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The Tick
Episode: "Pilot"
Writer: Ben Edlund
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Hey everyone, since IGN Sci Fi's been shut down, your humble geek demigod has made a new home here on TNMC. Well, I'm more of a squatter than a real tenant. I live in the second cardboard box from the left, down in the basement, so don't tell the landlord... just kidding.
So finally after all kinds of hype, critical acclaim, months of delays and two previous incarnations, The Tick makes his premiere in the form of Patrick Warburton - a better casting choice I could scarcely imagine. Chances are that if you've bothered reading this review, you've been keeping up with other Tick news for the past few months so I'll spare you the random trivia. (Why Tick was delayed, "Putty" playing the role of Tick, why the side characters' names were changed, etc.)
Pilots are bizarre creatures; often they're wildly different than the associated series. Characters and actors are changed, personalities are altered to suit focus groups, and even after all this the future of an entire series is dependent on them. Fortunately, we hit the ground running with the Tick's pilot. The writing and cast are on the money, thanks to creator Ben Edlund's heavy involvement with the production.
Fans of the cartoon who are unfamiliar with the comic might have been a little shocked at the difference in the naughty/wacky ratio as compared to the animated series. Yuppers, the comic wasn't exactly a jaw-dropper but it was a few shades darker than the Fox Kids production. This is understandable, but I was worried many would be turned off the second Bat Manuel and Captain Liberty started making out on the roof.
Der Fladeurmaus (Man, I'll never be able to spell that name) and American Maid had a fun energy between the two of them that I prefer to the bicker-gaze-kiss pattern shared by their live-action counterparts. We've seen this kind of relationship a million times on inferior programs and I felt it was the lowpoint in an otherwise really neat premiere.
A word on the parts of the comic and cartoon that remained in the live action series. The most obvious bit was the Tick's trademark rooftop patrol where he bounds from roof to roof, leaving a wave of property damage in his wake. As the complete geek that I am, I still thought it cool seeing the rooftop patrolling in live-action but, again, it may have turned off new viewers completely unfamiliar with the Tick mythos. Hopefully, the show will get contracted for a whole season and get a bigger budget for these sequences.
Oh wait, I'm supposed to talk about the plot of the pilot somewhere, right? Bah. It was your average first episode. Characters were introduced, character relationships were established, reactivated Soviet killbots tried to assassinate Jimmy Carter.
Realizing his job is done at the bus station, Tick makes his way to the City to become its new defender. Meanwhile, a mild-mannered accountant named Arthur fancies the life of a superhero, part-time at first, of course. Christopher Lloyd makes an unexpected and very humorous guest appearance as Arthur's hotheaded boss. After being given an ultimatum, accounting or crime-fighting, Arthur decides life as an accountant is not for him.
Outside a bar where Arthur has drowned his sorrows in two or three shot glasses, he stumbles across a bunch of old-hat soviet supervillains as they plot to activate a killer robot to dismantle the U.S. postal service. No joke. It's nice to see that we've got a source of supervillain material in the Soviet Union that can last for years beyond its actual lifespan. Bless your service to the literary industry, ya cuddly commies.
By the way, Arthur doesn't so much stumble across the lunkheads as he does throw up on the biggest henchman's shoes. Not a good entrance for a rookie crimefighter. Luckily for him, Tick literally drops into the action asking if he can have a few slices of the combat pie. I was wondering how the show would handle Tick's super-strength and nigh-invulnerability in the live-action format with a shoestring budget. I was pleased with the result.
Tick accidentally releases the robot as he makes his exit. Meeting on a roof, Bat Manuel and Captain Liberty make their respective appearances. This was something of a slow part of the show and kinda disheartening as Arthur's illusions of superheroics are shattered. Good ol' Tick pulls through in the end with his special brand of rousing oration. Together, Arthur and Tick rush to the rescue of Jimmy Carter and all is well in The City. Until Apocalypse Cow attacks, anyway.
This was a pretty decent premiere and I'm sure it picked up a few new fans with its deft wit and oddball tone. Now let's just hope Fox doesn't can the big blue guy before he's had a chance to belt out his battle cry. Go ahead, say it, you know you want to.
Episode Rating: 8 out of 10
--Daniel Solis is anxiously awaiting the first appearance of Speak.
