EPISODE
Comrade Detective - Season 1
In the thick of 1980's Cold War hysteria, the Romanian government created the country's most popular and longest-running series, Comrade Detective, a sleek and gritty police show that not only entertained its citizens but also promoted Communist ideals and inspired a deep nationalism. The action-packed and blood-soaked first season finds Detectives Gregor Anghel and Joseph Baciu investigating the murder of fellow officer Nikita Ionesco and, in the process, unraveling a subversive plot to destroy their country that is fueled by-what else-but the greatest enemy: Capitalism.
2 November 1974, Huntington, New York, USA
9 April 1990, Suceava, Romania
8 December 1953, Athens, Georgia, USA
18 November 1974, Springfield, Massachusetts, USA
August 07, 2017
The result is a kind of Mad magazine parody of tough-guy 1980s cop shows crossed with a Marxist-Leninist version of Woody Allen's hilariously counterfeit Japanese spy thriller What's Up, Tiger Lily?
August 09, 2017
It feels silly and outdated, yet the Communist propaganda parody is full of Marx references and witty nationalist gibes.
August 07, 2017
The jokes are more prickling than hilarious, though I do cherish the recurring gag of the extras -- street vendors and security guards -- being given the dopiest lines, voiced by the weakest actors.
August 16, 2017
It's a sketch the size of a miniseries, a molehill made into a mountain.
August 07, 2017
This six-episode series is meant to make us question the ways propaganda and slogans can infiltrate and influence society; a timely message wrapped tightly within an effective comedic conceit.
August 07, 2017
You could call Comrade Detective a one-joke affair, but that could also be said of Airplane. Inside that one joke, series creators Brian Gatewood and Alessandro Tanaka have built a deep reservoir of comedy.
August 04, 2017
It slips in commentary under the guise of laughter, but the point of the joke, whether you chuckle or not, sticks with you.
August 08, 2017
Faux-'80s Romanian cop series is a thought-provoking hoot.
August 17, 2017
And yet for all its off-the-wall wackiness and occasionally rococo caricatures, Comrade Detective is, in its own unique way, quite a serious little bit of telly.
August 07, 2017
The case itself is full of twists and suspense and plenty of 80s cop drama cliches, but the real genius comes with the political edge.