A Reefer Review On the Netflix Original Series Disjointed
This weekend I binged Netflix latest addition to their original series entitled “Disjointed” which deals about an old-hippy cannabis activist Ruth Whitefeather Feldman (played by Kathy Bates) and her cannabis dispensary.
I’m always skeptical when it comes to “stoner comedies” as some of them can be brilliant masterpieces like Pineapple Express or a terrible insult to intelligence such as The Stoned Age. Irrespective of how I felt when I saw the first episode of Disjointed, I decided to venture through the entire series and give you an honest review about the good, the bad and whether it’s worth actually spending any time on this flick.
What is Disjointed All About?
Loosely based on the life of Dr. Dina (the person who sells Snoop his reefer), the series follows the activities in a dispensary in L.A located in some strip mall. The colorful cast includes stereotypes of all genders and races and deals with themes like “stoners, medical cannabis, medical cannabis conditions, politics” and so forth.
The format of the show follows your traditional sitcom formula however with a Mature rating; so like “How I Met Your Mother” but where they are allowed to say things like “motherfucker” and “Fucksticks”.
Throughout the series, there are small animated tidbits which visually were quite amazing and did much to help advance the narrative in a cheap yet engaging way.
What I Liked About Disjointed
There were several things about Disjointed that I liked. The entire concept of the story is highly relevant and sets a scene for some comedic gold. Additionally, I liked that they dealt with some sensitive political and social issues surrounding cannabis. It helped bring the conversation more to the forefront of the societal dialogue.
Some of the jokes and characters were funny. The intro was sped up after about 2-3 episodes, so you didn’t have to “Skip Intro” every time. I thought this was a nice detail to aimed towards to the stoner community.
The Animated parts of the series were probably my favorite parts of the show. I am especially referring to the PTSD animation they did in episode 3, which hit the nail on the head in terms of explaining the interaction of cannabis and PTSD.
What I didn’t like about Disjointed
To be honest, Disjointed would never make my top ten stoner comedy list for a wide number of reasons. The first being the forceful nature of the comedy. I know, millions of people loved “How I Met Your Mother” and even I was at one point watching that shit, interested in finding out what would happen next.
However, my “style” of Comedy aligns more to darker shades of humor. Shows like “It’s always sunny in Philadelphia” and “Rick and Morty” hit me right in the ‘funny bone’. I feel that the dialogue evolves more naturally within those shows than for instance “Friends” or “How I Met your Mother”.
Disjointed was more your “Friends-style” comedy, meaning at times the dialogue didn’t feel natural and the jokes were obviously forced for the sake of formula. It’s copy/paste humor, except relating to weed.
Another think I wasn’t quite fond of was the depiction of cannabis smokers. We know that potheads exist, however they aren’t hyper-active fucktards with no regards for anyone else. Of course, those people exist…but they are the within the minority.
Within the show Disjointed, two characters “Dabby and Danks”, two Youtube Ganja Celebrities, pissed me off beyond belief. Sure, within the script they were deemed the buffoons, however the delivery of the ultra-stoner was ‘way over shot’. At many times, the show did a disservice to the image of the cannabis community, despite the fact that it aimed to do the exact opposite.
Finally, the stereotyping within the show made the characters feel “plastic” and shallow. Some of them were relying too heavily on their stereotype to be funny than actually trying to be funny which made some of the jokes seem watered down to suit the lowest common denominator.
Should you watch Disjointed?
This is the tricky part of the article. Should you watch Disjointed or do something better with your time?
Well, I think the answer falls within preferences. For instance, if you love cannabis and loved shows like Friends and How I met Your Mother…I’m almost certain you’ll find Disjointed a perfect show for you. It combines all the things you like into one solid show.
HOWEVER…
If you’re like me, a dark motherfucker who likes to tip-toe on the “taboo subjects of life” and can make fun of anything from mass murder to world hunger…and you like cannabis…this show will probably piss you off.
I had to smoke about five joints throughout the entire show to get through it, and while there were aspects I did enjoy…my overall reaction was “meh”.
As I mentioned, the concept is good…they should just steer clear from the “Big Bang Theory” style comedy and embrace something closer to the lines of Weeds or Pineapple Express, where the idea of fiction and reality often gets blurred as characters are forced to deal with real world issues…
However, that’s just my take on it…If you do decide to watch it…I’d like to hear your views on the show.
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