Last night I finished watching the second season of FUBAR, a Netflix series starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. It's a campy show about CIA operatives trying to balance work and family. The series starts off with Schwarzenegger's character, Luke Brunner, finishing his final job for the CIA before retiring so that he can win back his ex-wife, Tally. But, as it turns out, an urgent mission pops up that urgently requires his expertise. It is during this mission that he discovers his daughter, Emma Brunner, played by Monica Barbaro, is also a CIA operative, who is as good as him.
Season 1
In the first season, they face off against a villain who is driven by revenge against Luke and Emma for their betrayal. Luke's betrayal is from his past. Emma's betrayal is more recent. What can you say? Betrayal is part of the CIA job. The first season plot is to stop the villain, Boro, from building and selling portable nuclear weapons. It develops into a game of cat and mouse.
Most of the entertaining bits are watching Luke and Emma juggle their relationships with each other and the people they love. And, of course, you have to be alert to catch all the Schwarzenegger movie references.
In the first season, you get to meet the rest of the team:
Barry
Aldon
Roo
Tina
Dot
Dr. Pfeiffer
The writing is very campy, with tons of banter between the character. The show is meant to be entertaining, not realistic. You can expect to have some laughs. Part of that ridiculousness includes some gory bits as you would expect when bullets and bombs are involve.
Season 2
The second season of FUBAR is set up as the consequence of the end of the first season. But things get more complicated as the Brunner family is burned, causing them and two ex-boyfriends to all go into hiding together under the same roof until things are safe again.
The team is up against another villain, Dante Cress, who is far more effective at being 10 steps ahead than the previous. In fact, nobody knows Cress's identity. They bring in Carrie-Anne Moss to play Greta Nelso, a former soviet spy who was Brunner's love interest during the Cold War, and an equal match to Brunner's skill as a spy.
Each episode in both seasons revolves around individual missions, each ridiculous in their own way. It's fun to watch plans fall apart, yet the team manages to advance a bit by the end of each episode.
No Season 3
FUBAR did not get good ratings in the second season, although in my opinion, it was more entertaining than the first. Consequently, Netflix decided to not renew for a third season. The final episode was set up to continue the series, so there were loose ends. But even so, it was a satisfying finale.
The second season includes Carter and Donnie, the two exes of Emma and Tally, whose lives are essentially destroyed by the Brunners, which is reminiscent of the characters of Seinfeld wreaking havoc outside of their circle. And Tina, an NSA analyst assigned to Brunner's team, ends up a Russian prisoner, who the team decides to rescue at the closing.
I'm not expecting that a third season will be produced. But if it were, the pieces are there to pick up where the story left off. Luke may have finally gone into retirement, but he could always be written back in. An older character is necessary so that there are backstories for new episodes, which is more challenging when the cast are all relatively young.
I recommend watching FUBAR for a few laughs and witty banter. Each season is only 8 episodes, which makes it a small commitment. And given that it only has two seasons, you'll be in and out relatively quickly.