After sitting on the first two series for at least 2 years, I’ve watched all four series since I got back from Xmas. On the whole I like it, it’s very much a scummier version of Seinfeld. However there’s a few things that struck me in watching it in such a condensed manner.
Like most series the first season feels like it’s feeling it’s way, and it’s the one that’s closest to Seinfeld. The strange thing is, with the addition of Danny DeVito to the cast in season two, it’s almost like it has another first season. The addition of a fifth lead throws off whatever balance it had found in the first season and it has to find it all over again.
The third season, for me, is the peak so far. It’s found the balance in the characters and every episode I thought was gold.
The fourth felt like it was resting on it’s laurels a bit. There’s some good episodes (“Mac & Charlie Die” is just as good as anything in season 3), but too often it felt like it fell into rhythms that felt too familiar or resorted to making the characters a bit too cartoonish.