I want to spend this review talking about synergy–that is, how a certain cast can invariably improve a show when it interacts. Mr. Sunshine isn’t a one man show, but it’s so distinctly splintered that you can’t really see whether the cast works in its entirety. As far as I can remember, Ben has had almost no lines with Alice or Alonzo. Wasn’t there this love triangle thing in the pilot?
“Hostile Workplace” is separated into two distinct parts, Ben trying to remember everyone’s names and Crystal possibly being very racist. Both are pretty good, but one thing stands out to me. The writers don’t even try to blend the two together. No glib remark from Ben to Alice or from Alice to Ben.
In many ways, Mr. Sunshine resembles Better Off Ted, another show about a wacky workplace environment. One of the main differences is that the characters talked to each other, and the bonds grew between the characters as the series progressed. Mr. Sunshine, however, is content to sit back and isolate the characters in their own plots.
Score: 8.5/10
