Stream It Or Skip It?

The sci-fi comedy Desmascus was originally supposed to air on AMC in 2023, but was cancelled after production was wrapped, a victim of an asset write-down by AMC Networks. Tubi recently picked up the series to stream on their FAST service, and judging by the first two episodes, we’re glad they did.

DEMASCUS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: “2023… a version of it.” A doctor asks her patient, “Are you unhappy?” as we see scenes of a rainforest.

The Gist: Demascus Haynes (Okieriete Onaodowan) is in a therapy session with Dr. Bonnetville (Janet Hubert), surrounded by a hologram of that soothing rainforest. He’s 33 and trying to figure out who he is, or who he’s trying to be. “My one dominant quality is I’m unknowable,” he says to do the doctor.

When the doc turns off the hologram, she talks to Demascus about a new treatment procedure called DIRT (Digital Immersive Reality Therapy). It’s a device that connects with a patient’s brain and follows its conscious and unconscious thoughts, allowing the patient to observe alternate versions of themselves. Despite the myriad side effects and the chance it could corrupt his current reality, he agrees to it.

When he gets home, he sees his sister Shaena (Brittany Adebumola) waiting for him. Her face and neck are bruised, and she tells him that her boyfriend Drew (Amos Blackmon) hit her and put his hands around her neck. She’s also pregnant.

Of course, as the older brother, it’s Demascus’ job to confront Drew about the incident, but he needs some assistance. The only family he can rely on is Uncle Forty (Martin Lawrence), who is now in his 60s and on dialysis. But he rode out on guys that needed it back in the day, and he’s willing to do it. So is Redd (Caleb Eberhardt), a DC public defender who chafes at the code switching he has to do on a daily basis. He also knows a “goon” who can help, a former client named Dornell (Tyrel Jackson Williams).

Demascus is shocked when all of them except him have brought a gun along; all he wants to do is intimidate Drew, not hurt him. He tells the others not to bring their guns. And after a long climb up the stairs to Drew and Shaena’s apartment that leaves the ailing Uncle Forty on the verge of puking up what’s not already in his colostomy bag, the confrontation goes far differently than Demascus expects.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Demascus, created by playwright Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm, would be what happens if Donald Glover went in a sci-fi direction on Atlanta.

Our Take: One of the most interesting aspects of the first few episodes of Demascus‘ six-episode first season is that you’re not 100 percent sure that what you’re seeing is his real life or one of the parallel lives that DIRT has unearthed in his unconscious. In the second episode, for instance, we see his girlfriend, Budhi Banks (Sasha Hutchings), for the first time; he is constantly questioning their relationship, and we see him fall hard for Naomi (Shakira Ja’nai Paye), an artist presenting at the same opening that Redd is. Yes, in the second episode, Redd is an artist, not a lawyer.

Is that Demascus’ reality? We won’t say. But it’s interesting to see him try to figure out exactly who he is as we see these realities unfold the same way he does. It’s a good thing that Chisholm and his writers keep us guessing about which version of Demascus’ life is real or not, because it plays into exactly the risky journey Demascus is taking by agreeing to be treated with DIRT.

The first two episodes weren’t gut-grabbing funny but each of them made us laugh more than once, with the humor coming out of the contrast between the go-along-to-get-along Demascus and the more extreme personalities around him, like Redd or Uncle Forty. The way Demascus figures, as a Black man in the 21st century, it’s best to be “unknowable,” but Dr. Bonnetville wonders if he’s so unknowable that he doesn’t even know himself.

Despite having a well-paying job with the District, his own house and a beautiful, accomplished girlfriend, it’s obvious that Demascus is just floating above the surface of his life and not really participating. He tells the doctor about the incident that prodded him to seek therapy, but so far we haven’t been privy to his deeper feelings of being adrift. That will likely be revealed during his DIRT treatments, and we’re looking forward to seeing what alternate lives he wishes he was leading.

One of the other interesting aspects of the show is that even though it takes place in a “version” of 2023, the technology shown is definitely more near-future stuff, from conversational AI assistants to digital menus on flexible screens to DIRT itself. It becomes a bit disconcerting to realize that what’s taking place in Demascus’ world is contemporary to our own experience — but not really. That unease ties into the unease we feel not always knowing if what we’re seeing is Demascus’ reality or not.

Sex and Skin: There is some sex in the second episode, as Budhi gets all turned on by the fact that Demascus is the rare Black man who is seeking therapy without a court order.

Parting Shot: After the confrontation with Drew doesn’t end well, we find out what’s really going on.

Sleeper Star: Martin Lawrence steals his scenes as Uncle Forty, because even in his sixties and sick as hell, he still has a lot of his old “goon” self in him.

Most Pilot-y Line: “You don’t bring no knife to a gunfight. Though I got that, too,” Uncle Forty says after he takes out his gun.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Demascus is funny in the right spots and weird in all the right ways, but it’s also an interesting take on Black identity, whether it’s in the current world or the technology-enhanced version of it that’s in the series.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.