18/26
Remake of El agente topo (2020)
Charles, a retired man, gets a new lease on life when he answers an ad from a private investigator and becomes a mole in a secret investigation in a nursing home.. Based on the Chilean documentary "El Agente Topo". Writing a review of this show requires familiarity with the context and content.
Having three parents dealing with the challenges of assisted living made this more enjoyable and more affecting
Ted Danson plays an octogenarian widower (Charles) who is struggling with establishing a new routine after the passing of his wife due to dementia related health issues. Through a series of classic sitcom plot devices, Charles secures a job as an undercover detective in an assisted living facility (what used to be referred to as an 'old folks home’) to solve a jewelry theft. His boss, Lilah Richcreek Estrada as Julie, is a black and white, anything goes to solve the case, sarcastic foil for Danson’s kind hearted and square Charles.
Also fun are the dead on jokes and commentary on assisted living and the things that happen there
The two are quickly put at odds with the facility’s director (well played by Stephanie Beatriz as Didi), Charles' daughter Emily (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) and the various residents and their many goofy issues. There are several poorly conceived shticks focused around older women being randy that don’t fit the rest of the stories, and the outrageously disrespectful (and interchangeable) three teenage sons of Charles’s daughter are distracting and throwaway. The best parts are Charles’s slow immersion in his new community with a few social connections with other residents, especially Caleb, played by Stephen McKinley Henderson.
The awkward banter between Charles and boss Julie is funny
And while daughter Emily’s home life is not all that interesting, it sets up a couple of great scenes between her and Charles in the later episodes. The wrap up isn’t terribly hard to figure out (who stole what , and what will happen to Charles), but the sentimental parts of Charles’s reawakening and acceptance of his wife’s death are very worthwhile. There are some small parts played by old stars (Sally Struthers, Veronica Cartwright) that might make older viewers smile, but are mostly wasted on nonsense jokes about old people and sex.