I don’t know much about the new HBO show Avenue 5 but I do know that I am transfixed. And I think that it is the perfect tv show for our time. Unsurprisingly, Veep creator Armando Iannucci is the person bringing this delightfully weird half hour to my life every week. And I have to admit that I was late to that show as well. I binged Veep a few months ago. I binged the first four episodes of Avenue 5 last night. I will offer what I can about why this show works so well as a metaphor for our time.
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Set 40 years in the future, Avenue 5 follows the captain and crew of a luxury space cruise ship as they navigate disgruntled passengers and unexpected events after experiencing technical difficulties onboard.
Tell me that right there isn’t sort of exactly how you feel about US politics right now. Let me explain.
First I will address the beautiful specificity of that setting. First, setting a show only 40 years into the future allows for the opportunity to make speculatively satirical predictions like Google going unexpectedly bankrupt or the Pacific Ocean turning to poison. Untying yourself creatively from a setting that seeks to mirror real life current events must be incredibly freeing.
Secondly I will address the luxury space travel thing. Capitalism seeps into every aspect of this show. It is the plot’s driving force and raison d’etre. It seems that every time a layer gets peeled back the inciting incident has something to do with treating people as pure consumers. Why do you think all the passengers are disgruntled?
I won’t get into the technical difficulties part. It takes a few episodes to get into too many of them. I’m hoping that, like Veep, the show will define its world soon enough in the first season and then go on to shine brightly in the little world that Iannucci has made.
Anyway, after the Tops is my favorite scene from the show thus far.
Enjoy.
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