Mad Dogs: Season 1 Review

By Matt Fowler

Note: This is a review for all 10 episodes of Mad Dogs. However, it doesn’t go into deep spoilers.

Right toward the end of Mad Dogs’ first season on Amazon, a main character (no spoilers) was asked how he enjoyed his time in Belize. Now…the answer he gives pretty much sums up my opinion of Season 1. I won’t give it away here, but if you’ve watched all 10 episodes, feel free to head over to my separate Mad Dogs Spoiler Discussion page and read some of my more in-depth thoughts about the story.

So as you might recall, last January, Amazon released their new pilot for Mad Dogs – a U.S. adaptation of a hit U.K. series from The Shield’s Shawn Ryan and original Mad Dogs creator Cris Cole. I liked it a bunch (my review here, if you’re interested). Back then though, I did wonder how the show would sustain itself for a full season. Not that the U.K. original didn’t have more than one episode, but it didn’t have 10 right out of the gate.

And now having seen all 10, an argument can be made that the initial set up – the pilot – was the best of the bunch. The turn it took from light to dark. The way Milo grew more and more hostile to the friends who he himself invited down for a visit. It was a great piece of suspense and drama. And Mad Dogs “the series” still has a lot of that working for it. When it’s great, it’s really great. But – man – when it falters, it’s super frustrating.

Now, I haven’t seen the U.K. original. I’m not here to compare or contrast. All I know is that the first four episodes somewhat mirror that show. Then, afterwards, for better or worse, it heads off on its own course. I will say though, that within those first four lay some of the most unnerving elements of the show. The constant bickering and infighting that helps make the series, also tends to undo it. And it often gets to the point where to just don’t want these four characters near one another. Especially if it involves coming up with a cohesive plan and/or cooperating.

There are times this really gets out of hand and works as a severe obstacle to the show. And yes, I get that this is part of the hook. The uniqueness of the brand. But I’m going to suggest this. Do not binge Mad Dogs. Yes, it’s on Amazon. Yes, it’s all available for your eyes right now. But space out the episodes. As a TV reviewer, there are still many ongoing conversations about how to report on/recap streaming shows. Non-weekly series. How long does the conversation/buzz last? When is the iron hot? It’s a constant boggle. So we here at IGN TV, for the most part, tend to watch all of a series right away and give you a review of the entire thing (with a separate page filled with our thoughts about the ending for those who’ve also quick-binged). So that’s what I’ve done here. And, well, it just may not work in the show’s favor to take it all in a lump sum.

Because it can wear on you. The grind of the schisms and strife becomes exhausting. And the “no steps forward, two steps back” series of unfortunate events – both brought on due to stupidity or dumb luck happenstance – will make you head/desk quite a bit. Completely avoidable car accidents. Boat accidents. Cliff accidents. The one saving grace, as it pertains to this specific issue, is that it also wears on the characters. Who, by the end, are just as hollowed out as we are. Seriously, the show becomes liberated – freed – when these guys start giving zero f***s about their overall life/death circumstance.

For those who didn’t watch the pilot, the basic premise here is that four college buddies get flown down by their “suspiciously retired-early” friend, Milo (Billy Zane). By the second day though, their good times bro-cation has turned sour as they start to see the dark side of Milo’s “paradise.” A deadly pissing contest between local drug lords, government operatives, and police taints the proceedings and it’s not long before they’ve all witnessed a brutal murder and are fending for their lives. With all of their past skeletons, and bitter lives of mediocrity, bubbling up to the surface to make everything even more difficult.

And the performances are incredible. Simply perfect work from Romany Malco, Steve Zahn, Michael Imperiolli, and Ben Chaplin (who starred in the U.K. series as the Milo character). Here, Chaplin plays Joel. Just a shipwreck of a human being. In my review of the first episode, he was my least favorite character. The way he desperately pined for Cobi’s (Zahn) wife. How pissy he was to everyone right from the get-go. But, surprisingly, on the show, he became one of the most fascinating players. “Dead inside” Joel, who we got the least information about with exact regards to “how his life fell apart,” became a boon for the series. His depression served him well here as he became one of the first to take all the hellfire and brimstone in stride. And not even care about his own survival. So, sorry Ben Chaplin, that I didn’t like you at first.

Everyone else was on point too though. Zahn’s Cobi, the most morally flexible (and self-serving) of the bunch, was a tremendous role. All the times he’d come this close to betraying/abandoning everyone. And all the times everyone else, eventually, just came around and accepted him for who he was. Thick or thin, a a guy who’ll crumble and look out for himself when times get tough. And both Malco and Imperolli, as the most earnest character and most fallen character, respectively, also both soared here. In fact, past history wise, the four kind of separate into two pairs. Malco’s Gus and Imperiolli’s Lex, who have serious agitated history, and Cobi and Joel, who have a woman splintering them. It works well.

By the fifth episode though, and I’ll keep it vague(ish) here, it was clear that the four of them couldn’t keep arguing amongst themselves much longer (though that still would continue on, just not as heavily). So the show literally had to bring in more characters for them to interact with. AKA argue with. Then, in Episode 6, the freak occurrences got out of a control with an event that worked to separate most everyone. Which was both good and bad. Good because they needed the space, and it gave a couple characters a chance to interact with some people in Belize who weren’t rotten crooks. But also a bit laughable given the way they all got waylaid.

Overall, I found this to be a rewarding series. It does get bogged down in completely maddening situations. And if you’re nervous someone who can’t handle constant, anxious “edge-of-your-seat” situations, then you may want to tune out. But there are also moments on this show that land expertly well. Just bullseye the mark. Some great emotional scenes. Some meditative dream-like moments involving jungle spirits, tapirs, tiny lizards, and goats. So I would recommend Mad Dogs. Perhaps though, as mentioned, watched in a more spread out way than how I viewed it.

[Watched all 10 Mad Dogs episodes? Here’s our Spoiler Discussion Page containing some of my thoughts on specific plot points and the ending.]