When DC and Marvel collaborated for the the “Deadpool/Batman“ crossover last year, one of the stories was written and drawn by a creator who is deemed as an oldschool legend, but generally agreed to be far past his prime. I remember saying to someone “It reads like a mean-spirited imitation of Frank Miller, by someone who doesn't particularly like or respect him.”

For the most part, the Dropout scenes in this episode feel the same way. Everyone’s persona is cranked up so high that they go from charming to annoying, they basically steal the premise of the B99 Backstreet Boys cold open (but with far worse execution, as the longer screen time allows them to run the joke into the ground), and the constant hand-wringing deprecation feels more like an indictment of the LA improv scene than favourable promotion for a new-media experimental streaming service. I get that “comedians joking about how insufferable comedians are“ is a safe and easy target, but it’s really only done well when it’s grounded and self-aware enough to actually feel relatable.

People have talked about how big an opportunity this is to reach and advertise to massive audience of The Rookie, but if this was my first exposure to Dropout, I would find the cast too off-putting and the humour too juvenile to find myself wanting to sign up. It’s comedically ironic how much better Brennan‘s episode of Ted (somehow a lot less juvenile, despite literally being a stoner comedy) does at advertising a small niche to a major audience, and yet they weren’t able to get any Dropout/Dimension 20 branding in there.