FUBAR is an American action spy-comedy series created for Netflix by Nick Santos. Arnold Schwarzenegger is back on the screen and stars in his first leading role in a TV series. FUBAR was released on 25 May 2023.
The premise of the story is about an old CIA agent who is about to retire, when he is called in to do one last assignment, where he discovers he is not the only family member who is in the CIA business and now they have to navigate the years of lies while trying to stop a terrorist who poses a global threat.
The Good
He said he would be back… I am an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan, he is one of my fave childhood action heros and aside from cameo appearances in some feature films this is the side of Arnie that never gets explored. Plus the series is packed with easter eggs from Arnie’s vast acting career.
The show feels reminiscent of the 90s movie True Lies it could almost pass for a sequel or spin off show exploring the more domesticated and comedic side of Arnold. You can tell the man was having a blast in his role.
Arnie has typically been cast as this no nonsense last action hero type, but in FUBAR he gets to flex a bit of comedic muscle while balancing the roles of a family man and a soon to be retired CIA agent. The show alternates between spy missions and therapy sessions and sometimes literally, with a therapist as the characters offload emotional baggage.
The Bad
The show has characters who seem dedicated to comic relief and at times the humour can be over-powering or a bit cringe. There’s actually several characters who could have been better utilised instead of simply as props for comedic elements.
The show is a bit over the place, like literally, the characters travel from one place to another in search of their targets and engage in pursuits then switch back to a domestic life and family drama which makes the pacing a bit helter skelter.
The show wants to portray the view of how relationships and family are sacrificed as collateral in the spy-world, lessons the veteran Luke Brenner should have learnt and yet they seem doomed to keep repeating the very same actions that lead them to where they are.. like seriously? A bit of character growth would have been appreciated.
The Ugly
While Arnie can hold his own, I am not entirely a fan of that one last job and then you retire trope as it predictably never turns out that way. While they tried to do great work with the stunt doubles for the action scenes featuring Arnie, some of it didnt come out believable.
There is a particular scene which referenced a villainous character being extradited to Zimbabwe (of all places) and how because of the corruption there he would buy himself out of incarceration plus governments playing nice to access Zimbabwe’s lithium mines…
We may have our problems but am not a fan of catching strays of being stereotyped as a corrupt state plus the plunder of our resources. We are not our corruption and there’s plenty of good things going on around us… and we actually do have lithium deposits which other states have their eyes on.
I had really hoped the show would leave us with another iconic catch phrase but what we get is “That’s it and that’s all…” Well, that’s it and that’s all.
Final Thoughts
It’s a fun easy going watch with funny one liners and of course Arnold Schwarzenegger really holds it together. I Googled FUBAR to see what it means…
FUBAR is mililtary slang to describe something that is thoroughly confused, disordered, damaged or ruined that is Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. … This pretty much sums up the state of things when you get to the last episode leaving room for a second season.
Netflix has not yet announced if FUBAR will get approval for a second season but having spent 3 weeks at the top of Netflix Charts the numbers indicate that renewal is highly likely.
Have you watched it? Is it something you would watch?
Becoming The Muse 
Your thoughts.. if you will?