To quote a title by children’s book author Wilson Rawls: This has become the summer of the monkeys.
Before we get to HBO’s Chimpanzee crazy and Netflix The secret life of orangutansFans of monkey art will enjoy Apple TV+’s Evil Monkeya Carl Hiaasen adaptation of the streamer’s comedy patron, Bill Lawrence (Ted Lasso, shrinkage).
Evil Monkey
The conclusion
Show me the monkey!
Broadcast date: Wednesday, August 14 (Apple TV+)
Pour: Vince Vaughn, Michelle Monaghan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Meredith Hagner, Rob Delaney, Natalie Martinez, L. Scott Caldwell, Ronald Peet and John Ortiz
Creator: Bill Lawrence
Contrary to the name of the series and the novel, the titular monkey is not actually evil. Played by the experienced animal actress Crystal – you know her from Community, Friends and more—she’s actually pretty good, reliable for reactive cutscenes or wild, furry hijinks. She (actually, Crystal plays a character who seems to identify as male, but we’re not going down the ape pronoun route here) doesn’t always feel particularly connected to the plot of Evil Monkeybut it’s charming and fun to just have them around.
And that pretty much sums up my feeling of Evil Monkey: As a crime thriller or semi-thriller, it doesn’t work at all; its twists are clumsily executed, its stakes are weak and, especially in the finale, its plot threads aren’t convincingly resolved. It is, however, wry, loose and sun-kissed in a way that appropriately reflects Hiaasen’s tone. With a stellar cast led by Vince Vaughn, Natalie Martinez, Michelle Monaghan and Jodie Turner-Smith, and an impeccable eye for Florida locations, this is a pleasant way to spend 10 hours.
And did I mention the monkey?
Vaughan plays Andrew Yancy, a former Miami detective who is sent to the Keys after a scandal and given the ignominious title of restaurant inspector. Yancy is fiercely committed to the truth and has no sense of self-preservation, which both impresses and irritates his friend and former partner Rogelio (John Ortiz).
Things aren’t going so well for Yancy professionally, but he has a perfect cottage on a picturesque stretch of beach and a spirited if enigmatic girlfriend (Bonnie, played by Monaghan), so he’s content.
This contentment is disrupted by the savvy developer (Evan, played by Alex Moffatt) who is building a monstrous McMansion next to Yancy’s apartment, and by a severed arm that Yancy is ordered to bring to Miami. The arm belongs to the husband of Eve (Meredith Hagner), whose grief is so unconvincing to Yancy that he and the cheeky medical examiner Rosa (Martinez) launch an investigation.
They have every reason to be suspicious, as Eve has ties to the shady Christopher (Rob Delaney), another developer trying to buy up property in a sleepy town in the Bahamas. There we meet Neville (Ronald Peet), a Bahamian fisherman who shares Yancy’s desire for a simple life and is willing to do anything – including recruiting the Obeah-practicing priestess known as the Dragon Queen (Turner-Smith) – to protect the island’s purity.
Oh, and Neville has a monkey (Crystal) who loves grapes and funerals.
The story is narrated by a gruff, Jimmy Buffett-esque charter boat captain (Tom Nowicki) and features an ensemble cast of eccentrics, including Charlotte Lawrence as Eve’s flighty stepdaughter; Zach Braff as a sleazy doctor with the unlikely name Israel O’Peele; David St. Louis as a soulful gangster named Egg; Ashley Nicole Black as a sarcastic government agent; and Lost Veteran L. Scott Caldwell as Ya-Ya, the Dragon Queen’s grandmother.
In some episodes, the narrator bridges the Florida/Bahamas storylines, repeatedly promising that it is a single story, even if the merging is never elegant. A “reveal” at the end of the first episode reveals nothing resembling what the series thinks it is revealing, and another at the end of the third episode is more confusing than satisfying. In general, there is a conflict of sensibilities between the flashier, glossier, darker instincts of director Marcos Siega and the looser and lighter strengths of the writing team. The former group approaches Evil Monkey as if the show is meant to captivate you, when really it feels like it’s meant to be watched as far back as humanly possible in a pastel-colored Adirondack house. Because when it’s just the characters’ banter, the series can be delightful.
The interplay between Vaughn, who is a little too old for the role but still a real villain, and Martinez, who is feisty and flirtatious in a way she has rarely shown, is thoroughly engaging. And Monaghan keeps popping up with that evil glint in her eye that has been so underused since. Kiss, kiss, bang, bangand really brings tension into a love triangle.
Mixing sweetness and strychnine, Hagner is a classic Goldie Hawn, which is even better when you know that her mother-in-law is… Goldie Hawn. Her effervescent energy finds a perfect counterpart in Delaney, so tall and so dark.
The Bahamas side of the story is more dramatic despite the presence of the titular monkey, marked by Peet’s understated sincerity and Turner-Smith’s wild intensity. These two actors get moments of characterization that have nothing to do with murder and intrigue. But Evil Monkey Do you have any insight into, for example, the tourist exploitation of the Bahamas or the Obeah traditions? No.
The show never quite manages to capture Hiaasen’s satirical side, his very specific perspective on Florida’s con artists and trespassers, instead settling for gentle mockery of corrupt institutions and the nouveau riche. It’s all surface level, but when the surface is this beautiful – white sand beaches, sparkling blue water, condensation glistening on a cold beer – you might enjoy spending some time on it.
