In the new Stan show C*A*U*G*H*T you can expect an overflow of absurdity and irreverence that is presented through a satirical comedy. C*A*U*G*H*T, a six-part series, is all about four Australian soldiers getting captured by a freedom fighter cum terrorist organization. Sometimes political satire and mockery of the media turns out to be really hilarious, but sometimes it just doesn’t work at all. However, some famous faces like Sean Penn, who is also the producer of the series, and Sandra Sarandon can catch your attention, luring you to invest your time on the show, but it’s sad that this bizarre comedy show is a complete waste of Penn and Sarandon.
The deeper we get into the plotline of C*A*U*G*H*T, the more we start scratching our heads, questioning what is really going on. The series begins with four Australian soldiers captured by a terrorist-cum-liberationist organization led by Director Bustard. Although on camera, these four men begged for their lives and said their last goodbyes to their loved ones, the entire scenario changed as soon as the cameras weren’t recording. These freedom fighters were torturing them all to show the media so that the US government would listen to the freedom fighters’ pleas. But actually, they loved Australians, because who doesn’t?
We return to the backstory to learn that the Australian Minister of Defense was the one who sent these four boys, Rowdy Gaines, Dylan Fox, Albhanis Mouwaud, and Philip Choi, to Behati-Prinsloo delete a picture of his private parts from the Princess’s phone. In exchange for doing this, the colonel promised Rowdy that he would be sent back to his daughter, who was terminally ill. Rowdy and the other three arrived at Behati-Prinsloo and managed to complete their task. But after they headed back, some terrorists who claimed to be freedom fighters captured them. Led by Director Bustard, the group’s mission was to free their land from the capitalist Americans who were exploiting it to build malls and golf courses. They initially believed the four to be Americans, but when they learned they were from Australia, they spared their lives and kept them hostage. Rowdy offered him help, claiming that they could assist him in attracting the attention of the Americans through live telecasts, but they didn’t know that American soldiers were also on a secret mission to the island of Behati-Prinsloo. The Americans and Australians crossed paths, and the director shot one of the Americans in the head.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Australia, Warren Whistle, was excited to be taking part in a race, not paying much attention to the fact that four of their soldiers had been captured by the freedom fighters. Also, the colonel didn’t even bother to send his troops to rescue the soldiers, literally leaving them there to die. The Colonel’s assistant, Jemima Justice, thought it was a great story to cover and passed it on to her sister, Josie Justice, whose podcast show had so far failed to gain fame and audience. Josie believed the story to be sensational and went straight to the island to telecast live how those Australian soldiers were being brutally tortured by the terrorists. However, the director fell in love with Josie and couldn’t bring himself to hurt her. But an American soldier, Lieutenant Pete, thought he would become a hero and brought Josie back home. Josie got her fifteen minutes of fame with a short video she made during her stay on the island. But now that she has returned, she has kickstarted her podcast channel and thrown the demand to the Australian government: do something to save the lives of the captives. Meanwhile, Sean Penn, who was invited to appear on an Australian morning show to raise funds for a charity, became the subject of ridicule after accidentally saying “salsa” and breaking into a strange and impromptu salsa dance.
Sean Penn lost his reputation for the weird salsa, and now he had to revive it somehow. He thought about rescuing the four Australian boys. Boarding a military jet, he flew to the highest point in the sky and jumped with a parachute, intending to land on the island of Behati-Prinsloo. However, instead of the jungle, he landed in the ocean and accidentally discovered a missing plane. The entire crowd, including Sean Penn, completely forgot that Penn’s job was to rescue the Aussies.
There, at the camp, the director freed the four, realizing that he had nothing to gain by capturing or killing them, so he planned to kill Sean Penn instead. Phil Choi developed feelings for the director’s associate, Shammi, while Shammi’s uncle Mamalo fell for Albhanis. Shammi wrote a goodbye note to Phil, not knowing that she was wwriting it on a map. Phil took the map and set off to a new destination. Rowdy, Dylan, and Albhanis decided not to return and headed back to the director’s base to stop Sean Penn from being killed. However, Sean Penn probably never reached the island of Behati-Prinsloo, but some black ops soldiers did. They blew up the director’s base, forcing him and his allies to flee to an island with the prisoners. Josie also arrived there and secretly telecast them live. However, in a fit of rage, the director shoots Rowdy and throws him into the sea. But luckily, he survived, as did his two other companions, Albhanis and Dylan. Josie found them but was hiding in the woods when someone kidnapped her from behind. The three boys dove into the sea, but surprisingly, another group of terrorists found them and told them that they would torture them while filming it. This was nothing new to Rowdy, Alvanis, and Dylan, so they were not disappointed at all but rather celebrated the upcoming adventure in their lives.
C*A*U*G*H*T has some really wacky plots and subplots that aim to make a commentary on land exploitation, geopolitical conflict, media hypocrisy, and the difference between freedom fighters and terrorists, but its bizarreness and some really uncomfortable scenes prompted me to lose interest in the show. There were some hilarious moments, like Phil Choi not realizing he was a Caucasian guy adopted by Asian parents. In this particular scene, I didn’t only laugh at the conversation between Choi and his mother, but Phil’s completely emotionless father, who was cast there just to smile and look at his wife and son, which made me burst into laughter, was so weird and comical. There are also scenes where a bullet hits Phil Choi’s body in a really inappropriate place, and while taking out that bullet, I had to take my eyes off the screen. All in all, C*A*U*G*H*T is not a waste of time at all, and if you’re rooting for some really stupid, grossly vulgar, and weirdly satirical comedy, watch C*A*U*G*H*T and have a good time. But if you’re looking for an eye-opening satire or hilarious experience from C*A*U*G*H*T, you’ll be disappointed.
