Marvel’s Hit-Monkey It was a strange beast (no pun intended) when it debuted on Hulu two and a half years ago. It wasn’t part of the MCU, and it was certainly more violent and curse-filled than anything made in the post-Netflix Marvel TV era. But what was really strange wasn’t the fact that it was about a snowman who was good with firearms. It was strange because it didn’t know whether it wanted to be a comedic action show or a deep drama filled with mysticism and politics. The show’s second season establishes a more consistent tone.
MARVEL’S HIT-MONKEY SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening shot: “Four months ago…” We see Bryce McHenry’s (Jason Sudeikis) spirit disappear in front of Haruka (Ally Maki) and Hit-Monkey (Fred Tatasciore). He’s celebrating and giving Hit-Monkey advice now that he’ll be alone.
The essence: Bryce doesn’t celebrate much when he finds himself in Hell, suspended naked by cables, some of which are hooked to his anus. When he tells the Devil (Keith David) that he did the right thing, the Devil informs him that he can’t run from his wrongdoings. He convinces the Devil that he needs to go back to get Hit-Monkey to keep killing “fillet mignon shit all day” in order to send him to Hell. He somehow convinces the Devil that that’s the only reason, not that he wants to reunite with his estranged daughter Iris (Cristin Milioti).
In present day, Hit-Monkey and Bryce’s spirit are killing bad guys all over New York City. Hit-Monkey is depressed and mourns the disappearance of Akiko Yokohama (Olivia Munn), the niece of Japanese Prime Minister Shinji Yokohama (George Takei).
They’ve made enough money to settle down, and Bryce thinks it’s time to go to Eunice Jones (Leslie Jones), aka “The Handler”, who used to be Bryce’s agent. Eunice knows of Hit-Monkey’s reputation and then badmouths Bryce, until Bryce starts serving him his expensive liquor, indicating he’s there in spirit. When she realizes he’s there, she apologizes for killing him and brings Hit-Monkey in as a client.
They return to Bryce’s “minimalist” (i.e., stark and dreary) apartment, now owned by Eunice, and find Haruka there. She came to New York with Bonsai Master’s sword when a group of assassins attacked her police station in Tokyo looking for it. She thinks they’re going after Hit-Monkey’s sword, too. But when they go to see a guy Bryce knows to have it appraised, the guy warns Haruka not to take it out of its sheath, otherwise she’ll “get lost” in it. She soon finds out what that means when a giant cat chases her.
What shows will it remind you of? Even more than during its first season, Punching monkey It’s starting to sound and look more and more like Goalkeeper.
Our opinion: In its first season Punching monkey I needed to solidify his story so that Bryce’s excessive talk made sense and to make him a character that both we and the monkey wanted to be around. As we discovered more about his life and his estranged daughter, some of his more narcissistic tendencies became more understandable. That’s how we entered season two, and the show makes a lot more sense because of it.
Creators Will Speck and Josh Gordon and their writers have struck a better balance between funny moments, gratuitous violence, and actual character development. There are still a few forced pop culture references, like when Hit-Monkey climbs up the side of a skyscraper instead of shooting the doorman; the ghostly Bryce says they’re “doing Tom Crusing” by climbing. But for the most part, the jokes make sense for the characters making them.
As we’ve said, Bryce is no longer just a joker for the sake of jokes, which helps make his character more realistic. His desire to meet up with Iris is going to be the driving force behind his motivations this season, especially when he finally gets a body to work with, all the while knowing that the Devil could turn on him again at any moment.
Leslie Jones brings more comedic confidence to the show as Eunice, and we’re looking forward to Milioti’s take on Iris. But what we really want to see is Hit-Monkey become more independent of Bryce, and for Bryce to move away from the more violent Ted Lasso clone he was when the series began.
Sex and skin: They talk about sex, especially from Bryce’s side, but that’s about it. However, the show is very violent.
Parting shot: As police examine the now full-sized euthanized cat, a mysterious being with glowing eyes and a huge staff in its hand looks on.
Sleeping Star: Leslie Jones makes any show she’s on better, but when Eunice says she believes in the Knicks, that’s when she sold us on her character.
Pilot’s most typical phrase: Bryce’s ghost overhears Eunice talking about the Knicks and yells, “They haven’t been good since ’93!” Does she realize they made it to the NBA Finals in 1994 and 1999?
Our calling: STREAM IT. The second season of Marvel’s Hit-Monkey It’s better than the first one, simply because the creators of the show figured out how to make it funny and delve deeper into the show’s characters at the same time.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting, and technology, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV addict. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and elsewhere.
