Vince Vaughn is the kind of actor you either love or hate. So far, Apple TV+ black comedy crime drama Bad Monkey is proving to be one of his best projects to date, receiving rave reviews. Set in Florida, from Miami to Key West, as well as in The Bahamas, the show hails from Bill Lawrence, known for creating other Apple TV+ hit shows Ted Lasso and Shrinking. It’s an interesting mix of some of the best aspects of both those series.
The series is a breezy, fun cat and mouse chase centered around a character written by Carl Hiaasen in his novel of the same name. Vaughn is at the center of the plot, though he’s joined by a talented group of other actors as main characters as well. The show has a 93% Rotten Tomatoes critic score so far, and for good reason.
What Is Bad Monkey About?
Bad Monkey introduces Andrew Yancy (Vaughn), a detective who, following bad behavior, ends up suspended. He’s sent to The Keys where he’s relegated to performing restaurant inspections, a job his counterpart in Hiaasen’s writing refers to as “Roach Patrol.” Yancy has a beautiful house on the beach and finds solace in this new, much quieter life. But he also yearns to be back in action in Miami.
As if a gift from the gods, a severed arm almost literally lands on Yancy’s lap from his old partner and friend Rogelio (John Ortiz). A fisherman found it in the water, and Rogelio needs to get it back to Miami. But red tape makes it difficult to do so without causing a stink, so he asks Yancy to do it for him. Yancy, who has a tendency to become obsessive with his cases, can’t just do the job and move on. He starts to dig around and uncovers a story that involves greed, corruption, and seedy characters.
As Yancy progresses through the investigation, hoping that solving it will get him back in the police chief’s good graces, he meets a variety of characters, including the beautiful Rosa (Natalie Martinez), a medical examiner who feels compelled to help. There’s also Eve Stripling (Meredith Hagner), the grieving widow of the man once attached to the aforementioned arm, who instantly draws suspicions. Yancy knows there’s more than meets the eye to her.
A secondary story is also happening in The Bahamas whereby a young man named Neville (Ronald Peet) is fighting a wealthy American man trying to build a resort on his land. Desperate to save his home, Neville enlists the help of Gracie, also known as Dragon Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith), to use her purported Obeah powers to help get rid of them.
The stories intersect eventually, but it’s some time before you see how. The same goes with the involvement of Bonnie Witt (Michelle Monaghan), a woman in an abusive marriage who has a casual relationship with Yancy and a dark past of her own.
It all comes to a head in the end as the tentacles of each story collide. Through the 10 episodes, a narrator walks you through the events, as if you’re flipping the pages of Hiaasen’s novel while watching. You’re being told a story from start to finish.
Bad Monkey Review
Vaughn is the type of polarizing actor who either draws fans in or stops people from watching a show or movie altogether because they can’t stand him. While his strength is in comedy, he has attempted dramatic roles in the past. One of the most notable is in True Detective, the role of a career criminal that didn’t exactly receive rave reviews (that season of the anthology series is widely considered to be its worst). Vaughn can tackle dramatic roles, but he’s best in the fast-talking, sarcastic supporting roles he plays so well.
As Yancy, he’s a mix of his own best qualities, a detective with talent, skill, and intuition, and a laisser-faire, sarcastic, self-deprecating attitude who beautifully leads the story. It almost seems like Hiaasen wrote the character for him. Sarcasm and wit are part of Yancy’s charm. While you would think this would turn people away, it just draws them closer to his intoxicating, magnetic energy.
Yancy does things his own way, and this makes for great television. He doesn’t listen to authority, which is what got him in hot water in the first place. And when his back is against the wall, he always finds a way out. It’s often in the most ridiculous ways and because of the impression he makes on just about everyone he meets.
While Vaughn is the protagonist, Hagner is arguably the break-out star of the show. Having previously had roles in series like As the World Turns and Broad City and movies like Palm Springs, Hagner hasn’t really had a major role in a high-profile movie or show yet. This could change for the actor – married to Wyatt Russell (son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn) – who really had her moment to shine in the role of Eve.
She’s captivating on screen as the flighty wife with a dark, psychopathic side. Once that side emerges, you view Eve in an entirely different light and realize how easily she’s able to fool others, too. Manipulative, lacking empathy, and out for only herself, you’ll appreciate Hagner’s brilliance each time she’s on screen.
Newcomer Peet is also a stand-out, a character you want to get behind (along with his adorable monkey). Rob Delaney as Nick Stripling, the presumed dead husband, is convincingly pitiful, willing to go to incredibly tragic places to be a person someone else needs him to be.
Smith is great as well as Dragon Queen, though both her role and that of Monaghan, even Alex Moffat as Yancy’s smarmy real estate developer neighbour, seem misplaced. The story could easily have moved forward without them. Though their characters play into the overall plot in important ways and add complexity (with Monaghan and Smith) and comic relief (with Moffat), Monaghan, especially, seems like too much salt added to the already cloudy water of the main plot. Her story is one for another day.
The core story wraps up with a moderately satisfying though anticlimactic end to a long, 10-episode build-up. It all comes down to personal growth (or not) for Yancy. This means many other characters fall by the wayside as he becomes the central focus once again.
Should You Watch Bad Monkey?
If you love the murder mystery genre, you might appreciate Bad Monkey. But you have to like Vaughn’s acting style in order to appreciate it. He tends to play the same character in every movie he’s in, reciting lines in a sometimes obnoxious, bumbling tone, and Bad Monkey is no different. But his charms just so happen to work for this character. He’s both endearing and annoying. You may only be able to take him in small doses, and Bad Monkey is all Yancy, all the time.
The plot is melodramatic, unbelievable, and runs off track at times into peripheral storylines that add to the drama in an interesting but non-essential way. Yet there’s still something fun about how everything intersects, once you finally get to see the full picture come into focus, that is.
With the beautiful backdrop of Florida and The Bahamas, the crisp, blue water, waving palm trees, and breezy buttoned shirts and sundresses, Bad Monkey is wonderful escapist fun that will inspire you to whip up a homemade Mojito before tackling the next episode. It’s a soapy procedural with dashes of comedy and traumatic stories of wealth, excess, and the lengths people will go to get (and keep) it.
Bad Monkey won’t draw you in immediately, but it gets better as it goes. It’s about a man trying to find his identity, and others doing what they feel they must do to become better versions of themselves. What that looks like for each person, however, is very different.
As a light, entertaining watch, Bad Monkey is worth the investment of time. Vaughn will have you giggling at times, other actors stealing the show at others. Yancy could become the next popular TV detective should the series receive a second season renewal. For now, dive in and test the waters: they’re warm and inviting, but filled with nasty sharks, too.
Stream Bad Monkey on Apple TV+. New episodes are released weekly through October 9, 2024.