Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
One of the most popular shows on Netflix this week is actually a Crackle show. StartUp, starring Adam Brody and Martin Freeman, explores the dark underbelly of cryptocurrency. The slow burn drama first premiered on free streaming platform Crackle in 2016, but hasn’t enjoyed any real heat until all three seasons of StartUp landed on Netflix this month. StartUp‘s newfound success comes at a moment when cryptocurrency is dominating the financial landscape. So does this prove that StartUp was secretly ahead of its time? Or is it just a measure of how powerful Netflix’s reach is?
StartUp tells the story of how four total strangers find themselves inextricably linked thanks to crooked offshore deals, rampant avarice, and a new cryptocurrency startup. Izzy Morales (Otmara Marrero) is an ambitious young programmer with a potentially world-changing idea: GenCoin, a cryptocurrency that should be able to reach people all over the world, even those cut off from normal banking practices. While Izzy’s intent is noble, her sales pitch puts her in contact with Nick Talman (Adam Brody). Nick decides to invest his father’s dirty money in GenCoin, which immediately brings him to the attention of gangster Ronald Dacey (Edi Gathegi). Dacey’s gang’s money was being laundered by Nick’s father. And now Izzy, Nick, and Ronald are in the crosshairs of crooked FBI Agent Phil Rask (Martin Freeman), who was also blackmailing Nick’s dad. It’s a complicated web of backstabbing and theft, but it all hinges on cryptocurrency.
While cryptocurrency was definitely a “thing” in 2016, it is much more popular today in 2021. NFTs are all the rage and Dogecoin took a dive after Elon Musk touted it on Saturday Night Live. StartUp‘s whole concept feels one hundred percent more relevant for audiences today, which might be why it’s getting a bounce on Netflix. Perhaps the Crackle drama was simply too ahead of its time for 2016 audiences? Sure, but also no.
StartUp is a perfectly fine show with an eye towards the increasing power of cryptocurrency, but it’s also hampered by some dated stylistic choices. The show’s slow-moving plot is a hallmark of the early streaming era, where it felt like showrunners used the freedom of the new medium to stretch their stories’s pacing out like boardwalk taffy. But StartUp‘s biggest sin isn’t that it’s slow, but that it uses sex in the most depressing way possible. The sex scenes in this show are cynical in tone, explicit for no reason, and not fun, sexy, or passionate. Couples copulate with a level of exuberance usually reserved for scrubbing the toilet. (No, really, the first thing I thought of when someone reminded me of this show’s existence was how much I hated the angry sex scenes. Call me old-fashioned, but horniness should be fun!)
StartUp was always an imperfect show, but now that it’s on Netflix, it’s capturing the attention of a whole new, much wider audience. StartUp might be an unlikely Netflix hit for 2021, but then again, folks need something to tide them over until Ozark can return. StartUp does just that.
