It’s Bruno – Netflix Season 1 Review

Episode Guide

Operation Turkey Meat
Sh*t and Run
An Angie Is Born
Lovely Lulu
War of the Walkers
Rock Bottom
Ranger Danger
Welcome Bruno

A dog is a man’s best friend. Or, in the case of dog-owner Malcolm, a life companion and a partner in crime. Across 8 episodes, we’re introduced to his world, along with a handful of colourful characters and dog-related comedy to mixed effect. With a lot of the jokes revolving around dog poo and contrived left-field slapstick, It’s Bruno is a bizarre and oftentimes off-key comedy that’s certainly more of an acquired taste than it perhaps should be. There will be some who absolutely take to this series and love Malcolm and Bruno’s misadventures but given the sheer number of quality comedies on Netflix as of late, It’s Bruno pales in comparison.

Each of the episodes have a loose overarching story stringing them together, mostly revolving around ongoing drama between Malcolm and the other residents in the neighbourhood. However, every episode acts as a standalone tale with a different issue for the duo to overcome. From a new member of the neighbourhood leaving dog poo on the floor to Bruno getting in trouble with a park ranger for defecating where he shouldn’t, a lot of these issues are simple and generally revolve around cheap toilet humour to bring the laughs in. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with that but the actual episodic content fails to really bring about a compelling arc at the end.

The characters that crop up through each episode are ultimately what keep things entertaining though. From a man selling items from his supermarket trolley to one of his neighbours calling Bruno “Charlie”, these on-running jokes do well to keep things consistent, even if the narratives don’t always follow suit. Still, these character interactions and the on-going drama they all share is really the main redeeming part of It’s Bruno.

Most of the episodes rely heavily on the over-the-top style of humour and ridiculousness of the premise so expect plenty of slow motion shots, extreme close-ups of dog poo and one-dimensional characters to make up the bulk of run-time. To be fair, late on Malcolm does show some range though and the final episode closes things out on a suitably amusing note, with a musical montage of all the characters we’ve met across the 8 episodes in a supermarket. The same supermarket Bruno was unable to enter during the first episode in a nice touch of poetic justice.

It’s Bruno will find its market and there will certainly be those who take to this style of humour. With a bit of variety to the episodes and a more cohesive narrative across the episodes, this 8 part comedy series could be a really entertaining and engaging series. There’s certainly good pockets of humour here though but it all feels recycled and fails to really add anything we haven’t seen before elsewhere. If you like the idea of constant dog poo jokes and simple slapstick humour, It’s Bruno will definitely be a show for you but those looking for something with a little more depth and dimension may be left disappointed here.

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