THE AUDACITY – A New Series Coming to AMC & AMC+

This Sunday, April 12th a new series kicks off on AMC and AMC+: The Audacity. Already approved for a second season, this new series stars multiple familiar faces including Billy Magnussen, Zach Galifianakis, Lucy Punch, and many more. We got screeners for season 1, and here are my SPOILER FREE thoughts.

The Story for ‘The Audacity’

This 8 episode season is described as a drama, however I would have to say this is a dark comedy. Is there drama? Absolutely! However, I also found myself regularly laughing aloud. The Audacity is about a group of people living in Silicone Valley. We got our tech bros, some therapists, some teens already on their way to a life of douche-baggery, and some real life feelings.

While many characters are relevant to the overall story, we focus around Duncan Park. He made his tech bro fortune with his best friend, who took his own life. Everyone assumes the friend was the brains, and Duncan is destined to now fail. Left with a Silicone Valley wife, a daughter, and a crap ton of money, he’s of course not happy. So off to therapy he goes to feed his ego… I mean soul. However, despite his therapist, Joanne, looking down on all her Silicone Valley clients, as she’s forced to rent, and get a scholarship for her son, she doesn’t seem much better. Desperation and wanting money you don’t need seem to illicit similar responses.

Things always circle back to Duncan, and his therapist, but there are so many other characters at play. Each with their own story of how they got insanely rich, or why they’re trying to get funding from these D-bags. While many of these D-Bags have had to master a level of intelligence to get where they are, they have yet to master any level of emotional intelligence. Their true happiness seems to only stem from when their opponent is miserable. Of course the opponent can change as quick as the stock market.

While there is a major focus on the business aspect of it all and the never ending need for more money that they’ll never even be able to spend, The Audacity is more about the real people. As fake as they may be. You still see real emotions which seem to guide their business decisions in ways that seem genuinely scary. As this first season wraps you start to see the amazing things humans are capable of. The question, however, has never been what we’re capable of, but more so what we’ll actually do with what we can create.

My Thoughts

The characters in The Audacity are truly awful. I mean that in the best sense possible for story telling. Almost every character made me feel disgusted, and then feel sympathy for them. That’s fantastic storytelling to me. There were times I had no idea where I wanted the story to go, but I couldn’t wait to find out. When Duncan comes home with an assault injury from a utensil, instead of his wife asking what happened, she calmy responds that she’s sure they had their reasons. The dialogue is fantastic, and the delivery in these dark comedic moments is beautifully nailed.

Overall Grade: 8/10

If you’re looking for a hilarious and dark show that terrifies you as to where our world is headed, but also makes you feel better about yourself, then you should definitely watch The Audacity. I already can’t wait for season 2.

Check out a review for another show that dropped this week: THE BOYS Season 5

For more from Lauren, check out ‘Hops GEEK News.’

Will you be watching The Audacity? Let us know!