Those who know that Netflix's mockumentary "Death to 2020" is from "Black Mirror" producers Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones might be expecting biting satire, whip-smart observations and clever humor from the year-end special decrying the horrible events of the 2020. But unfortunately, "Death" is none of those things.
More a whimper than a sick burn, "Death" is a collection of underwhelming jokes about a tragic year that have either already been delivered better by other comedians and the internet or are too lame even for your embarrassing uncle to have texted the family group chat.
The special sees a series of fake talking heads – Samuel L. Jackson as an irreverent journalist, Cristin Milloti as a "soccer mom" radicalized online, Lisa Kudrow as a right-wing pundit – discussing the events of 2020, from the pandemic to Black Lives Matter protests to impeachment to wildfires. They're all given silly names like Joe Keery as “Duke Goolies" (a millennial) and Samson Kayo as “Pyrex Flask” (a scientist) and their discussions of the year are intercut with news footage and stock footage, and occasional comments from an unseen narrator (Laurence Fishburne) meant to be pithy, but more just obvious.