“Dummy” Review by Josh Davis (Quibi Series) : Pop Culture Leftovers

“Dummy” Review by Josh Davis (Quibi Series)

May 25, 2020 11:13 am |

Dan Harmon’s real-life girlfriend, Cody Heller, finds his sex doll, befriends it, and decides to team up to work on a spec script for a new television show.

That’s the elevator pitch for “Dummy,” Heller’s bizarre and wonderful new show on fledgling streaming service Quibi.

The series stars Anna Kendrick as Heller, Donal Logue (“Gotham,” about 1,000 other projects) as Harmon, and Meredith Hagner (“Horse Girl”) as the voice of Barbara, the sex doll come to life.

And, yes, series creator Heller wrote herself and her real-life significant other into this bonkers series, and the show has a lot of fun with the fact that she lives in the shadow of Harmon, the creator of “Community” and “Rick and Morty.”

In the first episode (each ranges from 6 to 9 minutes) Heller (the character) finds Harmon’s sex doll and is startled when it comes to life as a horny, crude, slightly woke version of, perhaps, her inner self.

Heller accidentally tears part of the doll’s arm and scrambles to get it fixed, taking it to a sex doll warehouse, which is apparently a thing. The clerk inspects the doll and says it would be better to just replace it — wear and tear is a bitch — but Heller cannot bear to part with Barbara.

Later, at Barbara’s request, Heller also helps to upgrade the doll’s vagina to the latest model, and the two go on a brief road trip that culminates in both of them being trapped in a convenience store during a robbery. Luckily, the robber is a big “Rick and Morty” fan.

Kendrick is totally game with playing an over-the-top, neurotic and chronically self-doubting meta-parody of Heller, and the show treats Barbara not as a psychosis, but rather as a natural thing that would happen to any young, struggling writer living in the shadow of a very famous boyfriend. The series also milks the living heck out of Harmon’s fame, and Logue is wonderfully cast as the talented writer/creator.

The weird, soft-lit, slightly off putting (but on purpose?) CGI used to bring Barbara to life also works well, and Hagner as a voice actor goes a long way toward making an unbelievable character feel believable.

Barbara is constantly talking down to Heller, bitchy, condescending, full of bad ideas and constantly horny. She is, after all, a sex doll.

There’s also a fascinating feminist undercurrent, and the show explores it both ironically and candidly in conversations between Heller and Barbara.

Director Tricia Brock (episodes of “The Walking Dead” and “30 Rock,” among others) also deserves a lot of credit for bringing this insane concept to life.

“Dummy” is, in essence, a perfect, twisted product of a talented writer who is frustrated by self-doubt and living in the shadow of someone she is close with. That it’s so surreal, gross, funny, smart and self-aware also makes it a perfect companion for shows like the mighty “Community” and “Rick and Morty.”

Heller, as writer and series creator, ought to be recognized as an impressive voice all her own. Here, she proves she can stand alone and create something utterly unique, rude, smart, twisted, and utterly watchable.