‘Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Gauntlet’ Deserves to Be Your Thanksgiving Binge

It’s starting to get a bit embarrassing for the rest of television’s reboots. For the second time in a row Netflix and the bad movie-hating crew crew have delivered a perfect reboot in the form of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Gauntlet. And it feels as effortless as breathing scientifically-enhanced space air.

For those not part of this particular cult of terrible movie appreciation, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) originally ran for 11 years from 1988 to 1999. Even though it saw different hosts during its decade plus run — Joel Hodgson and later Michael J. Nelson — the same thing happened every episode. An assortment of kooky robots and one human prisoner  were forced to watch painfully terrible movies. The only way to preserve their sanity is to mock each film ruthlessly. It’s basically a movie roast with a sci-fi theme and a lot of extra steps.

And in its 2018 installment, MST3K is just as silly, dumb, and delightful as ever. This time our human test subject Jonah has to endure six new atrocities: the E.T. knockoff Mac and Me, the hilariously named Atlantic Rim, the aquatic thrillers Lords of the Deep and Killer Fish, a time travel horror movie called The Day Time Ended, and some nonsense called Ator: The Killer Eagle. How we’ll ever survive these crimes against cinema remains to be seen.

But for all the ways this season is a return to form, there are some things that have changed in the age of The Gauntlet. For one thing in its second season MST3K doesn’t seem so desperate to sell viewers on its new host, Jonah Ray. As he proved during MST3K: The Return Ray is the ideal host-slash-intergalactic hostage, easily and joyfully able to switch between quippy barbs and faux panic while always resting in the realm of fun and funny instead of scathing. Under Ray the series maintains the communal joy that’s always made it great.

Likewise the series’ deep space villains seem more relaxed in their roles than even before. Felicia Day’s Kinga Forrester revels in her manic, confusing brand of evil with a level of campiness that suits the actress well. And Patton Oswalt’s Max is just along for the ride, taking his rightful place beside Day as the king of nerds. Whereas the first season, The Return, relied largely on tongue-in-cheek celebrity guest appearances to propel it from cinematic takedown to cinematic takedown, The Gauntlet is confident to exist in its own world. It’s a season that’s surer and as a result funnier than the one before.

When you’re stuffed with turkey and uncomfortably full, there’s only one thing you want to do — veg out on the couch to enjoy something funny and moderately family friendly. That exactly the type of viewing experience Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Gauntlet provides. This Thanksgiving there’s no better side dish that a laugh-filled adventure aboard the Satellite of Love.

Watch Mystery Science Theater: The Gauntlet on Netflix