Review: ‘FUBAR' Season 2 wastes Arnold Schwarzenegger's star power

San Francisco Chronicle​

2 days ago

When 'FUBAR' premiered on Netflix in 2023, its biggest draw wasn't the plot or action — it was Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And for a moment, the novelty of watching the Governator tackle scripted television — like a blockbuster giant squeezing into a Roku-sized streaming box — was enough. Throw in Oscar-nominated Monica Barbaro for some snappy father-daughter banter, and it sounded like the makings of a compelling show.
It wasn't.
Now we're back for round two, and instead of evolving, creator Nick Santora's series doubles down on action movie cliches and strained punch lines. The result is a new season that plays like a B-movie but thinks it belongs in a big-budget franchise. With about 90 minutes of story sloshing around in an eight-hour bag, the show again proves nostalgia alone isn't enough.
Schwarzenegger's Luke Brunner is still a CIA agent with a messy personal life, now under the same roof as his recon team and ex-wife Tally (Fabiana Udenio), with whom he's trying to rekindle a romance. But the relative peace is short-lived.
Another global catastrophe looms, courtesy of Carrie-Anne Moss as a shadowy former flame of Luke's with unresolved business. It's a setup layered with intrigue and stakes, but the execution wobbles between sitcom shenanigans and save-the-world spectacle, landing uncomfortably in the middle.
This tonal inconsistency is the show's fatal flaw. The eye-rolling quips and mid-tier gunplay could be forgiven if the story leaned into its absurdity or, conversely, its potential as an espionage drama. Instead, major action beats are consistently undercut by jokes, ensuring the threat level remains perilously low regardless of how many countdown timers or high-stakes missions are thrown into the mix.
Where the show does flicker to life is in the chemistry between its cast. Schwarzenegger, well past his box office prime but still commanding with his signature steely charm and self-aware muscle, brings surprising pathos to Luke. There's a weathered quality here — not just age, but the burden of legacy. It's one of the few times the project understands the value of its star.
Barbaro, meanwhile, remains a standout. The Bay Area native is effective with the action, yes, but even more so in the quieter moments. As Emma Brunner, her scenes with Schwarzenegger give the series rare flashes of emotional clarity, including an especially amusing one late in the season involving an adorable 'Sesame Street'-esque puppet of dad (trust me, it makes sense in context).
Some of the side players earn their keep as well. Jay Baruchel and Andy Buckley, cast as Emma's boyfriend and Tally's boyfriend, respectively, are both used to delightful effect as everyday guys hopelessly adrift in the world of cloak-and-dagger chaos.
Still, it's hard to escape the sense that 'FUBAR' is all concept, no conviction.
'I'll be back,' says Luke at one point, a meta wink at Schwarzenegger's most iconic catchphrase. It's a fitting reflection of the show as a whole: built on callbacks, but with little to call back to.
Arnold Schwarzenegger headlining a TV series should've been an event — a streaming-era reintroduction of a cinematic icon — but it never finds something meaningful to do with him.
After two seasons, the question isn't whether 'FUBAR' will come back, but whether anyone would even notice if it didn't.