I, like most of you I'm assuming, cringed when you heard Ricky Gervais would be playing a mentally retarded man in a nursing home. I felt like his heart was in the right place, but I put it on the back burner for a week or two. That was a shame, because it's a soberingly honest show with nothing but love for the handicapped. Mentally or otherwise.
It doesn't make the character of Derek precious or anything. Like the criminally underrated "The Ringer"it shows the handicapped as they are. Not too dim, not too likable, just human. My biggest mistake was thinking it was a comedy, but like Orange is the New Black before it, I adjusted to how bleak it was going to be. The first five minutes felt like an entire episode, that's how draining it is. This is not a "curl up with a cup of tea before bed" kind of a deal, you gotta be ready to feel for the twilight years of your fellow man. Derek's sh*t is real, I guess we have Netlix to thank for that.
But that's not to say it isn't funny, hamster on a piano is gonna be stuck in my head for weeks, but it is more of a character piece. Karl Pilkington plays along as the caretaker the best he can. If you don't know the back story on the guy you may have no idea what I'm talking about. But watching the look behind his eyes that scream "I can't believe Ricky talked me into this" adds another extra layer that makes him even more strangely endearing.
So... yeah, it's pretty damn good. Somber, but poignant. It's worth a shot.
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