Season Review: Paradise PD Part Four

Many cops have sworn to protect the innocent and serve justice. These cops, on the other hand, don’t give a flying crap about any of those things. Paradise PD is one of the earlier shows that kickstarted Netflix’s early days as a streaming service regarding its animation content. The animated sitcom, which centers on the worst police officers in the world, follows in the footsteps of other popular adult animated shows like Family Guy and Brickleberry, another series by Waco O’Guin and Roger Black. Unfortunately, the show lacks the elements that made these animated sitcoms enjoyable for their target audiences regarding its poor reception. However, that didn’t stop Paradise PD from expanding into three more seasons, for better or worse.

The fourth and final season of Paradise PD occurs after the events of season three, with the town of Paradise being destroyed by a mutated Dobby. Additionally, Gina (Sarah Chalke) is nowhere to be found, and the Paradise PD members are fired from their jobs. As they adjust to this shocking change, Kevin (David Herman), now known as AFKAK, and the others face another series of strange occurrences while attempting to rebuild their reputation and town once more. Their messed-up shenanigans led to them facing a life-threatening plot by Charles Lovely.

As much as I enjoy adult animation for different reasons, including comedy and quality storytelling, I was on the fence with this one. It shines a comical and dirty light on the perspectives of police officers, especially in the season one episode “Black & Blue”. However, Paradise PD constantly overshadows its social commentary and character arcs with a series of unfunny dirty adult humor and mediocre characters. It makes me wonder how it managed to last for four seasons. 

If you’ve watched the previous seasons of Paradise PD, you’ll know what you’re getting in its final season. You have a bunch of jokes involving pop culture and celebrities, fourth wall breaks, adult-rated sexual content and references, and characters being assholes to each other. However, it also expands on specific character arcs that were the only reason I kept watching the series, including the relationship between Chief Randall Crawford (Tom Kenny) and his ex-wife, Mayer Karen Crawford (Grey Griffin). The efforts made to make specific characters more than just idiots were admirable for the most part, even though they’re constantly unbalanced with the show’s mean-spiritedness and crude humor.  

A show full of ungrateful people can work in its favor if the execution is done right. It needs a good amount of charm and a well-written script to make these characters likable despite their flaws and vulgar actions. It also has to have some enjoyment in its random scenarios amid its essential character arcs. Shows like Family Guy and South Park delivered those elements well despite their characters being rotten to the core. Paradise PD has those elements in tow, but it sadly struggled to find the right balance between them.

The humor is chock full of nasty jokes that deserve its mature rating, especially when it involves graphic nudity and violence. Some were made for shock value, while others were there to poke fun at specific celebrities (like Ron Perlman), the main characters, and the show itself. Unfortunately, the comedy wound up being more tasteless than hysterical. It isn’t without its moments involving the character arcs, mainly Kevin (AFKAK) learning to stand up for himself in “Sack to the Future”. However, they’re drowned out by a flurry of tedious and sick jokes that haven’t been funny since season one. It tried way too hard to be like the combination of Family Guy and South Park that it wound up being worse than the shows that inspired it. Even its “cliffhanger” ending is more frustrating than hilarious, considering it’s the final season.

Lucky for Paradise PD, it has some good things that kept it from being unwatchable, like its direction. The previous three seasons focus on Kevin and the others being shitty cops. For its final season, the writers decided to have them be “party dudes”, which makes their conflict with injustice (or themselves) a tad less repetitive. It even changed the opening title sequence to match their new “jobs”. The season also benefits from its voice cast like the previous ones, including vocal favorites Tom Kenny, Grey Griffen, and Dana Snyder. I really love these three actors in their earlier works, and it’s a shame they’re a part of this disgusting show.

Overall, the fourth and final season of Paradise PD is a tedious and painfully unfunny conclusion that’s guilty of damaging the show’s tainted reputation further. The only elements that prevented its extended sentence were its voice cast and the character arcs amid its sitcom scenarios. Other than that, the fourth season fails to improve upon the flaws of the previous seasons regarding its humor, script, and characters. The result is like Dusty’s art in “The Shartist”: a huge shit stain. As a whole, I’m not a fan of what Paradise PD delivered, even though I enjoy watching adult animated sitcoms. As much as I want to see what happens next after its cliffhanging series finale, it’s probably best that I don’t. I’d rather watch ABC’s The Rookie instead.