A certain section of the audience loves to claim that the world is becoming too woke, yet the decline in the number of political satires and the growing toothlessness of this subgenre of comedy say otherwise. Charles Chaplin did The Great Dictator in 1940, literally one year after World War 2 began. Stanley Kubrick made Dr. Strangelove in 1964 to comment on the Cold War, which officially ended in 1991. Sacha Baron Cohen did The Dictator and Borat to berate America for its relentless war on Iraq, and so did Abhishek Sharma with Tere Bin Laden. Then there was Quentin Tarantino, who did Inglourious Basterds, where he imagined Hitler being killed at a movie theater in Paris. Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen did something similar in The Interview, except the subject of the explosive death was Kim Jong Un instead of Hitler. Soon after that, Armando Iannucci released The Death of Stalin, which is pretty self-explanatory, I suppose. Adam McKay gave us Vice and Don’t Look Up. On the small screen, we had Veep and The Regime, which were alright. So, is Whiskey on the Rocks a return to form? Well, sort of.
Created by Henrik Jansson-Schweizer, with all the episodes being directed by Bjorn Stein, Whiskey on the Rocks is based on the very real story of a Soviet U137 Whiskey-class submarine (hence the name) wading into Swedish waters, thereby leading to an international incident between Sweden, the Soviet Union, and the United States of America. As admitted by the miniseries itself several times, most of the events and characters have been altered for the sake of national integrity. So, when I say that that aforementioned vessel got stranded in Karlskrona because its crew was partying too hard, it’s not a claim that I’m making, but that’s the narrative the show has chosen for comedic purposes. With that out of the way, here are the key players and their motivations. Swedish PM Thorbjorn wants to get the submarine out of Karlskrona as peacefully as possible, but his commander-in-chief, Borje, wants to use this as an opportunity to avenge his parents, who had been killed by the Soviets, by capturing the vessel. Comrade-Secretary General Brezhnev is also baying for blood, largely because he isn’t lucid anymore, while the KGB, led by Yuri, is trying to work with Soviet Ambassador Aleksandra to resolve this situation amicably. On top of that, there’s American President Reagan, who is trying to turn this debacle into an extension of the Cold War. With tensions mounting with each passing second, will the U137 hit open waters again or be blown to smithereens? Well, that’s what the show is about.
Whiskey on the Rocks is a Swedish show; hence, it’s kind of expected for writers Jonas Jonasson and Henrik Jansson-Schweizer to paint the Swedes in a positive light while making a mockery of the Russians and the Americans. For the most part, that’s how it goes, and the criticism is deserved because those two countries are known for their warmongering. But, through the character of Borje, they also joke about the problematic elements present in the Swedish military who confuse personal vendetta with national integrity and make a fool of themselves and the country. So, much like every political satire in existence, the whole point of the miniseries is to underscore the undeniable fact that the world would’ve been a better place if it wasn’t being run by trigger-happy men playing with nukes because nobody hugged them when they were kids and told them that they were good enough. In addition to that, I suppose that the writers are saying that there’s a big difference between being apolitical and being neutral; one involves turning a blind eye to the atrocities around us and letting the bad guys win, and the other involves getting your hands dirty so as to ensure that a volatile situation evolving in your backyard doesn’t lead to bloodshed. If that’s not relevant as hell, I don’t know what is.
From a visual standpoint, Whiskey on the Rocks is a really good-looking show. Bjorn Stein, Henrik, and the rest of the team have gone to great lengths to make the whole affair as authentic as possible. Well, to the untrained eye, everything from the submarine to Brezhnev’s opulent quarters will feel immersive and highly detailed; I am sure that historians will throw a fit upon noticing how somebody’s shirt collar isn’t period accurate or the caliber of the bullet that’s being used by a spy agent is wrong. Other than all that, the pacing of the miniseries is a little wonky. In my opinion, it would’ve worked better as a movie because the conflict-resolution cycle gets a tad repetitive after a point. I didn’t exactly mind the episodic storytelling, especially because the comedic tone is really consistent. It’s just that, after a certain point, the parodied versions of the Soviets, the Americans, and some of the Swedes do lose their charm, and you are compelled to wonder if there’s anything more to it than that. That doesn’t mean that the show ever gets boring or takes you out of the experience. Despite its flaws, once you start watching the miniseries, you’ll be compelled to see it through to the end.
The performances from the entire cast of Whiskey on the Rocks are excellent, and the biggest reason why you won’t notice any of the aforementioned pacing issues. Rolf Lassgard, for the most part, is the gentle giant. But there’s one moment where he towers over Niklas Engdahl, to show that nobody should mistake his docile nature as a sign of weakness, and it’s scary. Speaking of Engdahl, he is hilariously pathetic, and the running joke that he gets to do where he keeps referring to Martinsson as Hakansson is so stupid and yet effective. By the way, Filip Berg, who plays Martinsson, gives such a great, quietly comedic performance that I couldn’t help but laugh every time he was on screen. I can say the same about Adam Lundgren; his constant deer-in-the-headlights look is so funny. Kestutis Stasys Jakstas elicits laughter by barely saying anything intelligible. Mark Noble accurately embodies the charismatic idiocy of Reagan. Elsa Saisio, despite entering late into the game, pretty much steals the show with her electric screen presence. Artur Svorobovich, Andrius Bialobzeskis, Oskar Vygonovski, and the rest of the actors who are holed up in that U137 are brilliant, with Bialobzeskis giving one of the greatest drunk performances of all time. There are many more names that should be listed, but if I talk about each of them, this article will never end. But know that all the actors in this show are amazing and should be lauded for their work.
If you are a fan of political satires—specifically the type of political satires where real-life historical figures or politicians are unabashedly parodied—then Whiskey on the Rocks is a must-watch for you. I don’t think it reinvents the wheel or does anything particularly new with the subgenre. Like a lot of period pieces, it’s playing the safe game of referring to the past so that we can draw parallels with present-day politics because making a mockery of current world leaders is just too risky. But where does this risk factor come from? Well, I think that there are two sides to this particular coin. On one hand, politicians are so insecure and incompetent that they are afraid to see their flaws being broadcast around the world in the most irreverent fashion imaginable. On the other hand, there are way too many people amongst the common folk who have made it their sworn duty to defend these insecure and incompetent politicians with their lives. Naturally, that has shrunk the space for truly relevant satires and has forced creators to take digs at (bad) dead guys. That’s a roundabout way of saying that the world isn’t getting more “woke”; it’s getting filled with an overwhelming amount of “snowflakes” who think siding with fascists totally covers their inability to take a joke. Anyway, give Whiskey on the Rocks a watch and let me know what you think about it through the comments section.
