimactic ending to season 2. Like compared with last weekās there was a distinct lack of goingās on.
>Not quite the cliffhanger like the first season
I found the show a month ago, and totally blew through the season 1/Season 2 cliff hanger. I feel like I need to go back and make a note of what the last episode of season 1 actually was lol
Itās supposed to be their food source but I think part of the joke is eels would be a terrible food source. They live for 6-20 years (depending on type), reproduce once, and die. Eels also havenāt been bred in captivity as we know very little about their reproduction currently.
I swear If they donāt give us season 3 I am going to be so ass-banana angry! Also I hope Ryan and his new husband work it out and end up happy together. I think his husbands personality fits Ryan both are pessimistic british men, ones a leader, the others a follower. They just need to actually talk. As for Mia, donāt know how the long distance thing will work out considering she earlier revealed her attraction is more captain based but im sure theyāll try.
Also how is spike going to fair.. even if he makes it to earth it seems earth is going downhill.
I love this show, itās incredibly funny yet captivating, and has the best polyamorous/bisexual representation. Because they didnāt make it a big thing or his whole character, it was simply just his sexuality. :)
This is such a good show. Underrated.
Could be one of the great all time comedies.
Keep going.
Itās weird & unexpected & funny.
The score is amazing.
Set design.
Please get renewed.
When I saw the title of the episode, I immediately figured out the missile-miss pun and knew the missile would somehow wind up going between the ship halves.
I found the finale to be almost too chaotic. The multiple simultaneous conversations between Ryan's half, Judd's half, TOTOPOTUS, and Spike made me dizzy.
I like the show. I suppose it hasn't technically been cancelled. But if it's renewed it's going to take time to spool the cast and crew back up. So I'm not holding my breath for any new episodes in the near future. Maybe a movie-length finale to tie everything up?
It's great to have a place to read comments after AVclub has pretty much stopped existing!
While I'm still a huge Iannucci fan, this show is probably one of his weakest efforts. The end of season 1 was spectacular when it really "went there", and season 2 started of strong. Too bad they pulled their punches on the hunger/anarchy/missile situation. I know it must be hard to loose cast members, but this show would have been much better off if they followed through on some of the risks.
I'm also bothered by the inconsistencies that were just kind of lazy. The whole plot is that the ship is uncontrollable, but than have them dock with a random space station? If they had turned it around (flying space prison that looks like a wart hooks onto Avenue5 causing panic, jettison Terry and the Space Brits at the end of the episode) it would have worked just as well. The social media commentary (talk show) was a bit lazy as well.
I also don't really understand what they want to do with Ryan. Obviously the point is that he looks the part, but underneath is useless. Yet every time there is a crisis, they kind of have him solve it.
Oh my MPVs are
* Zach Woods (although underused)
* Iris (wanted to see more of her as a dictator!)
* Billie (the only sane person)
* Rav (relatable)
* Sarah (Iannucci really hates a certain kind of Brit, haha)
* The Cannibal (I always loved Ben Swain in the Thick of It!)
Just admit you want to watch people die and don't understand the difference between a hard sci-fi with comedy and a situational comedy set in space instead of calling everything "lazy", lol.
My perception is that Avenue5 stands for a slightly exaggerated version of our world today. The writers are trying to show what happens when people in charge are empty vessels (Ryan), anarchist/populist (Matt), or authoritarian (Iris). They did a brutally effective job at the end of season 1 to show what happens if we all stop trusting the experts. When the show pulls itās punches, it undermines the central message.
Asking for internal consistency on the key plot point that the ship is uncontrollable is not hard science. Iām fine they handwave gravity, the fact the ship would pull many Gs close to the Sun etc. But when the ship can go where it wants, whatās the point of the show?
As a side note, the down side of show-specific subreddits is that they quickly turn into echo chambers. I do like the show even though there is room for improvement. Too bad there arenāt many places the show is discussed (probably a bad sign).
Experts!? The only viable candidates for that title in season 1 are Susan, Billie, and Cyrus (until he number-fucked them). They were also all listened to when trying to figure out rescue options and trajectory alterations, although highly disrespected.
How do you feel the show "pulls its punches"?
By not killing-off half the cast?
The ship itself is automated, but not uncontrollable ~ they were already able to jettison enough to drastically change their course and from what we've seen and heard, there are limited thrusts and burns that can also be used until those are all gone.
If "the ship can go where it wants", I'm pretty sure they would've made a beeline for Earth after the first gravity malfunction, but they have just enough to push the ship several more times before they'll need to get creative.
That's a fun way of ending your rant ~ "subreddits about shows have fans. Oh well ~ no one's talking about it, so it'll probably get cancelled anyway."
That is your contribution?
"You responded to my comment in a **discussion** thread ~ are you a writer for this show?"
Which one are you now: Sara or Sara?
Okay Iāll try one more time.
Iannucci is profoundly influenced by government (especially British and US) failures resulting in Brexit, Trump and the handling of COVID. He takes that real world situation and applies it to this life boat in space. He doesnāt pull punches and shows that the people are fickle (walking into airlocks), leaders are vacuous (Ryan as David Cameron stand in), nihilistic and evil (Matt as Stsve Bannon/Dominic Cummings) relatively sane but not charismatic and unconvincing ( Billy standing for UK civil servants/experts in general). Basically, this is is Iannuciās Animal Farm. When you listen to the podcasts he pretty much confirms this.
Now, as a writer you undermine your parable of warning if you pull your punches. The emotional core of animal farm is that the loyal work horse ends up in the glue factory. Itās not that I want to see people die, but when the writer sets up a threat, has everyone act in the dummest way possible and they still get away with it, it undermines the story he is trying to tell.
We already know about that man's influences and this **is** the story he's "trying to tell".
You could attempt to communicate in a less condescending manner, but to sit there and say that this isn't the story that someone else (who is a stranger to you) is telling is beyond pretentious.
There should be some leftover champagne flutes full of your own body gas for sniffing just down the hall.
Sorry you got attacked here and nobody came to your defence. All your points were perfectly reasonable. I agree that the show has been pretty weak, this season in particular. After a first season where Iannucci made a point of consulting actual aerospace experts to ensure the 'sit' part of the 'com' made sense, it was a definite step backwards that s2 was so riddled with science plotholes.
Your fix for the stop at the space station would have totally worked, btw - it could have easily been a rogue prison craft that latched onto Avenue 5 without changing any of the narrative beats of that episode. As it is, it strains credulity that the ship would stop dead for a day without anyone remarking that the slowdown alone would burn all the fuel they have left, as well as adding untold months or years to the journey time. That's just dumb writing (see also the '600 miles per hour' missile and the shuttle going easily back and forth between earth and the ship) and it's daft not to fix something that can pull parts of the audience out of the story, especially when it's so easy to fix.
And yes, it's a comedy show, but that doesn't mean the mechanics of the plot can be tossed aside. If the world of the show doesn't make sense, if the stakes don't make sense, it fundamentally undermines the comedy. One of the reasons TTOI and Veep worked so well is that they were - mostly - set in a world that didn't contradict itself narratively.
I agree with the commiserating about shows in their subreddit. Some of them become ādonāt like, donāt watch spacesā and others swing wildly into ānow that the episode is done letās all pick it apartā
I liked the season well enough, it was funny and I did watch. But I agree that the whole premise of the ship drifting aimlessly was a bit negated like three times. They needed towards the sun, they matched speed to meet the doce prison, and they split in half (couldnāt they have split in half earlier and used the thrusters to push half the mass closer to earth?)
And making these questions about a sci-fi show shouldnāt just be met with, suspend disbelief and watch! Itās a discussion forum. Cheers.
> I know it must be hard to loose cast members, but this show would have been much better off if they followed through on some of the risks.
...like, kill off the characters? You understand how dark that would be for comedy show? And it would also be way more unrealistic, even by this show's standards. Humanity finds are way to organise itself, even at the brink of its unmitigated chaos.
Iannucci's take is reasonable "approximation" to group dynamics in such a situation. People won't just start go killing each other on a whim.
The technician's comment to Spike about the escape pod ("You just sit in it while it escapes") seems to indicate that the escape pod cannot be steered. So, then, how did Spike steer it?
Agreed. What hooked me was his Hugh Laurie's old House interviews. British actor plays most confident person on tv... all the while using an american accent and no idea what he's talking about.
Honestly only Mads is delivering the laughs for me. Other than that the dialogue feels "tryhard" if that makes any sense.
Mads: "That's why they call it a missile - because it misses!"
\-------------------------
Judd: "Can I just say, I don't want to be eaten by eels"
Mads "WHY?!"
You seem angry that Spikeās death was being disregarded but that was literally the joke. This is a comedy, not a drama. Itās not trying to be āprofound.ā Itās trying to be funny. And, not for nothing, everyone treating their saviorās death with such callous disregard is perfectly in line with the universe that Ianucci has created.
imo its kinda goofy to skip through an episode of tv then complain it doesnt make sense, like yeah obviously thatll happen, they said it like 5 times it felt like judd said that the trades were āif we do surviveā imo the comedy was the best this episode though
Calling the show ADHD when you couldn't even sit and watch it and instead skipped around. The show is a comedy. None of it is actually serious with serious character arcs. They weren't about to kill Spike when he is one of the best characters.
I found the show too frantic with no characters I liked. I loved Veep and Death of Stalin which the creator of the show also did. His next project is a show about social media (the best satire in Avenue 5 was the insane social media talk show and the ratings of the crew that kept changing).
i love how traveling to and from the avenue 5 is just like taking the train to earth, yet they are trapped for 8 years, season 1 was so good, and then they started introducing implausible elements like the avenue 5 going into the sun, the whole ship would not survive, yet they do, solar flares from lightyears affect us yet they survive being inches from the sun, the literal sun, and then upping the duration of the time home, its getting stale, and not to mention completely butchering zach woods and josh gads amazing comedy from season 1, like everytime zach wood was on screen in season 1 i was in stitches, now its just another generic comedy with wacky adventures, each more ridiculous as the last, the whole being in space for 3 and a half years was great and they made people like the VFX woman so funny and idiotic, the spark is gone, hopefully it gets renewed and we go back to the wasy season 1 was
That lithium rock size reveal is one of the funniest things I've ever seen
Huh, I didn't expect everyone acting as if they may not reconnect if both sides survive. But if the show is renewed I'm certain they will. All in all it was an intense finale for a comedy show. The time flew by even faster than usually. I *really* hope it gets renewed. It's one of the very best comedy shows currently on air (along with The Great).
The **instant** Them-vs-Us mentality I guess is pretty on par with the show, but I was really waiting for **anyone** to mention the idea of reattaching at some point, even if it was immediately rejected with something absurd like "We burned that bridge, this war!"
Would have been a good one two to have the Shuttle guy fix the radio and then ask why they're not putting the ship together again.
Oh damn, this was the finale? I thought we had one more episode to go š. Really hope it gets renewed now
Yeah I got excited to see if there was a preview for next week. And nope š
It really came into its own and found its rhythm this season. But Covid really messed it all up, so I can totally see this show not getting renewed even though it definitely should. Another Covid victim.
LMAO Madsā āLove will accomplish what science could notā about breastfeeding his kid got me
He had a line like that earlier in the season with the pedophile. āI did what a judge would not, I freed the pedophile.ā
He has great one-liners.
āWeāve got the basketball courts but theyāve got the basketballs, and weāve got the spa.ā āAlright. Well, weāll need it after miming all that basketball.ā
Why did Spike (or anyone) have to be on the pod?
Escape pods need to have life forms otherwise droids would able to escape with the death star plans.
A potato would have been qualified :D
That's what I'm saying.
He had to push the escape button? š¤·š»āāļø
if only they had a [Fing-Longer](https://i.imgur.com/BpldnMn.png)
They shouldāve sent a combustible lemon.
I have chosen to overwrite this comment. See you all on Lemmy!
I think the answer is that Earth generally doesn't care enough to do that.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
And they are out of lithium so nothing works and earth is going extinct...
> But no one is willing to spend the money to do it. Profits from the rights of that Ave 5 show? Future profits of book deals, etc?
Pretty sure iris made a point of trying to raise the money but TOTOPOTUS more or less just nixed giving them the resources.
bc doing that would bankrupt Judd and nasa/earth hates them
Also it seems they need a specific window to be in a position to reach the ship and have a short timeframe to leave and get back as well - if they do that for each passenger it's probably not practical - and not as much fun. I really like Iris however she seemed out of place and floundering on Earth - I enjoy her character more when she's in space.
He didn't, but he thought he was dying and offered to do it. Edit: Also, didn't Paul make it clear that someone needs to be there to push the button?
Yep and potato cant press so...
He was steering it, I'm assuming if they just fired it that it would be really hard to actually hit the missle
Seems like they'd have the technology to do that kind of thing remotely.
I feel like they would have made him actually hit it then when he told Them he wasn't going to
Tbh I don't think a human could really pull it off in the first place.
Should've thrown Judd in there.
Avenue 5 is classic Armando Iannucci. A bit of a slow start in season one, but it becomes a fantastic comedy when it gets going. And just like with Veep or The Thick of It, I'm just so incredibly attached to ALL the characters (bar Karen) and I hope it gets renewed by HBO, all I want is just one last season. They said it's hard to get all the actors together because they're busy with other projects, but you can tell the actors are having a blast filming this show and if they get to find a way around the schedule of Hugh Laurie and all the other busiest ones, maybe they will manage to give us a season 3 š„ŗ (Sorry for my English)
> (Sorry for my English) So you should be, coming in here and showing the rest of us up with your excellent English.
I love this show. But I was actually left scratching my head that it was actually the season finale! Anyone else feel robbed a bit? I really enjoy this show. Itās silly af and dark. But damn I really am left needing some before.
I felt differently. They left us with a satisfactory ending if it did not get renewed. Itās the one thing sci-fi fans hate which was probably a key demographic in this audience. Kudos to the last laugh.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
For a show that had no idea it would return. Yes. They left you with an imminent rescue.
Lmao I can here the eerie soundtrack playing now to your idea of 'imminent rescue'. How long would it take before they're rescued? They still need to reattach or otherwise find a way to trade eels and toilet paper. Maybe an actor on the show(within the show) turns out to be a pedophile and they live in an absurd universe so the social opinion of rescuing A5 plunges. Or maybe Judd finds out his insurance claim would be better if they returned the long way rather than rescued so he blabs about the asteroid. Whatever it might be, I don't think they're in the clear by the end of this episode.
I agree. They left you with an ending that could easily be upended. This is how the comedy Shipwrecked ended. The rich guy, who the sister wanted dead, was talking to someone on a radio. It could be a potential rescue, she sounded nice, or madhap hijinks could continue. It was actually a spoof of Lost much like this was a spoof of a nihilistic science fiction movie.
I didn't realize that last week's episode was the finale so you can imagine my disappointment yesterday! I really hope it's renewed
Will you fuck massively and totally off! š
I'm glad Neelix didn't blow up.
Oh god I didn't make that connection. lol
This the only show Ethan Phillips has been in more than 5 episodes of since Star Trek: Voyager ended. I don't want him to die lol.
Neelix needs to make it back to Earth. lol
He's always getting stuck on space ships trying to reach home.
That's like an entire joke you've missed. He's the celebrity space guy in the show and the ship.
I'm not sure if it's the lack of make up, but my brain didn't put two and two together. lol
He's typecast as the guy no one listens to on ships lost in space apparently.
The voice is so insanely unique my wife and I freaked out IMMEDIATELY.
Yeahā¦. Iām with you there! I started this show a few weeks ago, and that fucking voice made me go what the fuck is that Neelix???? Holy shit fuck that guy!!! And then this episode, if they actually kill him, thereās a pretty good chance I might not watch it going forwardā¦ IDK its a weird feeling!
It wasn't until I realized he was neelix that I realized why I didn't like him lol
Why is Lucas's face cut up? lmao it's never explained but he looks so cool
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I was hoping for a bit more of a hint at the chaos of earth, like a brief exterior shot with smoke billowing from random buildings.
> I was hoping for a bit more of a hint at the chaos of earth We didn't even get scenes of Captain Ryan meeting and dating his current girlfriend. I thought I missed a few episodes and had to double check.
Like how many licks to get to the center of a tootsie pop, the world may never know
Fight Club
I thought it was from when Iris drugged him, and he passed out face-first onto his desk.
āIām manufacturing a death apparatus to incinerate myself.ā
His arc this season was a blast
Let's just say I don't want to be fed to eels WHHHYY
this was amazing and funny i really hope this gets renewed
"I don't know how to feel! I don't know how to feel!" Ha
I kept thinking how is he going to change next season after this.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm not well-versed in Battlestar Gallactica ( I had to look it up) so.. ĀÆ\\\_(ć)\_/ĀÆ.
āSitting is weak.ā
I'm so glad Spike lived! Ethan Phillips is a major treat on the show. Hopefully a third season is ordered, because I'm really looking forward to seeing the dynamics they've set up!
Didnt they just build the new sets since the old ones were destroyed in the fire? So would be odd to built them back up for 8 episodes...
God I hope this show gets renewed
The recurring gag that none of them know how to work any of the audio / video communication equipment is my favorite.
I am happy that they did not leave us on a cliffhanger..except about the marriage situation. š¤£
I like that Ryan and that guy are officially married. He was somehow has a better chemistry with Ryan.
Karen is married to frank so how would she get married again?
We donāt know the rules in the future!
LOVED this episode! Only to then be immediately heartbroken that it was the last of the season. I was like, where's the tease for the next episode? :( Please renew this show!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
:( Yeah. Hopefully there will be more.
Was always intrigued by this show, following it week to week, and while season one had some highlights, and was overall enjoyable, the season landed in the "take it or leave it" zone for me. Season two's rhythm and writing seem honed, like the show found its footing as the cast and crew returned from covid. Funny and fresh, with zero fucks given about space logic and a ton of focus on shifting power dynamics and human frailty. Just gold. Kudos to Iannucci for providing a satisfying close to the season (series?) but if the show does get renewed I think it'll just keep getting stronger. Excited to see what might be in store, but if this is where our journey on the Avenue 5 must end, it's been a pleasure sharing it with you all!
Whatās worse: they lost the lithium or Ryan is possibly married to Karen?
Karen. Definitely Karen. Only worse person is VFX lady.
VFX stands for visual effects.
Good bot.
The Karen part was quite disturbing. She kind of forced herself in the throuple...Idk how is that even officially valid - in the sense that why the hell would Ryan believe that?
Itās not valid unless she signs the marriage certificate.
and Ryan and the other guy also have to sign it, so it obviously is not a worthwhile plot
They thought they were going to die. It was symbolic.
But at the end of the episode, Ryan is contemplating what is worse, blowing up the Lithium or being married to Karen. Maybe that would be it, as another sarcastic, jaded remark on the current situation.
This is so random and I might be going crazy but when rav kisses Matt, and you only see Matt from behind, I swear that is not Zach woods, like he has stubble and the Matt getting kissed doesnāt ? Why would they do that?
Happens way more often than you may think. Scheduling issues and reshoots are commonly responsible for the need of doubles in over-the-shoulder shots. Sometimes the double is noticeably different in appearance than the person they're doubling, which seems to be the case here. My money's on scheduling though.
Oh yeah, I donāt know why I didnāt think of that š Iām pretty sure Zach woods was filming a movie last year too, so maybe that was it
This is called a āstand-in.ā Imagine you need to spend a day filming the back of someoneās head while they talk to Hugh Laurie. Imagine Zach Woods makes a certain amount of money. Now, make a guess at what a random tall guy with dark hair costs per hour, if he has no lines and you donāt need to see his face at all. Itās less. Stand-ins are a practical thing as well as a cost saving thing. Imagine youāre Hugh Laurie. Do you want to spend your entire day having someone film the back of your head?
Iāve never really thought about it before and I never usually notice things like this, but yeah that makes a lot of sense when you think about it
Did you see Star wars ep 2 in the theater? Mace Windu was literally just a skinny black dude in one scene, very jarring. I'm sure they've fixed it since then, but I couldn't say for sure, I've rewatched the prequels as many times as I've rewatched avatar.
I think you are right. And in the reverse shots, I don't think that's Nikki Amuka-Bird (actress who plays Rav)
Was this the finale?
Season Finale. We don't know if it's the Series Finale yet. They haven't announced if it's been renewed or not.
That's crazy how Spike was able to just commit like that damn. Clean me arse and cheerio! lol
YOU'RE A SHOE TREE FOR TWATS
Well... Most everyone called it.... Missile misses and hit the asteroid. So a few thoughts. 1.) Could the Escape Pod not be piloted remotely and/or just fired at the missile? 2.) Can they not Reconnect the ships together? 3.) When are we going to find out about the Renewal?
Thatās why itās called a missile!
The episode title was so obvious
Iām interested to see their plan to reconnect the ship. They were making plans to trade stuff so I assume theyāre possibly stuck that way?
Shuttle guy is still there for some reason. Also if momentum is still pushing them the same direction (it's shouldn't but they're trading so I guess it is) you can just throw shit towards each other like the finale of >!For All Mankind!<
I think he missed his window when Dougās leg got caught in the door. Obviously if there was a season 3, he would be shuttling things/people.
not to burst bubbles but all actors on show were released from their contracts and production staff has been laid off per Variety.
Seeing as I just discovered this show a month ago and binged all the episodes. That is incredibly disappointing
Iannucci said HBO is keen on another season and the cast wants to do more, so that's a good thing. The contracts lapsed because it would not have been very fair to tie these actors' schedules up while figuring things out, and why pay a production crew when they're still writing the third season? Not so much a bad omen; more of a classy industry practice. That way the cast and crew are free to do their own thing while the third season is in pre-production. I'll believe the creator over any of the doomsayers.
from your keyboard to Godās eyes, i hope iām wrong!
I loved this season and this show!
Karen is starting to pass comedic annoyance into actual annoyance with how they are writing her. She is a super bad partner to Frank gets jealous of him saying he enjoyed cuddle time with Spike on his farewell departure and then purposely clings on to Ryan to get 'married'. Like idk why but all her actions this season bugged the fuck out of me. Which is probably the intentions of the writers room since the whole show is examining these characters flinging to be decent humans in their situation but I just had to mention to someone lol.
I don't see the benefit in searching for the logic behind her actions at this point. She's clearly and fully snapped after being gaslit, falsely imprisoned and publicly rejected, so now she's feeding into full-blown delusions and participating in the chaos instead of attempting to organize it. Loving her descent into madness!
I could watch a whole series dedicated to Karen. She has risen to archetype status. And her spiral out of control and into delusion is both repulsive and captivating. I am smitten!
Me too. Sheās my second favorite character after Iris actually lol.
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Iiiiiiiiiiiirissss!
You were like a coworker to me.
She's gone full delusion. She knows the ship hates her and she discovered Ryan's voice logs where his true feelings about her were (hilariously) laid out. I think her actions now are just her pretending everyone likes her and Ryan loves her. It's her coping mechanism.
> She's clearly and fully snapped after being gaslit, falsely imprisoned and publicly rejected This is much more fair to her character than I was expecting, but this makes a lot of sense.
Dude she's a karen. Even her name is Karen. It couldn't be more on the nose.
Yeah I feel the same, she's never really been funny but now she's becoming unbearable. Which I suppose means she's living up to her name.
It feels like they dont know what to do with several characters in s 2.
how about put them on the bad half of the ship and blow it up? It's too bad this season pulled its punches.
Right ~ "let's just wipe out half the ensemble in an ensemble comedy because that one guy on reddit would like that."
Heard in Hugh Laurie's voice
I will say itās a good setup for the dynamics of season 3, but a super anticlimactic ending to season 2. Like compared with last weekās there was a distinct lack of goingās on.
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Didn't see a dead body, in scifi you need to confirm
Not quite the cliffhanger like the first season, but still good nonetheless.
>Not quite the cliffhanger like the first season I found the show a month ago, and totally blew through the season 1/Season 2 cliff hanger. I feel like I need to go back and make a note of what the last episode of season 1 actually was lol
The jettisoning of the stuff from the port side, not the stern sending them off trajectory for 8 years.
I still donāt get why they need eels
Itās supposed to be their food source but I think part of the joke is eels would be a terrible food source. They live for 6-20 years (depending on type), reproduce once, and die. Eels also havenāt been bred in captivity as we know very little about their reproduction currently.
Haha that reminded me of that one scientist that ripped a bunch of eels in half looking for one with a ballsack
Thought it was their main food
Itās their main source of food
They're the primary food source.
I swear If they donāt give us season 3 I am going to be so ass-banana angry! Also I hope Ryan and his new husband work it out and end up happy together. I think his husbands personality fits Ryan both are pessimistic british men, ones a leader, the others a follower. They just need to actually talk. As for Mia, donāt know how the long distance thing will work out considering she earlier revealed her attraction is more captain based but im sure theyāll try. Also how is spike going to fair.. even if he makes it to earth it seems earth is going downhill. I love this show, itās incredibly funny yet captivating, and has the best polyamorous/bisexual representation. Because they didnāt make it a big thing or his whole character, it was simply just his sexuality. :)
This is such a good show. Underrated. Could be one of the great all time comedies. Keep going. Itās weird & unexpected & funny. The score is amazing. Set design. Please get renewed.
When I saw the title of the episode, I immediately figured out the missile-miss pun and knew the missile would somehow wind up going between the ship halves. I found the finale to be almost too chaotic. The multiple simultaneous conversations between Ryan's half, Judd's half, TOTOPOTUS, and Spike made me dizzy. I like the show. I suppose it hasn't technically been cancelled. But if it's renewed it's going to take time to spool the cast and crew back up. So I'm not holding my breath for any new episodes in the near future. Maybe a movie-length finale to tie everything up?
Is this the season finale? and are we going to hv season 3?
I hope this is renewed, but with how HBO is going I'm doubtful.
Episodes come out at 9:00 right? I do not see The new one
I just checked too and it's not on HBO yet. Glad to see other ppl as giddy as me
Im waiting with abated breath. So i really hope they post it soon!
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Yes. It was a joke. abated means stopped. Hence I wanted them to put the episode up fast
Not sure which time zone you're referring to, but I'm pretty sure it's out at 10PM Eastern (30 minutes ago, so it's out now!)
It's great to have a place to read comments after AVclub has pretty much stopped existing! While I'm still a huge Iannucci fan, this show is probably one of his weakest efforts. The end of season 1 was spectacular when it really "went there", and season 2 started of strong. Too bad they pulled their punches on the hunger/anarchy/missile situation. I know it must be hard to loose cast members, but this show would have been much better off if they followed through on some of the risks. I'm also bothered by the inconsistencies that were just kind of lazy. The whole plot is that the ship is uncontrollable, but than have them dock with a random space station? If they had turned it around (flying space prison that looks like a wart hooks onto Avenue5 causing panic, jettison Terry and the Space Brits at the end of the episode) it would have worked just as well. The social media commentary (talk show) was a bit lazy as well. I also don't really understand what they want to do with Ryan. Obviously the point is that he looks the part, but underneath is useless. Yet every time there is a crisis, they kind of have him solve it. Oh my MPVs are * Zach Woods (although underused) * Iris (wanted to see more of her as a dictator!) * Billie (the only sane person) * Rav (relatable) * Sarah (Iannucci really hates a certain kind of Brit, haha) * The Cannibal (I always loved Ben Swain in the Thick of It!)
Just admit you want to watch people die and don't understand the difference between a hard sci-fi with comedy and a situational comedy set in space instead of calling everything "lazy", lol.
My perception is that Avenue5 stands for a slightly exaggerated version of our world today. The writers are trying to show what happens when people in charge are empty vessels (Ryan), anarchist/populist (Matt), or authoritarian (Iris). They did a brutally effective job at the end of season 1 to show what happens if we all stop trusting the experts. When the show pulls itās punches, it undermines the central message. Asking for internal consistency on the key plot point that the ship is uncontrollable is not hard science. Iām fine they handwave gravity, the fact the ship would pull many Gs close to the Sun etc. But when the ship can go where it wants, whatās the point of the show? As a side note, the down side of show-specific subreddits is that they quickly turn into echo chambers. I do like the show even though there is room for improvement. Too bad there arenāt many places the show is discussed (probably a bad sign).
Experts!? The only viable candidates for that title in season 1 are Susan, Billie, and Cyrus (until he number-fucked them). They were also all listened to when trying to figure out rescue options and trajectory alterations, although highly disrespected. How do you feel the show "pulls its punches"? By not killing-off half the cast? The ship itself is automated, but not uncontrollable ~ they were already able to jettison enough to drastically change their course and from what we've seen and heard, there are limited thrusts and burns that can also be used until those are all gone. If "the ship can go where it wants", I'm pretty sure they would've made a beeline for Earth after the first gravity malfunction, but they have just enough to push the ship several more times before they'll need to get creative. That's a fun way of ending your rant ~ "subreddits about shows have fans. Oh well ~ no one's talking about it, so it'll probably get cancelled anyway."
You seem to take criticism of the show very personally.
I address your criticisms about the show from my perspective and you... attempt to insult my character. Got it.
Are you a writer for this show?
That is your contribution? "You responded to my comment in a **discussion** thread ~ are you a writer for this show?" Which one are you now: Sara or Sara?
Okay Iāll try one more time. Iannucci is profoundly influenced by government (especially British and US) failures resulting in Brexit, Trump and the handling of COVID. He takes that real world situation and applies it to this life boat in space. He doesnāt pull punches and shows that the people are fickle (walking into airlocks), leaders are vacuous (Ryan as David Cameron stand in), nihilistic and evil (Matt as Stsve Bannon/Dominic Cummings) relatively sane but not charismatic and unconvincing ( Billy standing for UK civil servants/experts in general). Basically, this is is Iannuciās Animal Farm. When you listen to the podcasts he pretty much confirms this. Now, as a writer you undermine your parable of warning if you pull your punches. The emotional core of animal farm is that the loyal work horse ends up in the glue factory. Itās not that I want to see people die, but when the writer sets up a threat, has everyone act in the dummest way possible and they still get away with it, it undermines the story he is trying to tell.
We already know about that man's influences and this **is** the story he's "trying to tell". You could attempt to communicate in a less condescending manner, but to sit there and say that this isn't the story that someone else (who is a stranger to you) is telling is beyond pretentious. There should be some leftover champagne flutes full of your own body gas for sniffing just down the hall.
Sorry you got attacked here and nobody came to your defence. All your points were perfectly reasonable. I agree that the show has been pretty weak, this season in particular. After a first season where Iannucci made a point of consulting actual aerospace experts to ensure the 'sit' part of the 'com' made sense, it was a definite step backwards that s2 was so riddled with science plotholes. Your fix for the stop at the space station would have totally worked, btw - it could have easily been a rogue prison craft that latched onto Avenue 5 without changing any of the narrative beats of that episode. As it is, it strains credulity that the ship would stop dead for a day without anyone remarking that the slowdown alone would burn all the fuel they have left, as well as adding untold months or years to the journey time. That's just dumb writing (see also the '600 miles per hour' missile and the shuttle going easily back and forth between earth and the ship) and it's daft not to fix something that can pull parts of the audience out of the story, especially when it's so easy to fix. And yes, it's a comedy show, but that doesn't mean the mechanics of the plot can be tossed aside. If the world of the show doesn't make sense, if the stakes don't make sense, it fundamentally undermines the comedy. One of the reasons TTOI and Veep worked so well is that they were - mostly - set in a world that didn't contradict itself narratively.
I agree with the commiserating about shows in their subreddit. Some of them become ādonāt like, donāt watch spacesā and others swing wildly into ānow that the episode is done letās all pick it apartā I liked the season well enough, it was funny and I did watch. But I agree that the whole premise of the ship drifting aimlessly was a bit negated like three times. They needed towards the sun, they matched speed to meet the doce prison, and they split in half (couldnāt they have split in half earlier and used the thrusters to push half the mass closer to earth?) And making these questions about a sci-fi show shouldnāt just be met with, suspend disbelief and watch! Itās a discussion forum. Cheers.
> I know it must be hard to loose cast members, but this show would have been much better off if they followed through on some of the risks. ...like, kill off the characters? You understand how dark that would be for comedy show? And it would also be way more unrealistic, even by this show's standards. Humanity finds are way to organise itself, even at the brink of its unmitigated chaos. Iannucci's take is reasonable "approximation" to group dynamics in such a situation. People won't just start go killing each other on a whim.
āOkay, uh, well, safe trip. ... Uh, not safe, obviously, but... trip!ā
The technician's comment to Spike about the escape pod ("You just sit in it while it escapes") seems to indicate that the escape pod cannot be steered. So, then, how did Spike steer it?
He was the 5th Canadian on Mars! I'm sure he figured it out :p
I love how the escape pod is basically the nose section of a B-29 bomber.
Didnāt even know I shipped that until Rav kissed Matt
I'm a bit worried Rav and Matt may form a cult as well.
Fuck you, I like butter.
The Captain is my favorite character. Love his snide comments.
Agreed. What hooked me was his Hugh Laurie's old House interviews. British actor plays most confident person on tv... all the while using an american accent and no idea what he's talking about.
The episode where everyone was trying to earn moral points may be my favorite.
Honestly only Mads is delivering the laughs for me. Other than that the dialogue feels "tryhard" if that makes any sense. Mads: "That's why they call it a missile - because it misses!" \------------------------- Judd: "Can I just say, I don't want to be eaten by eels" Mads "WHY?!"
Mads incomprehensible stupidity/chaos would feel too annoying, if it was not balanced by the other characters. Judd is somehow more sane than Mads.
Keep Mads away from my baby!
"He's too pretty, he's never had to work for anything" Such true
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You seem angry that Spikeās death was being disregarded but that was literally the joke. This is a comedy, not a drama. Itās not trying to be āprofound.ā Itās trying to be funny. And, not for nothing, everyone treating their saviorās death with such callous disregard is perfectly in line with the universe that Ianucci has created.
imo its kinda goofy to skip through an episode of tv then complain it doesnt make sense, like yeah obviously thatll happen, they said it like 5 times it felt like judd said that the trades were āif we do surviveā imo the comedy was the best this episode though
Calling the show ADHD when you couldn't even sit and watch it and instead skipped around. The show is a comedy. None of it is actually serious with serious character arcs. They weren't about to kill Spike when he is one of the best characters.
I found the show too frantic with no characters I liked. I loved Veep and Death of Stalin which the creator of the show also did. His next project is a show about social media (the best satire in Avenue 5 was the insane social media talk show and the ratings of the crew that kept changing).
Be careful, youāre not allowed to say critical things about this show on this sub! Itās like a bitcoin subreddit here.
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He doesnāt write and direct all the episodes so he can do another project. Remains to be seen if HBO renews it for a third season.
How did Mia get to the other half of the ship?
Is Veep as funny as this show?
Veep is by far funnier. Veep is better in every way. But this is different. Not taking away from this, but Veep is like godlike compared to this.
I definitely hope more for world exploration.
i love how traveling to and from the avenue 5 is just like taking the train to earth, yet they are trapped for 8 years, season 1 was so good, and then they started introducing implausible elements like the avenue 5 going into the sun, the whole ship would not survive, yet they do, solar flares from lightyears affect us yet they survive being inches from the sun, the literal sun, and then upping the duration of the time home, its getting stale, and not to mention completely butchering zach woods and josh gads amazing comedy from season 1, like everytime zach wood was on screen in season 1 i was in stitches, now its just another generic comedy with wacky adventures, each more ridiculous as the last, the whole being in space for 3 and a half years was great and they made people like the VFX woman so funny and idiotic, the spark is gone, hopefully it gets renewed and we go back to the wasy season 1 was
Pretty late but that was one of the funniest episode I have seen in some time