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Justin and I recorded The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret back in October and only just got around to finishing the series. Because it started out so slow, I didn't feel compelled to continue watching it. There wasn't anything Justin and I wanted to watch the other night, so we turned on episode 3 and got sucked into it. It really picks up and we watched straight through to the end. It didn't take long, though. The whole season is only 6 episodes.
Todd Margaret, a part-time temp, is overheard practicing his taped assertiveness lessons and is chosen to start up the UK branch of the company selling a "kick-ass new energy drink" called Thunder Muscle. Todd is extremely meek. He is also an enthusiastic, albeit inept, liar and instead of owning up to not knowing anything about business or Britain, accepts the position. Thus begins a series of increasingly poor decisions.
I normally don't like shows or movies where the entire premise is how bad things can go. I can tolerate National Lampoon's Vacation movies, but I don't actively enjoy them and I downright hated "Meet the Parents." But every time I started being annoyed at the things Todd would do, I reminded myself of the title and that seemed to make everything ok.
Each episode starts out with Todd standing in front of a British court while his charges are being read then flashes back to the appropriate day. The first episode flashes back to "14 days earlier" and we get one day closer to the trial with each episode. The charges seem ridiculous (funding a terrorist organization, possession of biological weapons, possession of child pornography with the intent to distribute, blackmail, espionage, embezzlement, murder, unnecessary public nudity, and persistent public urination), but as the show progresses you see how he came to be charged with each one, even though he's technically innocent of all of them.
The thing that I love most about this show is that it is extremely well-crafted. There are layers and layers of plot devices and they're unnoticeable until they become important. This show is clever and that makes it funny.
I don't like how the season was left off. We're still a week away from the trial and the consequences of Todd's decisions are coming to a head. We finished the last episode with no idea that it was the last. It didn't feel like a finale. I've read that it's been picked up for a second season, so hopefully I'll see what happens to Todd. I'm also really curious about his assistant, Dave. Why is he working at Todd's company? Actually, does he even work there? Or was he just present when Todd showed up?
This show is also raunchy, so it's really not for everyone. There's no nudity, but the language is very coarse.
Todd Margaret, a part-time temp, is overheard practicing his taped assertiveness lessons and is chosen to start up the UK branch of the company selling a "kick-ass new energy drink" called Thunder Muscle. Todd is extremely meek. He is also an enthusiastic, albeit inept, liar and instead of owning up to not knowing anything about business or Britain, accepts the position. Thus begins a series of increasingly poor decisions.
I normally don't like shows or movies where the entire premise is how bad things can go. I can tolerate National Lampoon's Vacation movies, but I don't actively enjoy them and I downright hated "Meet the Parents." But every time I started being annoyed at the things Todd would do, I reminded myself of the title and that seemed to make everything ok.
Each episode starts out with Todd standing in front of a British court while his charges are being read then flashes back to the appropriate day. The first episode flashes back to "14 days earlier" and we get one day closer to the trial with each episode. The charges seem ridiculous (funding a terrorist organization, possession of biological weapons, possession of child pornography with the intent to distribute, blackmail, espionage, embezzlement, murder, unnecessary public nudity, and persistent public urination), but as the show progresses you see how he came to be charged with each one, even though he's technically innocent of all of them.
The thing that I love most about this show is that it is extremely well-crafted. There are layers and layers of plot devices and they're unnoticeable until they become important. This show is clever and that makes it funny.
I don't like how the season was left off. We're still a week away from the trial and the consequences of Todd's decisions are coming to a head. We finished the last episode with no idea that it was the last. It didn't feel like a finale. I've read that it's been picked up for a second season, so hopefully I'll see what happens to Todd. I'm also really curious about his assistant, Dave. Why is he working at Todd's company? Actually, does he even work there? Or was he just present when Todd showed up?
This show is also raunchy, so it's really not for everyone. There's no nudity, but the language is very coarse.