Space Force sees former alum from The Office screenwriter Greg Daniels and actor Steve Carell pairing up for the netflix series consisting of eight episodes. The series follows Carell as Mark Naird, an honest, hard working if sometimes misguided general who finds himself overseeing a new branch of the government called the United States Space Force. Naird and his lead scientist, Doctor Adrian Mallory (portrayed by John Malkovich) find themselves having limited time to put “boots on the moon” after a typo by the U.S. President that originally read “boobs on the moon” forces the creation of the elaborate program to create the first U.S. moon colony.
The series could be viewed as commentary on government spending in the armed forces, never for once forgetting that it is an issue while at the same time never taking itself too seriously. It balances that line between being painfully aware of present—“Forget history and you are doomed to repeat the mistakes in the past. Forget how bad polio was, people stop taking vaccines. Forget how bad World Wars are, people start puffing out their chests.”
There are moments where Naird seems out of step, out of touch with the times. For instance, his outward suspicion of Doctor Mallory’s assistant Chan. But I believe this is done on purpose, to expose the time that Naird is from, and how much Naird needs to try to catch up with the world around him. Mallory is the scientist but he is most definitely the heart of the operation, while Naird is the head—logistics, statistics, etc. Together, they balance each other out like Batman and Robin.
It’s simple enough, in the best of ways, and a good laugh while having a whole lot of heart. Like most of Daniels work. And isn’t that what we need right now anyway?
Love n’ stars,
Cambria Covell
