Apple TV+’s Bad Monkey Is Less Than the Sum of Its Parts

After Bill Lawrence (writer, producer, and comedy expert) tapped into one of the most beloved shows in recent years with Ted Lasso as co-creator then followed it up with another hit (Shrinking) right away, it’s both unexpected and disappointing that his latest series, Apple TV+’s Bad Monkey, feels more like a dud than another triumph. 

His new comedy-drama (based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Carl Hiaasen) is a big mess. Not an unwatchable or maddening one per se, but a mess nonetheless. It’s overstuffed and overwritten—showcasing dozens of characters and unnecessary subplots—yet also possesses that charming quality that makes Lawrence’s light-hearted shows a delight. It may be the book’s fault (I haven’t read it), but the plot of its TV version comes off as contrived and needlessly chaotic from the start.

Our hero, Andrew Yancy (Vince Vaughn, flexing his comedy muscles) is the obnoxiously talkative detective of Key West (previously Miami Police) with a revoked license he desperately tries to reinstate. For now, though, he’s doing the degrading work of Roach Patrol as a health inspector. That is until his former partner Rogelio (John Ortiz) dumps a severed arm on his doorstep and asks him to take it to a Miami coroner and see if she can connect it to an ongoing investigation there. Yancy sees this (incorrectly) as a chance to get his license back sooner, depending on whether he can prove that (based on his hunch) the limb’s owner was murdered. So, despite the multiple warnings of his ex-colleague not to pursue the case, he begins an investigation that takes him back and forth between Key West, Miami, and eventually the Bahamas.

Alongside him, we’re forced to follow seemingly never-ending threads that introduce eccentric characters like an insufferable real estate bro, the bitchy widow of the man the arm belonged to, a Voodoo Dragon Queen Lady in the Bahamas, and several others who are involved in the case one way or another—or not at all. Oh, and there’s also a monkey that has nothing to do with anything, but it’s here anyway because… well, the title.

If all this sounds convoluted and far-fetched, that’s because it is. However, once an early twist reveals crucial information about the arm and its owner, the plot turns out to be much simpler—and, unfortunately, less engaging—than you expect. Thus, watching Bad Monkey feels like the equivalent of meeting a half-drunk stranger at a bar who has a good story but can’t tell it well and also suffers from ADHD. To put it bluntly: it’s exhausting.

Though Lawrence and his writers do their best to sell it as a feel-good comedy by applying over-the-top, goofy humor to the bonkers-yet-likable characters, the result is strangely underwhelming. The well-assembled and diverse cast somewhat improves the constant awkwardness of the series but can’t pull off a miracle. As much as I enjoy Vince Vaughn talking my ear off with ridiculous nonsense, his constant babble is a lot to endure here. You would think that a goofball such as Yancy would be a perfect fit for him, but, somehow, even his tough-guy gangster in True Detective Season 2 felt weirdly more inspired than anything he does as a silly, erratic, and egomaniac cop here.