Common Name: Double Decker! Doug & Kirill
Score: 7/10, 5/5
Length: 13 Episodes
Genre: Action, Comedy, Sci-fi, Super Powers, Military, Political
Summary: It has always been Kirill Vrubel's dream to become a hero of justice, but has only made it as far as a beat cop for Lisvalletta's Police Department. Opportunity comes knocking, though, when he unwittingly becomes a bystander in a hostage situation involving a known criminal suspected of using Anthem, a drug that either kills the user or turns them into a superhuman mutant. Normally, such a case would be taken care of by Seven-0, a special unit dedicated to eradicating Anthem, but this might just be his chance to move up in the world and prove his worth. To survive this crisis and all that will undoubtedly come once he's been recognized by the Seven-0 agent on the scene, Doug Bilingham, all he need do is follow his family motto: "Don't think. Feels so good!"
Review: To put it as plainly as I can, Double Decker! is a real trip of a show. Built off the tongue-in-cheek comedy you'd typically expect of the buddy cop genre, this show takes that comedy to another level as it adds the insanity anime naturally offers with its own cache of tropes to mock. Then, as if that weren't enough, it throws in some mafia nonsense and a dollop of sci-fi comedy a la Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy just to make this show's menagerie of comedy all the more incredible. Yet, strangely enough, in spite of its dedication to comedic cynicism, Double Decker! shines for who genuine it can be at times. While it's often buried under a mountain of wonderfully-crafted bullshit, there are a couple moments when you can catch a glimpse of the show's core. Made up of solid characters and a message of acceptance that's only slightly more overt than the one buried within Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, it's weird how genuine this show's core is once it's been isolated from the comedy that might as well be made of gold for how good it is.
Double Decker! is pretty much like that class clown who tells jokes to hide what a good person
they are because being an assholes makes they more popular.
Focusing in on more of this show's specifics, though, it should be plainly stated that the comedy is pretty much the brunt of what this show has to offer. Primarily episodic in nature, Double Decker! contents itself with a case/villain-of-the-day format full of situational humor and references, all the while poking and hinting at the larger plot. As the show is quick to point out, though, it's not the plot itself that matters so much as how it builds on its colorful cast of drug-busting weirdos. More specifically, the show is focused on its pair of titular weirdos, Doug Bilingham and Kirill Vrubel, and as they stumble around the task of busting the crime organization known as Esperanza.
And boy are they worth every penny.
Though we aren't given much information on Doug over the course of the show--none that can really be trusted, anyway, since he's ass known for lying and withholding information for the laughs--he basically adds up to being an oddly methodical loose cannon cop that does things his way but always gets results. He's rebellious but still adheres to a collection of principles that he never divulges. Considering his actions or lack thereof throughout the series, it can be inferred that he basically believes anything and everything is excusable so long as it doesn't result in loss of life or undermine other law enforcement. Various reasons as to why he follows this code are given but, much like Doug himself, none of them can or should be taken at face value.
In other words, he's pretty much just kinda the best because he's just the absolute worst.
Kirill, on the other hand, pretty much can't stop talking about himself and you can absolutely take everything he says at face value. Initially propped up by some nonsensical dream of being a hero (which is funny since this show is by the same team that gave us Tiger&Bunny), Kirill is is your basic lovable clown who is way over his head, quite a bit over at that, considering he's regularly battling things that basically amount to the BOWs (Bio-Organic Weapons) from Resident Evil 4. Beyond his surface layer ambitions that don't really amount to much, though, Kirill functions mainly as a dorky cinnamon bun who cares a great deal about the people around him. So, more often than not, he can be seen around Doug, trying to get the tight-mouthed liar to spill his guts about the tragic past he most definitely has.
Which, in turn, results in him being the butt of Doug's disturbingly elaborate jokes.
Oddly enough, though, I feel like some of Double Decker!'s best moments are when the show isn't focused on these two idiots. When the spotlight is on them, all we ever really get is a plot that ultimately goes nowhere with characters who, on top of being legitimately funny and caring people, have backstories and arcs that are either enigmatic or nonsensical to the point of being pointless. At the end of the day, all that really matters is that these characters are alive and doing their job as agents of Seven-0. As for the rest of the cast, it's easy to just sit back and enjoy their featured episode since most of them amount to one-shots that similarly mean nothing and go nowhere but also don't overstay their welcome. The episode featuring Seven-0's pink-hared spitfire, Deana del Rio, and her by-the-book rookie, Kay Rochefort, is a perfect example of this. Because of them, we get to take a break from Doug & Kirill while still laughing it up at another loose cannon and rookie team that have a vastly different dynamic than the main pair.
Granted, the episodes dedicated to the other pairs are extra hilarious given their being references
to other cop shows like Charlie's Angels in Deana and Kay's case.
The one episode and pair I liked above all the others, though, has to be the one dedicated to Seven-0's resident badass, Max Silverstone, and her robot sidekick/lover, Yuri Fujishiro. While their personal episode is ultimately just as pointless as everyone else's, the main reason I like it so much is because it is, by far, the most upfront and concrete episode in the entire series. Nothing is left to speculation and we are given solid reasons to like Max and Yuri as characters. Max might start off as being just as tight-lipped and scarred as Doug but her episode goes fairly deep into her past and why she is the show's visually loud and proud butch. Taking pointers from shows like NCIS and Law and Order: SVU, her episode and case serve as a means to dig up her past which is legitimately tragic but also oddly heartwarming since we know it led to her become a strong but kind person.
Meanwhile, Yuri serves as the real angel of this show, supporting Max and everyone else
however she can since she doesn't really come with any extra baggage.
While the show might content itself with sci-fi action, referential humor, and letting the cast set up pranks at each other's expense, the real heart of this show lies in the way the members of Seven-0 get along and form one of the weirdest, patchwork families I've ever seen. In spite of all the action and drama and overall weirdness that surrounds the main story, everyone manages to get along and live with everything that gets thrown at them. From the revelations we get into Kirill's past to his learning his "sister" was actually his brother and Yuri's being a robot, the show and entire cast just offer an indifferent shrug to anything and everything that would be used as a means to drive a wedge between the cast in any other show. What's more, the way in which Seven-0 solves crimes and works to pacify those who fall under the influence of Esperanza's mutation-causing drug, Anthem, speaks to that same level of just learning to accept the good and bad of our world. Rather than killing them for their drug use, as many other shows would, Double Decker! instead features the agents of Seven-0 curing the criminals and victims of the effects of Anthem. The show's villains might still go to jail for their crimes but they are at least given the chance to recover and eventually move on in life. Then, to top it all off, the way in which the cast just kinda shrugs off the world-shattering revelations they learn by the end speaks to that same, indifferent mentality, with them all just kinda accepting that the world and its overall situation is kinda shit and moving on.
Lisvalletta has tons of problems but genetically modified super soldiers from space
ain't one of them until they actually show up.
As cynical as this show tries to be with its humor, I have to say that I love that there's ultimately a point to it all. Unlike so many other parody shows, this one doesn't ultimately end with the statement that nothing is sacred and nothing matters. Instead, it's pretty clear in its acknowledgment that lots of stuff in life is, in fact, pointless but the bonds we share with friends and family will always matter. To be perfectly honest, though, this show is still kind of a mess in spite of my love of that message. The way in which the show tries to blend 2D and CG art, in particular, points to what I mean when I call this show messy. The plot might be nonsensical and pointless, but that doesn't really excuse it from basically coming across as an experimental work that the creators just threw together in the interest of trying out new things. I'll love and remember these characters for a while and likely with the same fondness I attach to Tiger&Bunny, but this is definitely one of those niche, weirdo comedies that'll appeal to some people but not necessarily everyone. So, if the idea of watching a comedy-centric take on a crime drama along the lines of Ghost in the Shell or Psycho-Pass interests you, I'd recommend giving it a shot. To all others, eh, you could definitely do worse.