Man vs Bee is a Netflix original slapstick sitcom. The show has 9 episode with a runtime of merely 11 to 20 minutes. The series was created by Will Davies and the lead actor Rowan Atkinson. The show stars Rowan Atkinson and almost entirely focuses on him. The other actors supporting him are Claudie Blakley, Jing Lusi, India Fowler. The show’s premise as it is evident from the title is about how a man is tormented by a bee. The show is set in Britain’s posh locality where the couple living in an absolute dream house are heading off to a vacation and appoint housesitting company to take care of their while they’re away. To be honest, I’ve never heard about this concept, like ever. Although, as they say Rich people have their own issues.
So, well I’m a little on the fence about the concept of the show as on the official google search it says the woman mistakes a homeless man for a house-sitter. However, in the series there was no hint of such a thing. It was as if he actually works for the house-sitting company and there was a last minute change that puts him in charge of the house. Although, the IMDb page has a more accurate description of the show. As he enters the house a bee accompanies him and stays in the house with him where the engage in a battle of wits that leads to them reaching out for each other’s throat. The show was hyped as it was created by Rowan Atkinson. The very man who gave us our childhood’s favorite characters – Mr. Bean. So is this Netflix Original show worth the limited time it demands? Let’s find out?
Rating – ★★★1/2
Man vs Bee Does Slapstick work Today?
We’ve all seen Atkinson do what he is so good at in every work of his- physical comedy. Even in the movies that he works like the Johnny English franchise. The man is materialized for such work. It makes sense that he has developed and created the show. He is probably the only star except a few that can hold our eyeballs purely by performing physical comedy. He was at his best in Mr. Bean. I don’t want to say the show looks inspired by the Indian film Makkhi but no one can deny the parallels. Although, while gives us a perfect logical reasoning for everything going on in the film to the point where it seems like revenge saga, this series keeps it simple and concentrates on what matters.
The show is a pinnacle of the use of set-ups and payoffs. Especially in the initial 3 episodes, every piece of information that was spilled on us through exposition in the first episode comes back in the form of a problem. Since it has Atkinson in the lead, it works for the show so well that we expect him to clumsy, simpleton and mess around. It’s like Steve Carell, in every role he looks like a goofy sweetheart, something that worked against The Morning Show. Not here though, the placement of such an actor is perfect. Screenwriting principle says your character should complement your situation so that the plot moves ahead.
In this case, its not even just the character rather the actor who plays him as well. Talking about character, as the show majorly focuses on Trevor played by Atkinson, we do get to know him a bit. We understand the stakes for him and how did he wound up here. Although, unlike the common notion of empathy for the character, the series doesn’t demand that, its more like sympathy. We feel more pity towards him than we understand him. However, in the moments of mishaps where he takes things to far, we do empathy as there are instances in everyone’s life where we’ve goofed up. Maybe not as much as Trevor but definitely a subset of it.
Also, we often feel our life is cursed on a bad day, well it is the same case here. A pet peeve that I have with the show is that while Trevor fits the situation we don’t understand what makes him capable of making the cover-ups or traps. Like what jobs did he do previously that make him apt enough for this? Or is every British citizen good with tools? Another thing we don’t understand why is he the kind of person that he is. We simply understand that he is such a kind of person through his actions and a dialogue exposition. So yeah that is something the show suffers from, although they might’ve skipped it simply assuming that Rowan will handle it and to be honest he does.
Verdict
The show is an overall win. I love the way it starts and appreciate the way it ends. I don’t think it will be renewed for a 2nd Season because the end of the 1st Season seems apt and definitive. While most shows demand a hefty runtime to give us an emotional experience and it is justified as this format supposedly demands it. This show proves them wrong. Each episode is almost the length of a short film. Everything in the show is connected and at the end we understand it. I even like that even they don’t bother us with why the Bee is behind Trevor but simply point us in its direction.
The reason is too heartwarming and overwhelming. It doesn’t seem out of the blue or out of the story world. The show is true to its strengths and does the hard work in making us laugh. The set ups and pay offs in the initial episodes are simply brilliant, the rest of the episodes too hold up as they continue this forward. Nothing seems like a drag in fact if anything we’re left with expecting more from the story. Regardless, I’d give it a solid 3.5 out of 5 stars. To answer the question posed above, yes it seems like Slapstick comedy still works and the buzz is true. This is a show you can enjoy with your family this weekend and you can complete it in half a day. Make sure you do check out this series on Netflix.
Man vs Bee is currently streaming on Netflix.
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