Season Review: Dallas & Robo Season One

It’s a big trucking deal.

Youtube Red…sorry, I meant Youtube PREMIUM is at it again with another adult animated show. After the cancellation of Paranormal Action Squad and negligible impact of their children’s programming, they’re doubling down with their first 22+ minute animated show, Dallas & Robo. Starring John Cena (known for “Fred: The Movie” and some lesser known pro-wrestling work) and Kat Dennings (most recently known for NOT being in Infinity War because Darcy is too OP), the series follows the titular duo of space truckers as they haul cargo, drink booze, and kick ass across the solar system while dealing with cannibal bikers, crazed A.I., bounty hunters, and combinations thereof.

First off, let’s talk about the visuals. The character designs aren’t exactly the most imaginative, being an uneven mix between all human Squidbillies and a hint of Futurama, though it doesn’t change the fact that they are REALLY boring to look at. They’re certainly a step up from Paranormal Action Squad (if not by much), but it’s clear that the Youtube animation budget is about the price of a ham sandwich. Still, they do the best with what they have, it’s just there isn’t a whole lot to say, and considering it was helmed by Shadow Machine (known for Robot Chicken, Bojack Horseman, and even this year’s Final Space), that says more than it probably wants to.

What there IS plenty to talk about is the show’s cast, which pulls in a lot of considerable talent, even if they’re not given a ton to work within their respective roles. Cena, when he isn’t slowly building on his film career, has also been steadily rising in voice acting prominence, even taking the role of the main villain the upcoming Ninja Turtles cartoon, and manages to bring a collectedness to Robo as the straight man of the two. Dennings has made sporadic voice cameos in several works, so she’s not UNacquainted in this subset of the field, but whether it’s her or the writing or the direction, Dallas seems kinda locked into the drunk party girl act with little room for much else. Likewise, veteran VAs Stephen Root and Dana Snyder bring in a serviceable diet-Buck Strickland and token “the fat dumb one” acts as Uncle Danny and Fat Paul, respectively, Milana Vayntrub (be still, my heart) is kinda wasted as Ellie, and Tim Blake Nelson’s Woodsman is…what is he even doing there? Similar things can be said of supporting roles done by Clancy Brown, Giancarlo Esposito, Taran Killam, and Jane Lynch, and aside from Lynch in her performance as cannibal biker leader Carol, none of them really make their roles their own.

Now, I’ve said that Dennings’ Dallas is pretty limited in portrayal, but the writing does what it can to flesh her out. She’s a disgraced stockcar driver who is eager for another shot at her dream job and gets her partner Robo in schemes without thinking, often with terrible consequences but having fun every second of it. In the sixth episode, once finally getting a second chance at a race, starts distancing herself the rest of her team once she gains the potential for success, which lands her in jail and then buddying up with the cannibals near the end of the season, but works hard to make it right by trying to get them all caught or killed. She’s not the most layered character and is usually just motivated by an urge to drink or screw, but…ya know. She’s there.

Cena’s Robo works as a combo Spock-McCoy to Dallas’ Kirk (possibly deliberate what with the several Star Trek references), but also has the lion’s share of needing to add to the sci-fi worldbuilding, being the representative of the fantastical racism against robots, as well as contemplating the nature of life with his own sentience and odd ability to BRING OTHER COMPUTERS TO LIFE. It’s given a complicated take, showing that giving normally non-sentient life usually leads to them killing themselves within seconds, and when it doesn’t, they end up trying to overthrow humanity. In a time travel focused episode, several iterations of Robo end up making a sort of collective/religion where they bring every appliance in a bar to life, so the idea of life and free thinking is something Robo wishes for everyone, but knows that not everyone can truly handle it. And for what it’s worth, I do genuinely believe he and Dallas are friends, so that’s an achievement of the actors’ chemistry if nothing else.

The structure of the season’s overall story is…pretty sloppy. The first episode acts as a very lukewarm introduction to the premise that doesn’t show any of the strengths of the characters or writing at all, the second is just flat out boring, and the third begins what can be arguably called the beginning of the plot. The fourth and fifth episodes feel more like filler with relatively interesting uses of murder mystery and time travel spots, and the final three go into a finale arc that I feel probably could’ve been split into a season-ending cliffhanger if Youtube was more confident in it. Then again, Paranormal Action Squad will forever be lost in its own cliffhanger, so it’s probably for the best we actually got a conclusion out of this. However, the structure of plot threads end up being pretty haphazard and hasty, and on top of everything else that just doesn’t hit the mark, this doesn’t help.

I’m not going to lie, this show is a mess, and I point the finger at Youtube’s lack of faith in animation. I can’t speak for most of their other original programming, but from what I have seen, Youtube Red, Premium, or whatever you want to call it, has yet to prove itself to be worth the subscription price. I can’t say what exactly they could do to help that, as that’s not my job to figure out, but it’s not this. I wish Dallas & Robo the best of luck in getting renewed since that would be a first, but I have a hard time coming up with what they could possibly bring to the table. I guess if I had to give one piece of advice, I’d have to say this: Keep on trucking.