Bad Thoughts Review: This Netflix black comedy series is presented as small vignettes and explores provocative themes in the most disturbing way possible. Each story starts off differently and takes a shocking turn somewhere in the middle, leading to an unpredictable ending. It pushes the boundaries of decency in the most unhinged ways.
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Bad Thoughts Netflix Cast
Tom Segura, Robert Iler, Daniella Pineda, Arturo Castro, Bobby Lee, Nic Novicki, Johnny Pemberton, Rachel Bloom, Kirk Fox, Christina Pazsitzky
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Creator
Tom Segura
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Directors
Rami Hachache, Jeremy Konner, Tom Segura
The series has 6 episodes, each lasting around 20 minutes. Each episode tells 3 different stories about something extremely disturbing!
Bad Thoughts Review
In this Netflix absurdist comedy series, Tom Segura plays a bunch of different characters who all border on insane and sometimes overcome that line as well. The series follows a ton of different stories about these different intrusive thoughts that we sometimes have and unabashedly brings them forth for fans—unbashedly being the operative word here.
The Tom Segura Netflix series markets itself as a dark comedy, which it isn’t. It’s gross and disgusting and maybe sometimes a little disturbing. But it’s definitely not dark in the sense that you relate to it on a very disturbing level. It doesn’t make you think in any particular way other than to make you scrunch your nose. I mean, I did find some of the skits funny but really, the material here can be simplified down to poop and boob jokes told with adult language.
And that’s fine, if you’re in the mood for that kind of humour. It does make you chuckle a few times, but after the first couple of stories, you realise it’s like watching a child vomit some juvenile jokes that they heard somewhere. Segura described it as Black Mirror but funnier in an interview, which I think is completely untrue, in my opinion. It’s not that funny, and neither is it shockingly effective at giving you goosebumps.
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It’s just… a lot of taboo subjects which are taboo for good reason. Sometimes, some of the stories feel forced and unnecessary and do nothing other than make you question which life decisions brought you to this show. It’s disgusting for the sake of being disgusting and doesn’t have any nuance or complexity. I guess it does justice to its title, but there isn’t much else beyond that.
I think the actors do a great job here, and it is one of the biggest reasons it’s watchable. I found Robert Iler’s storyline to be rather funny, although the gratuitous amount of sex jokes does make you feel a bit depressed afterwards. I also found that the attention to detail added what was necessary to make this work. Every scene looks absolutely stunning! The action sequences are also really great and surprisingly enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
There are some stories in this series that are quite entertaining but other than that, it’s a really immature and juvenile show about poop and sex. I guess I would’ve enjoyed it if I were a teenager. As an adult, it just feels silly and a waste of time. I think a more varied number of stories would’ve made all the difference here. It’s not like the series is unfunny; it just gets a bit repetitive after a while because we cycle through the same stuff over and over again. Considering the featured actors, that’s just unfortunate.
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