Code 404, the latest British series Peacock is bringing to American audiences, answers a question no one but the show's creators were asking: What if RoboCop (or The Six Million Dollar Man or whichever enhanced human you prefer) was funny? The series is set in a near-future London in which a new AI technology is used to bring back Detective Inspector John Major (Daniel Mays), an undercover cop who died in the line of duty. Unlike RoboCop, however, this technological marvel doesn’t lead to a cyborg who’s more machine than man; instead, it results in the reanimation of an arrogant human whose technological enhancements make him idiotically overconfident, and sometimes just an idiot. While this sets up a variety of comic scenarios, only some of them land. More successful is the ongoing investigation into who killed Major in the first place, a mystery that provides some intrigue and keeps the story moving.
When he was alive Major was supposed to be the best detective in his unit. While this paints him in the vein of Simon Pegg’s character in Hot Fuzz, he’s dead within the first three minutes of the first episode, so we mostly have to take the show’s word for it. In the brief scene before he meets his end, Major demonstrates some prowess for undercover work but also doesn’t come across as especially intelligent. If anything, he seems like many other loud, egotistical white men whose reputation is based more on his words than his actions -- something that continues once he’s brought back. In fact, it seems his partner and best friend, DI Roy Carver (Stephen Graham) may be just as talented a detective as Major, but his reserved demeanor and short stature have prevented him from getting the same level of recognition.
Of course, it’s hard to say for sure because it’s only once Major is brought back that Carver is really shown stepping into action. And at that point, Major is working at a serious deficit. See, that Major is brought back by AI is an important point. Major has no physical enhancements, it’s his brain that's been augmented. Unfortunately, instead of improving his cognitive capacity, the AI leaves him lacking. As a result, he returns as a horrible detective whose terrible decisions often cause Carver to function more like his babysitter than his partner.
Hilarity is supposed to ensue, but the jokes that arise from Major’s stupidity and Carver’s frustration are uneven. One bit in which Major snorts drugs because he believes narcotics no longer affect him and then awkwardly frees himself from a locked car by shimmying out the window goes from head-scratching to a chuckle-worthy bit of physical comedy. Meanwhile, an episode-long gag in which the most recent upload of Major's AI has him spouting Americanisms because the woman behind Majors’ revival, Dr. Alison Parfit (Amanda Payton) is American, is tedious as soon as it begins. (Maybe this worked better in the UK, but it’s hard to believe a character using the word “attorney” instead of “lawyer” elicits guffaws in any country.)
Still, at only six episodes of about 25 minutes each, Code 404 is quick, light and witty enough to keep things pleasantly zipping along. While Major and Carver are sent on cases of the week, these are incidental to their ongoing investigation into Major’s murder. It’s unusual for a comedy that employs so much stupid humor to also put so much effort into creating a fairly engrossing mystery. The combination works in the show’s favor, however, as the challenges of solving that mystery make the characters -- and the show -- far more compelling than it would be otherwise.
Less successful are Major’s attempts to win back his wife Kelly (Anna Maxwell Martin), only to realize she’s found someone else while he was (supposedly) dead. Even though he was aware something was going on between Kelly and Carver before he died, he conveniently forgets this once he’s brought back. He then spends a majority of the season wondering who Kelly was with while remaining sadly oblivious that it was his partner, despite all the evidence clearly pointing in that direction.
While Kelly is an interesting character and Maxwell Martin is great in the role, the plot never quite does her justice. Graham and Mays are also fantastic, and it’s the commitment of the actors and the believable relationships they build with each other's characters that help make up for some of the show’s weaker elements.
All in all, Code 404 is neither the funniest nor the most clever comedy you’ll encounter this year. Nonetheless, if the show’s RoboCop meets Hot Fuzz premise piques your interest, this is an agreeable, low-commitment binge that’s good for a few laughs.
Code 404, starring Stephen Graham, Daniel Mays, Anna Maxwell Martin, Amanda Payton and Rosie Cavaliero, is available on Peacock on Thursday, Oct. 1.
September 30, 2020 at 04:48AM
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REVIEW: Peacock's Code 404 Answers the Question What If RoboCop Were Funny - CBR - Comic Book Resources
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