Emotions tend to run hot in fandom when it comes to everyone’s favorite TV shows. Not everyone likes the same thing, and sometimes there’s a big gulf between what critics think about a show and how the audience receives it.
Case in point: FUBAR, the Netflix original series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first-ever starring role for television. Critics haven’t been kind to this action comedy, and it’s currently at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes and 48% on Metacritic.
The thing is, the critics aren’t really wrong about it. There are parts of this show that are really stupid and bad. It doesn’t really matter though, because I still kind of love FUBAR despite its many flaws.
And the parts of FUBAR that do work are enough to recommend watching it in June ahead of its season 2 premiere.
It’s the ‘True Lies’ Sequel We Never Got in Theaters
This series may not be called True Lies, but it borrows quite a lot from Schwarzenegger’s 1994 action movie. Certainly more so than the True Lies TV series that came out in 2023, just a few months before FUBAR season 1 dropped on Netflix. The premise isn’t exactly the same, but it’s pretty close. Both of Schwarzenegger’s characters are CIA agents who have been keeping their real careers a secret from their families. The twist this time is that his daughter, Emma Brunner (Monica Barbaro), is also a CIA agent. And neither Luke nor Emma knew about each other’s career vocation before the show began.
One of the reasons why the True Lies TV series flopped is that there was no way to recreate the same dynamic that Schwarzenegger had with Jamie Lee Curtis in the movie. FUBAR may have a knockoff premise, but it has the genuine article as the star. It’s so True Lies that this show even has Tom Arnold as a guest star. FUBAR is a show that knows exactly what it is, and it’s not hard to imagine this as a sequel to the film.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Has Embraced His Inner Goofball
Arnold Schwarzenegger is in amazing shape for a 77-year-old man, but he’s not the same guy who could project an aura of invincibility in his prime. That may be why Schwarzenegger leans a lot more towards comedy in his performance as Luke Brunner. He’s believable as an aging CIA agent, but comfortable enough with his age to let that inform the way he adds a lighter touch to his character.
Schwarzenegger’s humor has always been a little corny, and that’s part of the reason it’s enjoyable. I can even laugh at his bad punchlines just from the way he delivers them. He even seemed to be enjoying a few jokes at his own expense in season 1. That makes it a lot easier to laugh with him.
Monica Barbaro Holds Her Own Against Schwarzenegger
True confession time: I’m not really wild about the supporting characters on FUBAR. Whenever there’s a bad joke or a mistimed moment of comic relief, it usually comes from them. But I love watching Monica Barbaro on this show. She is a star in the making, as evidenced by her Oscar nomination earlier this year for her role as Joan Baez in A Complete Unknown.
If this had been an actual True Lies sequel series, I would have preferred Eliza Dushku to reprise her role as Schwarzenegger’s on-screen daughter. But for this show, Barbaro is perfect in her role. She plays off Schwarzenegger really well and doesn’t let his presence overpower her own. Barbaro’s role in Top Gun: Maverick gave her some action movie cred coming into the show. After FUBAR, it seems like she could be an action star in her own right.
Season 2 Introduces Carrie-Anne Moss as the New Villain
I haven’t seen any of the season 2 episodes yet, so I can’t definitively say whether it will be better than season 1. But it’s very encouraging that Carrie-Anne Moss has joined the cast as the show’s new villain, Greta Nelson.
From what we’ve seen in the trailer, Greta is a former East German spy whom Luke hasn’t seen in four decades. And she seems like she still has the hots for him in the present despite her evil plan to start World War III. For most men, wars of potential global annihilation might be a deal-breaker. Not for Luke, though. He still appears to be infatuated with this over-the-top maniac, and that dynamic looks like it’s going to be very entertaining to watch.
FUBAR season 2 will stream on Netflix on June 12.
