This show successfully entertained me for the entire duration. That's saying more than almost anything else streaming right now. I laughed out loud a few times, I connected with the characters and I enjoyed the setting. What more could you want?
It's important to recognize that the goal of this series is very different from that of Rick and Morty, to which many viewers are comparing it. For one thing, it's not over-the-top gross, nor does is it have a fast talking crazy man moving the plot forward faster than we can keep up. The humor is not shocking and the concepts are not groundbreaking, but it's also not attempting to achieve those goals.
Krapopolis is more grounded, slower and easier to digest than Rick and Morty. It feels a lot more like a Matt Groening sitcom, which isn't a bad thing. The question is: is it succeeding at what it's trying to accomplish? I think it's doing a fine job. I liked it a lot more than Disenchanted, for example. The characters are more interesting, the world appears to be more developed and I actually laughed a few times.
The strength is in the dynamics of the relationships. It looks like each episode is going to pair different cast members together to get a unique chemistry each time. The story rests more on the group rather than on one single lead. In that, it reminds me more of Community than of Rick and Morty. Like Community, Krapopolis might need a few episodes to find it's stride. Right now, I'm giving the show an 8, which is generous, but I can see it reaching a 10 with time if it's trajectory continues to match Community's.
There are three noticable weaknesses of the show so far: 1. Some of the jokes are a bit forced, and would thus be better left unspoken. I think we can all agree that being unfunny is not a good look. Thankfully, this has only happened a few times. 2. The characters are still a little two-dimentional. Aside from Tyrannous and Dementia, each personality can be summed up in a single sentence. I think this could have also been said about Community in the first episodes. 3. The stories are not as polished as in Harmon's other projects. Both in Rick and Morty and Community, you knew exactly what the objective and the stakes of each episode were and the conclusion paid off every time. Here, the story arcs aren't as well defined.
That being said, if the quality of the jokes stabilizes, the characters find more depth and the plot becomes more clear, which I could easily imagine happening, Krapopolis could turn out to be another 10/10 Harmon show. I'm excited to see if it does!
It's important to recognize that the goal of this series is very different from that of Rick and Morty, to which many viewers are comparing it. For one thing, it's not over-the-top gross, nor does is it have a fast talking crazy man moving the plot forward faster than we can keep up. The humor is not shocking and the concepts are not groundbreaking, but it's also not attempting to achieve those goals.
Krapopolis is more grounded, slower and easier to digest than Rick and Morty. It feels a lot more like a Matt Groening sitcom, which isn't a bad thing. The question is: is it succeeding at what it's trying to accomplish? I think it's doing a fine job. I liked it a lot more than Disenchanted, for example. The characters are more interesting, the world appears to be more developed and I actually laughed a few times.
The strength is in the dynamics of the relationships. It looks like each episode is going to pair different cast members together to get a unique chemistry each time. The story rests more on the group rather than on one single lead. In that, it reminds me more of Community than of Rick and Morty. Like Community, Krapopolis might need a few episodes to find it's stride. Right now, I'm giving the show an 8, which is generous, but I can see it reaching a 10 with time if it's trajectory continues to match Community's.
There are three noticable weaknesses of the show so far: 1. Some of the jokes are a bit forced, and would thus be better left unspoken. I think we can all agree that being unfunny is not a good look. Thankfully, this has only happened a few times. 2. The characters are still a little two-dimentional. Aside from Tyrannous and Dementia, each personality can be summed up in a single sentence. I think this could have also been said about Community in the first episodes. 3. The stories are not as polished as in Harmon's other projects. Both in Rick and Morty and Community, you knew exactly what the objective and the stakes of each episode were and the conclusion paid off every time. Here, the story arcs aren't as well defined.
That being said, if the quality of the jokes stabilizes, the characters find more depth and the plot becomes more clear, which I could easily imagine happening, Krapopolis could turn out to be another 10/10 Harmon show. I'm excited to see if it does!