Space Force | In-Depth Review

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Space Force is a 10-episode series about the decorated army general Mark Naird who is selected to lead the newly formed sixth branch of U.S Armed Forces, i.e, Space Force.

Space Force, created by The Office US alumni Steve Carrell and Greg Daniels and starring amazing talent such as Carrell, John Malkovich, Lisa Kudrow, Jane Lynch, Noah Emmerich and other trusty television actors – has been made, and is available to watch on Netflix.

Space Force is a series lifted directly from another notable time the US president demanded something without the slightest notion of what that meant: A Space Force.

The show follows General Mark Naird (Carrel), the newly minted chief of space operations, as he works hard to make the somewhat foolish notion of putting the country's armed forces on the moon a reality.
The story is straight, imagining what it would look like if the country used it's resources to make Trump's foolish tweet a reality.

It’s very painful to say this, but Space Force is a bit of a misfire, a show shocking in its inability to generate modest chuckles, let alone laughs. While it’s obviously been inspired by real events, it is less a political satire and more a workplace comedy that happens to be set within a dysfunctional American government determined to get boots back on the moon as quickly as possible.

Many critics and websites have said this it was a disaster, but, we think that the writers held back their "Comedic Fury" because of the current circumstances, where everyone is getting very easily offended. Also, it's not exactly easy to follow up on a show as great as The Office. This might be why some fans are quite angry whereas critics still think it's amazing. This is what we like to call "The Fallback Of High Expectations", you almost always disappoint.

Personally, we think it's actually quite an amazing performance by Carrel as usual. It's quite refreshing to see Lisa Kudrow back on the silver screen Jimmy O. Yang definitely delivers and it might be one of his best performances yet. Dr. Mallory can be called the Dwight Schrute (from The Office) of Space Force.

Overall this is show is definitely not a failure by any means, it's just a bit disappointing for some Office fans, especially for the ones who thought that Space Force would be a good as The Office and developed very high expectations.

The character development is great in the first season itself. They do a good job by making Air Force the main antagonist.

There is one character that just sinks the show, Mark Naird's daughter, Erin Naird. I (Tanay) have never had such hatred towards a character. She is just a plot device with no real personality. She is basically just an obstacle for Naird to overcome and has no real purpose in the show. She seems different in every episode.
One thing we don't like her for is that in the last episode, she pretty much forced her dad to steal a helicopter while he was under arrest and her mom escape from a serious prison sentence just because she had "a minor inconvenience" (that she got herself into).
I think she has potential to be the "normal" person in this circus and instead of adding additional conflict she can represent the audience, and we know she definitely has potential.

Also, Capt. Yuri "Bobby" Telatovich is just pointless. He is just unneeded. His character has no personality and we don't know what the show makers intend to do with his character. In all the scenes he is present, he is carrying a notepad and a pen, eager and keen on taking an opportunity to note down secrets. He could have been a better character if the writers had added something other than a cringey spy in an army base. Some suggestions for his character:

1. Kill him off.
2. Show him actually sending secrets to Russia and then build up on it.

Moving on from pointless characters, we shall move to the by far one of most interesting characters: F. Tony (played by Schwartz), The Head Media Manager for Space Force.

He steals almost every scene he is in. He, in a weird way, the only ordinary person on the show (but he is definitely not ordinary).
He is an exaggerated of the modern millennial. He is the writers' way of saying "Ok Millennials".
His shenanigans are obviously not right but we can't help but give him a pass. The gag between him and The First Lady is very funny and playful. Ben Schwartz has done an excellent job portraying F. Tony's character.

Dr. Adrian Mallory is an interesting character contrast to Nard who prefers to act on instinct and experience while Mallory prefers science as the reason. But the chemistry between the two is very good and one prevents the other from doing something rash. Also, he is pretty smart.

One main issue is that the season felt very rushed. The storyline is completely awesome and the cast were performing the roles of their characters beyond expectations. But, we feel that the the creators of the show didn't take their time with the shooting and crammed a whole season into a short season with only 10 episodes. We don't know why the show makers did that, either because of the Covid-19 pandemic or something, but whatever the reason, fans certainly don't like this. And we feel that this was the reason that some characters like Erin and Bobby turned out the way they did.

In spite of all these cons, Netflix has green-flagged the Space Force Season 2. We are just waiting to see what the writers do to fix the characters and the storyline.

The show mostly does a great job of using it's talented cast and makes them truly perform. The comedy is usually good. Even though some characters are cringey (Erin and Bobby -_-), but it's none the less amusing to watch what they have to offer. Overall we do recommend that you give it a watch, despite it's flaws it is an enjoyable show.

BONUS! -

Tarushi Pandey, one of the biggest fans of The Office on the planet (I am not joking), has written a stirring and detailed piece on the comparison of The Office and Space Force:

I have been a crazy office fan for the past 3 years now, in which I have watched the whole series 6 times, some people may find this crazy but there is this connection to the characters that draws you to the show, the desire to watch the characters grow again, fall in love again, do dumb things again, that is what has made me, and I am pretty sure the other office fans as well to watch this series again and again. It doesn't just feel like you are watching a comedy series, yes there are many instances, some awkward situations that make you laugh, but while watching the episodes with each episode you also dig deep into the lives of the characters, you see what an ordinary work day in their lives means. Let it be the cute receptionist or the annoying boss, the beet farmer or the charming salesman, no matter how annoying the character is, at the the end of the series, you love all of them the same (except Toby, duh, I hate everything he chooses to be), because you know that all of them have grown. the nerdy beet farmer becomes the branch manager, having a special connection with all of his co-workers, sorry, he doesn't have those now, subordinates, yes that is right ; the receptionist and the salesman, overcoming all the obstacles that were thrown at their life together as a husband and a wife, lead their life happily, choosing a path different from their friends, with their two children; Ryan mastered commitment (woo-hoo!) And then, the boss who was once annoying became a loving dad of two with her soulmate, Holly.

This series couldn't be better, every time I watched it, I cried when Michael left, laughed when he told Karen that he will burn Utica to the ground if she even dared to touch Stanley's hair, and fell in love with love when Jim finally asked Pam out. My love for this series is what got me really excited for space force. Steve carrel was there, it was produced by Greg Daniels, so I wondered, what could go wrong. Then I watched the first episode, being a Steve carrel fan, and pardon me for this, I can't share a non-biased opinion on this series, but I'll try. So basically, what I felt was that the dialogue of Steve carrel felt a little stiff, it felt like a I was watching Michael SCARN say those dialogues more than an Emmy award-winning actor. You can't blame the actor, I feel because the scenes didn't really have a proper flow. While watching the office, it never felt like you were watching a fictional series at all, it actually felt like you were watching a documentary on a paper company. I know that the formats are different but I would have liked it if they had tried to make it more real. It's not like it was not funny at all, yes you can get a few good laughs but when the jokes are not being said and sometimes even when they are being said, the scenes look a bit awkward. A little more normality in some scenes would have been appreciated, and the reason is, just like I said before to make it look a bit more real. Because one of the things that makes the office really funny is that you can believe that characters like this can actually exist, there can be a person who gets slapped because of his racist behavior even though he doesn't know what he is doing wrong. I felt some jokes on the space force were a bit forced, they didn't really land well, but to be honest I do have some hope for this series. The reason for that is that being an office fan, I know that one shouldn't judge a show on the basis of its first episode or even its first series. Office was also a bit awkward no its first season, and at one point a situation of not continuing the series had come. However the series continued and now, even after 7 years, the office is still gaining new fans every year. So, I would like to conclude this by saying that yes, there are some things that can be made better, but I have not lost hope for this series, I feel that it has potential and i will be looking forward to the coming seasons.

Tanay and I have given much thought to Tarushi's opinion and we think that it's very accurate about what made The Office the classic fan-favorite it is today and how Space Force can be improved to rise up to fan's expectations.