Man vs Bee Season One Review

Rowan Atkinson became a worldwide star in 1990, when he displayed his gift for physical comedy as the bumbling, silent Mr. Bean. A master of physical comedy for decades, Atkinson back in with his latest Netflix series, Man vs Bee. The series follows Trevor Bingley (Atkinson), a man who is found guilty of several crimes from stealing a car to arson. He explains himself by apologizing and saying “There was this bee…”

From there, the story accounts for what actually happened. Bingley is a good dad to his daughter. He finally got a job at a housesitting company. His latest assignment had him housesitting in a mansion for some wealthy clients. However this mansion wasn’t just a normal mansion, this one had several pieces of expensive art and other objects worth millions. Adding to the list of potential hurdles, Nina (Jing Lusi), the owner of the house tells Bingley about the hard-bound manual she put together containing instructions on how to operate the allegedly easy hi-tech parts of the house. Meanwhile, the owner also has a very friendly sheepdog named Cupcake who also happens to have a nut allergy and a very specific diet where if not followed, Cupcake threatened to “doggie doo-doo everywhere.”

Then there’s a bee, which Bingley accidentally lets into the mansion. He accidentally breaks a statue while waving at the bee. Then he traps it under a cup but the strong bee manages to escape. During all this, he figures out how to open the automatic cabinets then turns on the wrong burner while making soup and completely destroys the manual, which he left on top of the stove for some reason. The series, for those who haven’t figured it out yet, tracks Bingley’s journey and his subsequent path of destruction as he does everything in his power to go about capturing said elusive bee. And those were just a few examples.

Given the use of Atkinson’s physical comedy skills, Man vs Bee is about as close as Atkinson can get to the magic that was Mr. Bean despite playing a different character here. The season features only 9 episodes which each run at roughly 10-19 minutes each, amounting to a total running time of a relatively quick 108 minutes overall. 

At the end of the day, Man vs Bee is a decent comedy series that Mr. Bean fans will absolutely love but may not hold the same appeal to casual viewers who may not mesh with the series’ sense of humor. While it may not be anything too special, it is still well worth the watch.

*still courtesy of Netflix*

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Anmol Pandhi

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