Review: Ultra City Smiths: “She Don’t Care”, “The King of the Night”

Overview: When the affluent and honest politician, Carpenter K. Smith (Kurtwood Smith) goes missing as he runs for mayor, detectives Gail Johnson (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) and David Mills (Jimmi Simpson) investigate a group of suspicious suspects all with the last name of Smith. 

Our Take: AMC’s newest stop motion animated series might distinguish itself with it’s striking puppet models and sets. But, just as impressive, is the vast array of vocal talent that lend their lungs to this quirky show. There’s the real life comedic couple of Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard as spouses in the series but in the form of bickering politicians, one honorable and one a bit more scandalous, respectively. Luis Guzman is the cutthroat gangster and caring husband by the rightfully eccentric name of Rodrigo Smalls. Bebe Neuworth is a thoughtful mother as Lady Andrea The Giant, a gender swapped play on the late WWE wrestler. That name alone does a good job of laying out what kind and caring character she is, by simply knowing personality traits of the wrestler himself. Just from those descriptions alone you begin to see the trend of wacky yet grounded path that is paved for each character. And better yet is how each actor is able to bring out different idiosyncratic qualities from them. 

However, while the entire cast shines, the standout is Jimmi Simpson as David Mills. His overall wit and charisma despite his various addictions not only makes him more funny over time but contributes to that of the show’s similar tones with the world that is cultivated through the underbelly of Ultra City. Speaking of, the show’s bleak, grimey yet neon lit built model sets along with the various characters intertwining troubles within the concrete jungle paint a convincingly grim portrait of how terrible Ultra City is. 

Da’Vine Randolph as Gail Johnson, Mill’s partner, doesn’t get as much humorous affairs however. She plays it straight compared to her co-stars and their more outlandish characters and that has a lot to do with the drama surrounding her son. And in all fairness it is compelling. Although, because of that, she does not get the opportunity to hit as many comedic beats as they do throughout. But even with that, she bounces off Simpson’s Mills well enough so hopefully she will get more time to shine in that particular regard later on.  

All characters are different enough from one another but not all of them I cared for equally. This is mostly due to their varying degrees of screen time and prominence in the series thus far. But like Randolph’s Johnson, with four more entries left to go, that could all change with more time in the sun, 

The jokes, the most crucial of aspects, unfortunately, miss a bit more than they end up hitting. They are not always the most clever. But when they are, especially with all the performers and their exceptional timing, they are at their most charming. Not quite enough to make up for the overall batting average but still enjoyable. After watching “She Don’t Care” and “The King of the Night”, it made sense on AMC’s part why the network chose these two episodes to kick off the comedy. The mystery finally thickens as the main suspects, characters and plot lines come into focus at the end of the second episode and is a great jumping off point for the intrigue surrounding it moving forward.

Ultra City Smiths double episode debut is a good start for AMC+ and the channel as a whole with fun yet grounded characters, and strong performances and  decent enough laughs all around. If the series can offer more consistency of quality for the latter and more screen time for other characters over time, the network will deliver a gobsmacking home run. One that won’t have Walking Dead in the title.