I love the idea of Con Man, as you can clearly tell from my excitement from the previous article. Vimeo released it on October 30th, and it’s now there for all to rent.
But perhaps my overzealous desire to love this has tainted my viewership of the web series. I feel as though the first four episodes has failed to deliver upon my expectations. I don’t know what I was expecting, but what I got isn’t quite it… yet. Nathan Fillion only makes brief appearances in the first four episodes.
Alan Tudyk stars as a semi-washed up version of himself, Wray Nerely, who does convention weekends for the fans. He’s over it, he’s over his time on the “greatest cancelled TV show ever, man.” He wants to get on with his life, but can’t seem to shake the 14 episodes which have made him a hero and fan favourite amongst the Con peeps.
The show opens with the bathroom scene which sets the scene perfectly;
Wash (Tudyk’s character from Firefly) is great as the lead. He’s almost a bumbling loveable non-fool. You feel for him, you feel for his love-hate relationship with his former life as “Cash”. You desperately want things to go well for him, but things just go wrong. He’s a good guy, he’s just got weird, well intentioned people around him.
The supporting cast are awesome. Samwise Gamgee also appears as himself, an actor who loves being known as Samwise Gamgee. The series is littered with scifi references and great natural performances.
Mindy Sterling is a standout in the first four episodes as Wash’s convention co-ordinator. She’s awesome as Bobbi, a sci-fi convention wannabe participant. She loves the business and really wants to be a part of it.
The episodes are short, they’re to the point, and they’re fun. It’s great to watch things go wrong for Wash. I am glad that Wash and The Captain have managed to pull this show together. It is one the fan will absolutely love.
For those of you who aren’t familiar, both Was and The Captain are lovers of the Con circuit, all of the Firefly crew are. They love the fans, they love talking to them. It’s with this enthusiasm that they bring forth this series, a satirical commentary on the Con world.
I look forward to watching this series in its entirety. Right now, it’s just a bit of fun, and me feeling bad for Wash. The Darth Vader scene is cool, I wonder if it actually happened to them in real life.
Rating: 6/10, it’s well written and well acted, with great references, but it doesn’t have a hook just yet, other than my love for Firefly and all the actors who were in it.
See it again: Yes, I am going to rack up the stats for how many times it gets viewed.
Worth my time: Yes, the acting is great. Wash does a fantastic job as himself, funny that.
Take my mother: Sadly no, mum doesn’t like scifi, there’s no point in wasting the time trying to explain to her what it’s about. She’ll just roll her eyes, tell me I need to get a life.
Talking points: Wash’s use of “retard”, which gets him into a whole world of trouble. It’s a good commentary on where society is these days and how we’re not allowed to use certain words in their appropriate manner just because society deems it politically incorrect.
Annoyance factor: 4/10, not enough of The Captain, or any appearances by Doc, Zoe, or Fred. I can’t wait to see who they are and what their relationships are with Wash.
Ranter & Banter 