Dr_Mike1906

As an entry in the kid-friendly animation genre, this show is profoundly disappointing, primarily due to its muddled premise and an even more convoluted plot. Its direction fails to settle on a consistent antagonist-is it Ace's little sister, the archetypal mean girl, the next door bully, or the supervillain with the Oedipal complex?

After viewing 12 episodes I found that the character dynamics were uniquely troublesome. The protagonist, the titular Ace seems to be universally disliked; even his supposed ally, HUGO, treats him poorly. This contributes to a cast of characters that are, for the most part, one-note, forgettable, unfunny, boring, and unlikable-Ace included. Indeed, the show is devoid of any truly likeable personalities. Ace himself seems to grapple with low self-esteem, continually pursuing the mean girl who seems to genuinely despise him. The adult characters, such as his rarely seen parents, offer very little positive role models.

This show clearly struggles to establish a consistent identity, often appearing to desperately grasp at any available trope, including resorting to crude, low-effort gags. Unfortunately, it often devolves into toilet humor, such as graphically depicting dog waste or the antagonist falling headfirst into a pile of elephant dung or staging a confrontation between Ace and this same antagonist in the sewer tunnels. The contrived setup for this scene involved Ace's mother having fed the entire town bran cookies. These sequences were utterly disgusting and served no purpose in advancing the plot or enhancing the episodes in any way. The gross-out humor felt gratuitous, incongruous, and ultimately, not humorous despite its vulgarity.

Perhaps the most unforgivable flaw is that none of the characters manage to be even a little interesting or entertaining. It seems the creators mistakenly believed a loud soundtrack and a sped up pace could replace genuine action, a strategy that ultimately fails. Consequently, it is hardly surprising that in over a decade since its premiere, I had never heard of this show, nor had it been recommended by any of my streaming services. It is a mystery how this show is rated this high on this site or the glowing critique from the only other reviewer. It is very suspicious. The fact that it was nominated for an International Emmy Award does not speak well for the Academy or its selection process.

I don't know what to make of this show; it simply doesn't seem to work on multiple levels. As a sitcom, it fails because the subject matter is grave and frankly, it's just not funny. It also doesn't qualify as good satire or social commentary due to a lack of realism, nuance, and a cohesive point of view. Adding to this, most of the characters are not very approachable or relatable.

My difficulty connecting with the show is heavily influenced by my own experiences, particularly the period immediately following 9/11. I remember vividly the horrific racism and vitriol aimed at anyone who was perceived as brown or even olive-skinned. I had friends who were not from the Middle East or even Muslim - they were Hindus from India - and they suffered vandalism, including keyed cars and broken windows. Their garage was graffitied with all kinds of racial slurs and obscenities. Another friend from Cyprus, who is essentially Greek and belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church, endured similar abuse.

Friends who were actually Muslims with Middle Eastern heritage tried everything to convey their allegiance to the US. They had been born here and had never even visited the Middle East. One even joined the Army Reserve to show his patriotism, though I tried to warn him that it might not have the desired outcome.

Understanding the father in this show leaning into ultra-patriotism is easier for me, given my family background. My great aunt was in the Women's Army Corps during WWII, and my dad served in the Navy as Recon during the Vietnam War. They both hoped that as veterans, they would be treated better, but were deeply disappointed and demoralized, which tragically led both down a path of addiction and mental health issues from untreated/undiagnosed PTSD.

However, I was deeply confused by the mother's actions. Getting rid of the Americanized name, Sharon, that she had adopted long ago, insisting on being called Shari'a, and then starting to wear a hijab - something she hadn't done before 9/11 - was baffling. It's inexplicable why she would choose that specific time to start doing those things, when it would clearly make her and her family targets for bigotry and abuse. I could understand if she had already been doing these things and continued afterwards, but I don't recall anyone in real life doing this right after 9/11. Such actions, regardless of intent, would have been interpreted by bad actors as a message of solidarity or pride in what had just occurred (which was not true, of course) and would have definitely led to them being targeted for abuse.

I watched the first four episodes, hoping that they would catch their stride and make more sense, but that has not happened. I do not know who their targeted audience is, but I guess it does not include me, because I did not like it very much.