“The Tick” Returns to a New World on Amazon | TV/Streaming
Arthur (Griffin Newman) is a lonely accountant, the kind of guy kicked around at the office and left relatively by himself in the rest of the world. He does have a sister named Dot (Valorie Curry) who supports him, but she worries that he’s going to have another mental breakdown. And it looks like he may have when he starts seeing a giant blue superhero named The Tick, played with sarcastic aplomb by Serafinowicz. The Tick is the kind of egocentric moron that Troy McClure would play in a feature film, a fellow who’s more innocent than malevolent, and often fights crime by accident as much as on purpose. He balances stupidity with fearlessness, and both can help him save the day.
The Tick comes to Arthur because the latter is the only person who believes that the vanquished supervillain named The Terror (Jackie Earle Haley), with whom Arthur has a dark history, is still alive. While the danger of The Terror lurks in the background, we’re also introduced to Ms. Lint (Yara Martinez), a one-eyed baddie who can control static electricity. Arthur avoids being drawn into the world of superheroes but his continual encounters with The Tick lead him to believe he’s got a role to play if The Terror and Ms. Lint are going to be stopped.
Of course, most of this is played for laughs in that broad, exaggerated way that works half as satire and half as actual superhero story. Think of “Mystery Men” or, in the show’s less successful beats, NBC’s failed “Powerless.” Ben Edlund, who created the character and both previous TV iterations (there was an animated one before the Warburton one), is behind this reboot as well, which gives the show a sense of creative legitimacy. It’s not merely back to play off nostalgia or the trend of superhero films and TV shows. Edlund clearly adores his so-dumb-he’s-heroic creation, and the best elements of the show are when he and Serafinowicz are very clearly on the same page. I also like how often “The Tick” is staged in the real world—The Tick comes to Arthur’s father’s birthday party and fights often happen in lackluster, everyday locations. In a sense, “The Tick” recognizes that superheroes are literally everywhere now.
“The Tick” is never boring, and viewers young enough to not remember the other iterations may find it fresher than I did. I just wanted something a bit sharper and funnier, something that felt as new as the original live-action TV show. Although maybe that’s impossible when superheroes are involved in 2017.
