Bad Monkey

Based on Carl Hiaasen’s novel of the same name, Bad Monkey (created for the screen by Scrubs and Ted Lasso’s Bill Lawrence) sees Vince Vaughn star as off-the-job detective Andrew Yancy. He enjoys nothing more than watching the wildlife visit his garden in his home in the Florida Keys. However, his tranquillity is interrupted when his former police partner (John Ortiz) arrives with a severed arm that was discovered by someone on a fishing trip. Yancy is tasked with delivering the limb to the police department on the promise that he’d get his job back, but when nobody is willing to take on the case he decides to hang onto the arm and investigate for himself. Meanwhile, in Barbados, Neville (Ronald Peet) enlists the help of a voodoo queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) to get rid of a US developer wanting to turn his land into a luxury resort.

Within the first two episodes of this latest Apple TV+ show, Bad Monkey sets up the foundation of a tantalising mystery. Though the arm’s owner is first thought to have met their end via a shark attack, more questions are raised when the woman believed to have been his wife (Meredith Hagner) doesn’t appear concerned by the loss. Adding to the intrigue is the sudden murder of the person who found the arm, with a religious group and the shady past of Yancy’s sort-of-girlfriend (Michelle Monaghan) somehow also playing a part within this grand conspiracy. Combine all of this with Neville’s parallel story, and there are a lot of compelling moving parts at play here.

There’s a dash of pulpy noir crime thriller strewn throughout the Florida sunshine. From the tongue-in-cheek narrator to the collection of oddball characters encountered so far, this show’s central intrigue is backed up by a unique personality. Although not all the jokes work (many of which rely on juvenile shock humour), the result nevertheless makes for entertaining viewing that Vaughn’s easy-going comedic persona effortlessly fits into.

Wrapping an engrossing mystery within a delightfully pulpy tone and parallel storylines, Bad Monkey has the makings of a highly enjoyable addition to Apple TV+’s catalogue of prestigious shows.

Andrew Murray

Bad Monkey is released on Apple TV+ on 14^th August 2024.

Watch the trailer for Bad Monkey here: