Crime
Reacher
The title character is bigger and bulkier now than in the Tom Cruise movies. But so are the problems.
When Will takes the wheel, you’d be forgiven for wondering if one seatbelt is going to be enough to protect you.
No, we don’t claim to know whether or not Will is a good driver. But he is in charge of Valley Forge Automotive Center, a struggling mechanic shop—the kind that would make you dread getting your oil changed.
Part of that feeling comes from its miserable employees. The worst of the lot is Shane, Will’s cousin, who loves to humiliate Will and isn’t afraid to make sexually inappropriate remarks in front of customers—especially if they’re women. Dave is kind of a mess, too. He nearly destroyed his marriage with multiple extramarital affairs and a pornography addiction. And in Season 2, his personal troubles stalled engines at the shop when his wife discovered one of his lovers was a receptionist there.
But as the boss, Will is ultimately to blame when things go south. The poor, anxious man can hardly stumble his way through a sentence, let alone run a shop. Case in point: He’s been trying to save face with the franchise higher-ups (one of whom is Shane’s father) by coming up with outlandish marketing schemes since Season 1, when he accidentally ordered too many tires.
The franchise is aware that this branch isn’t profitable. If Will doesn’t get his crew in gear and pull a U-turn soon, they’ll all be out of jobs.
Is Will worried? Yes. But he’s certain he can make a change.
Because when rubber meets the road …
… Ah, who are we kidding? He’ll probably mess up then, too.
There are many ways you might describe a worthless car: Rust bucket. Clunker. Lemon. Jalopy. Hunk of junk.
Helpfully, those are all acceptable to describe Netflix’s Tires.
The first six-episode season of the series was like a beat-up car well past its prime sputtering into a mechanic’s shop under a false hope that a mechanic might be able to squeeze a few more miles out of it. But there’s not enough duct tape in the world to fix the problems here.
Each episode relies on a belief that what viewers have desperately been craving are frequent sex jokes, crude language and … did I mention references to sex? Tires quickly becomes … ahem … tiresome as you begin to recognize that what the show considers variety boils down to whether its characters are talking about breasts or butts.
Tires refers to the rubber coverings that go around a wheel. But it might just leave viewers looking for family friendly fare feeling a little run over.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
Will’s uncle Phil orders him to fire the head of another branch, Mike, to cut costs. But Will can’t do it: He’s known Mike since he was a kid, and he believes there are other ways to make the automotive franchise more profitable.
Dave attends a Sex Addicts Anonymous meeting. When it’s his turn to share, he says he cheated on his wife with multiple partners (including strippers) and “abused pornography.” He says he’s been faithful for six months now—and that that’s a good thing—but it’s clear he’s frustrated and perhaps tired of remaining true to his wife. He all but admits that when a fellow female attendee shared her story the week prior, it aroused him. He suggests that if he had walked in on his wife having an affair with a woman (as this woman’s husband did), it wouldn’t have led to a fight but to a three-way. The woman shares again this week, going into the details of how she cheated on her husband with a coworker. Dave misses most of the story due to a call from work, but we still hear plenty as she describes (and pantomimes) oral sex. Dave then tries to convince her to repeat the story. (She doesn’t.)
While having his picture taken for a dating profile, a man tells the photographer to include his (clothed) genitals. He then tells the guy to wait while he tries to arouse himself. (The guy taking the photo is clearly disturbed.) When Shane notices that his dad has an ear piercing, it leads to a discussion about other body piercings, with crude mentions of male genitals. There are jokes about masturbation. At the sex addicts meeting, food is used to convey some sexual innuendos.
Shane indicates that he doesn’t want to settle down, making unkind remarks about how engagement photos are a woman’s way of “publicly castrating” her fiancé. He says such photos make the man look like a “gay farmer” and the woman look like a “fairy slut.”
In a flashback to 2021, on Will’s first day on the job, Shane pretends to cut his hand at work, covering his arm in ketchup and panicking Will. He also convinces a coworker to attend the inauguration of the president, to bring a gun and to just walk into the Capitol. (He’s clearly messing with the guy, but the man takes him seriously, and Shane doesn’t correct him.)
Shane accompanies Will to Mike’s firing, getting a sort of sadistic glee out of the situation. He jokes that Mike will probably go off the rails by killing his entire family (including his young children) and himself. We hear a man can barely walk after a motorcycle accident. A man pantomimes shooting himself.
Characters lie. We hear an antisemitic joke. Someone suggests to a child that public schools all have liberal agendas. When Shane tries to flirt with a woman, she shuts him down, immediately stating that she’s not a friendly person. Will is mocked for crying at work. A woman repeatedly belches.
A woman burns sage. Several people mock her because she apparently practices astrology, and they call her a gypsy and a witch. The sex addicts meeting takes place in a church, so we see a few decorative crosses.
There are almost 40 uses of the f-word and seven of the s-word. We also hear uses of “a–,” “a–hole,” “d–n,” “d–k” and “p—y.” God’s and Jesus’ names are misused three times each. Shane uses the word “gay” as a derogatory term a few times.
Will ultimately decides to give Mike another chance. Although Phil believes that Mike is taking advantage of Will’s poor management skills, Will thinks that Mike has actually been doing the shop a favor: Mike has been working with faulty equipment for years, and when a broken car lift fell on his foot and broke the bone, he didn’t sue the company. Will also feels sorry for Mike since Mike’s wife just left him and his daughter is at the shop when Will shows up to fire him. And, truth be told, Will remembers how much it hurt when he himself was fired five years ago.
In an effort to boost sales and gain public appeal, Will recruits a journalist to write about the store’s initiative to make women feel more comfortable at automobile shops.
We hear a couple references to sex and orgasms. Men talk about various women’s breasts and rears. A man shows Will a photo of his female cousin’s behind and asks Will if he would have sex with her. One worker, Shane, imitates giving Will oral sex. He likewise insults a man by telling him to lick his genitals. Later, Shane shames Will for not having had sex recently. Men objectify women. A couple men debate whether a woman is a lesbian because of where she works.
We hear a reference to the Holocaust. We briefly see a woman’s bruised foot.
The f-word is used over 40 times. The s-word is used three times, and the c-word is heard once. We also hear words like “d–k” and “p-ssy” used a handful of times. “A–” is used over a dozen times. Other swears, including “d–n” and “p-ss,” are heard, too. God’s name is used in vain three times, and Jesus’ name is used in vain three times, too. We hear a derogatory term for Italian people as well as a profane term for gay men.
Kennedy Unthank studied journalism at the University of Missouri. He knew he wanted to write for a living when he won a contest for “best fantasy story” while in the 4th grade. What he didn’t know at the time, however, was that he was the only person to submit a story. Regardless, the seed was planted. Kennedy collects and plays board games in his free time, and he loves to talk about biblical apologetics. He’s also an avid cook. He thinks the ending of Lost “wasn’t that bad.”
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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