Vince Vaughn teams with Ted Lasso co-creator Bill Lawrence for a comedic mystery based on the fan-favorite novel.
Plot: The story of Andrew Yancy, who has been bounced from the Miami Police Department and is now a health inspector in the Keys. But after stumbling upon a case that begins with a human arm fished up by tourists, he realizes that if he can prove murder, he’ll be back in. He just needs to get past a trove of Floridian oddballs and one bad monkey.
Review: The last time Vince Vaughn starred in a mystery series for television, the result was the divisive second season of True Detective. Playing a fully dramatic role was nothing new for the versatile Vaughn, but the mixed reception pushed the actor back to the big screen. Aside from a recurring role in the final seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Vince Vaughn has stayed away from television until now. Partnering with Bill Lawrence, the creator of Scrubs and co-creator of Ted Lasso, Vaughn blends his skills as a dramatic actor with his trademark comedic timing for Bad Monkey. Based on the fan-favorite novel by mystery writer Carl Hiaasen, Bad Monkey takes all the elements of noir mysteries and brightens it up with a tropical vibe as it follows a former cop as he uncovers a complex plot involving severed limbs, femme fatales, and a bevy of double and triples crosses. It is a fun, if familiar, jaunt that benefits from Vince Vaughn’s style but fails to be as engaging as it could have been.
Bad Monkey opens with a fishing charter discovering a severed arm off the coast of the Florida Keys, which Detective Rogelio Burton (John Ortiz) brings to his friend and former cop Andrew Yancey (Vince Vaughn) to drive up to Miami. As a health inspector, Yancy cannot help but feel something strange about the arm that was quickly discovered to belong to Nick Stripling, a businessman involved in shady deals. Stripling’s young wife Eve (Meredith Hagner) claims the arm to bury it, but Yancy cannot help but push forward to discover what happened to Nick. Along the way, a mysterious man named Christopher (Rob Delaney) gets involved, as does Yancy’s love interest, medical examiner Rosa Campesino (Natalie Martinez), and his former girlfriend and wanted criminal Bonnie Witt (Michelle Monaghan). As Yancy digs deeper, he realizes the case may involve much more than he originally thought, including real estate deals in the Bahamas.
Right away, Bad Monkey has a sense of charm that comes with the laid-back Florida and Bahamas locales and constant narration (voiced by Tom Nowicki). The first episode shows Yancy’s early investigation in parallel with a young Bahamian fisherman named Neville Stafford (Ronald Peet), who is about to lose his beachfront home and enlists help from local witch Dragon Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith). The two stories do not seem to have much in common at first, but the two narratives collide and connect as the series progresses. Each episode of the ten-episode first season of Bad Monkey deepens the clues and red herrings, dropping little tidbits that keep you guessing who the criminals are and the plan without too much filler. There are a lot of characters, most of whom have subplots that factor into the series’ main themes, much of which centers on obsession and the ability to let go. So much of what makes this series work hinges on whether you are a fan of Vince Vaughn or not, as this is a showcase for his razor-sharp one-liners and affable charm. If Vaughn does not amuse you, this is not the show for you.
The supporting cast comprises solid performers, namely Jodie Turner-Smith and Michelle Monaghan. Turner-Smith recently played a witch in the Star Wars series The Acolyte, but here, she gets a lot more to do that directly connects to the main plot. Michelle Monaghan often plays much different characters than the femme fatale-inspired Bonnie, but it shows she has the chops to take on this role. John Ortiz and Natalie Martinez share much screen time with Vaughn and get to play friend and romantic partner, respectively. Both hold their own opposite Vaughn’s acerbic delivery. Meredith Hagner and Rob Delaney are good here, especially Delaney, who goes way against type as a tough guy compared to his more comedic turns like Peter in Deadpool & Wolverine. Bill Lawrence’s daughter, Charlotte, also appears as Nick Stripling’s daughter, Caitlin, and there are cameos from Scrubs veterans Zach Braff and Bob Clendenin, as well as the great Scott Glenn as Yancy’s dad.
While his career has included executive producing action thrillers like Whiskey Cavalier and comedy-action like the Rush Hour television series, Bad Monkey is the first time series creator Bill Lawrence has run a project like this. After his success with Ted Lasso and co-creating Shrinking, Lawrence has found a comfortable home at Apple. Bad Monkey boasts two writing credits from Lawrence (on the premiere and finale) with the rest of the season written by Matt Tarses (Scrubs), Milla Bell-Hart (Monarch: Legacy of Monsters), Ashley Nicole Black (Ted Lasso), Brian C. Brown (Legion), Ellie Knauss (Undateable), Michael C. Martin (Lethal Weapon), Annie Mebane (Shrinking), and Adam Sztykiel (Black Adam). Directing duties were led by Marcos Siega (You, The Flight Attendant) on three episodes, along with Colin Bucksey (Fargo), Erica Dunton (Ted Lasso), and Liz Friedlander (The Boys) each on two episodes and Sam Jones on one chapter. All of the directors give the series a glossy, bright sheen that fits the tropical shooting locations without any edge, which makes this series feel like anything better than a glorified procedural series.
Based on a novel, Bad Monkey has a decent structure that allows for a beginning, middle, and end, so audiences will not have to worry about cliffhangers or dangling plot after the final episode of this season. Because novelist Carl Hiaasen has written a sequel and could pen future novels, Bad Monkey will become an ongoing series for AppleTV+ as long as Vince Vaughn is willing to don a Hawaiian shirt and enjoy the beach. This is a low-stakes series that never really feels like a mystery as much as a diversion for a character who doesn’t know what to do with himself. Vince Vaughn plays Andew Yancy like a thinly veiled version of himself, which is not always bad, but it also does not mean that he has to stretch himself very far as an actor. Bad Monkey will appeal to fans of shows like Burn Notice and Monk, but anyone expecting this series to be a comedy version of True Detective is looking in the wrong place. There is nothing bad about Bad Monkey, but its overwhelming blandness makes it Bill Lawrence’s weakest Apple series to date.
Bad Monkey premieres with two episodes on August 14th on AppleTV+.
