Space Force Season 1 Review

May 31, 2020 at 5:40pm
By Jason Stettner

This is a Netflix Original Series that follows a group of the United States government that have been tasked with building up the new area, “Space Force”. This is the sixth branch of the armed special forces, and they have spacemen instead of soldiers. It’s a rather interesting premise, and one that has the potential for great comedy.

They’re not necessarily always aiming to hit that mark, it’s actually a tad bit more dramatic or well has some underlying elements of heart to it. They have some joke type moments done in a straight serious manner, which I enjoy. At the same time, there’s a lot of heart to most of the characters in regards to how they act and conduct themselves.

I can imagine some might be expecting something different considering the group behind this, but I didn’t and I certainly enjoyed watching it. Not everything quite landed well, but it was entertaining seeing the various trials that did feel somewhat realistic. This force is headed by General Naird (Steve Carell) and his trusty second in command scientist Dr. Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich). The two have some good banter moments, and I like the moral sides that both bring to the table throughout the episodes.

This crew is also rounded out with social media expert Tony (Ben Schwartz), Naird’s daughter Erin (Diana Silvers) and the over qualified Captain Angela Ali (Tawny Newsome). There are also some additional side characters present, but these were the primary ones to mention. I don’t want to neglect some of the great talent they have when it comes to the war room, but those were smaller parts of this. I general everyone serves an interesting function, but I did feel they could have done more with Erin considering her being the most available family member to Naird.

This does actually have a fair sense of scale to it, in terms of the environments that the team uses. This presents some decent CGI elements for this type of show, including a rather interesting section with a space monkey.

They also ground things as being relatively realistic, in terms of the tools they use and the government they have to deal with in the background. You do get some actual space type action and that was fun to see. They keep the straight man type comedy throughout this, with it being serious despite funny as an undertone.

It hits the mark at times, and sometimes it doesn’t. There’s a lot of talent here, and it really isn’t straight up hilarious. Perhaps a waste, or I suppose not what they were actually going for. That leads back into the elements of light dramatic segments in this. It’s not necessarily a straight up comedic effort, there’s more behind this one.

The Conclusion

Space Force Season 1 is a generally solid watch, it has some good comedic points and a strong talent pool. I think this show could really hit its stride if it’s built upon as the foundation here was enjoyable. I had a good time watching it, liked the characters and felt there was depth here beyond just being a straight up comedy.

They had some interesting points they hit, with not all of them directly being attached to the action at the forefront. It was entertaining seeing this group try to hastily get everything together despite other governments also doing their own thing when it comes to space projects.

I could realistically see this being an actual setup within the United States when it comes to their real Space Force group. I definitely think there’s potential for this to grow going forward, and I liked what they started with in this first season. I do wish that they would have had a more completed arc however within this initial season. It finishes, but doesn’t necessarily feel like a complete narrative if that makes sense structurally.

Space Force Season 1 Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 7.5