Over the last few years, the adult sibling dynamic has been explored to great effect in a number of sharply funny and/or dramatically impactful series.
Think Carmy and “Sugar” Berzatto in “The Bear.” The Garvey quintet in “Bad Sisters.” Coop and Ali in “Your Friends & Neighbors.” The Friedkin brothers in “Black Rabbit.” Richard and Jon in the recent “American Classic.” Add to that stellar lineup the inspired pairing of Will Forte as Marty and D’Arcy Carden as his sister Vicki in the dark, brutal, and devilishly funny crime caper “Sunny Nights,” premiering March 11th on Hulu. This is the kind of cheerfully warped series that offers up an exploding crocodile, a nosediving aerial advertising plane, and the murder of a guy who is already dead as plot points—leaving us unsure of whether to cringe in horror or laugh. It’s usually a bit of both.
The Australia-set “Sunny Nights” is an original creation by Nick Keetch & Ty Freer, but it continually reminded me of Carl Hiaasen’s South Florida novels such as “Tourist Season,” “Skin Tight,” “Lucky You,” “Strip Tease” (which was turned into a terrible movie), and “Bad Monkey” (which was adapted into an excellent series on Apple TV). Like those works, the series relies on a cockeyed formula of sun-soaked noir, outlandish, blood-soaked wrongdoings that go spectacularly wrong, and a mixed bag of colorful characters. On “Sunny Nights,” with each new chapter, our anti-heroes get further tangled up in an increasingly complicated and dangerous web of crimes, cover-ups, lies, double-crosses, and double-double-crosses.
Sensible, strait-laced Martin Marvin (Forte) and his impetuous, underachieving sister Vicki Martin (Carden) are American siblings who have relocated to Sydney to launch Tansform, a fast-drying, non-sticky tanning solution. (The “Sunny Nights” title comes from the name of the rundown motel where Martin and Vicki are staying as they try to save their modest nest egg while scouring the cosmetic product convention circuit in search of investors.)
There are two reasons they’ve chosen this particular location:
A. Australia has one of the highest skin cancer rates in the world. That’s no laughing matter, but for Marvin and Vicki, it spells opportunity.
B. Martin is still hopelessly in love with his estranged wife Joyce (Ra Chapman), who is now living in Sydney and working as a journalist for a lightweight news outlet while hoping to score a big scoop.
“Sunny Nights” kicks off in breezy fashion, Forte and Carden expertly playing off one another as siblings who have always had each other’s backs but often get on each other’s nerves (as siblings do). Martin and Vicki are inherently likable characters, but you know how many lead characters in series such as this are usually the smartest people in the room? They’re almost never the smartest people in the room. Martin’s attempt to reconcile with Joyce goes up in flames when she says they should just be friends. That leaves Martin in a particularly vulnerable state, leading to him being catfished and having to come up with $10,000, pronto.
Thus begins the plot domino game of one bad decision leading to another, and another, and another. (Sometimes it’s Martin making the gaffe. Sometimes it’s Vicki. Sometimes they pair up to make some spectacularly bad choices.) Over the course of eight episodes that sometimes stretch for a beat too long, Martin and Vicki remain determined to make Tansform a success by any means necessary—even as they find themselves in very real danger of sustaining serious bodily harm or getting killed.
Jessica De Gouw is a standout as Susi, a gorgeous, charming conwoman who is beginning to develop a conscience. Rachel House is a menacing force as the mob boss Mony, a quirky, violent oddball out for revenge who casually tortures anyone who gets in her way. Megan Wilding is a deadpan treasure as Nova, a hapless animal handler who teams up with Joyce to investigate the mystery of the aforementioned exploding crocodile. Former professional rugby league footballer Willie Mason plays, well, a former professional rugby league footballer—but this guy is a brutally efficient standover man who is dealing with the crippling effects of severe head trauma from his playing days.
Some characters are more fully realized and given more to do than others, e.g., Joyce, who remains on the periphery for much of the time and seems a bit wishy-washy. (Martin might have a more interesting and exciting life were he to move on from Joyce and get to know Susi better.)
By the eighth episode, we feel as if we’ve earned some closure—but “Sunny Nights” leaves just about everything unresolved, clearly setting things up for a Season 2. If that happens, I’d be willing to make the time investment, but the payoffs should start coming early and often.
Whole season screened for review. Premieres March 11th on Hulu and Disney+.