'Future Man' Season 3 Review: It's the perfect goodbye to this wonderfully weird and twisted show
Hulu's 'Future Man' has had a wild and crazy run. The show starring Josh Hutcherson, Eliza Coupe and Derek Wilson as the lead characters of the raunchy sci-fi comedy made its own rules for the course of its duration. 'Future Man' has now emerged with a bolder and more bizarre (if that's possible) final season, and that's a perfect love letter to the fans as well as its characters. There's no doubt that the showrunners had a blast when writing this show — it's like they had an idea and decided to run in every direction with it. Imaginative and quick-witted, this show will indeed be missed.
At the end of the second season, Josh, Tiger and Wolf were imprisoned for their time-traveling crimes. They are sentenced to 'Death By Entertainment', and so they find themselves in a game show called 'DieCathlon', which seems to be a more twisted version of 'Running Man'.
The murderous Hunger Games-like obstacle course is run by Seth Rogen, who plays the character named Susan. That isn't the strange part — he has a robot wife, who he's desperately trying to spend some time with. You just can't help but quite like this antagonist who seems to speak in non sequitur. Oh, he's not a good person by any means, he's a narcissist who doesn't mind watching people die for entertainment. The show is known for making rather likable villains, be it Stu or Susan. They are both so twisted and entertaining.
Yet, it's not always fun and games, as the show skims subtly through the emotional development of the characters as well.
In the first episode, it is emphasized that Josh is not a hero and is too ordinary, and is entirely different from Tiger and Wolf, who are bloodthirsty warriors. The running gag is that he cannot stay alive, and so the game is put into a loop, unless he learns how to finally break it. Till then, they are stuck in a 'Groundhog Day' like loop.
Once again, the characters get involved in another bizarre time warp, which gives them enough time to focus on each other's burning issues that they haven't been able to confront yet. They are thrust into numerous scenarios and have to see how they can emerge from it victorious. While the first half of the season is relatively constrained, the second half decides to lend itself to the crazy side and run freely with the insanity.
As always, there are are some raunchy jokes to keep the show going, sometimes a little too much to absorb along with the social commentary. The beauty of the show is that the overarching themes of the show like self-awareness with visual entertainment cannot be missed.
The loyalties to each other are tested and the realization that history cannot always be altered to change the future is a message that the show strives to give. Beneath all the sci-fi chaos, the show is about the strong family that has been built between these three different, yet, lovable characters. The final season is the perfect conclusion to this twisted and crazy tale.
'Future Man' is streaming on Hulu.
