The Tick is an Amazon Video exclusive and is based on a comic. The first season is comprised of 12 episodes at around 25 minutes long each. The release schedule was a bit sporadic with the pilot being released in 2016, the next five episodes in 2017, and then the final six episodes in 2018. The series is set in a world where in the past, a supervillain known as The Terror had killed some famous superheroes. He was eventually subdued by Superian and the world has known peace since then.
At this point comes Arthur, a nerdy reclusive person who has his own mental issues. As a kid he had looked up to the superheroes but something happened that pretty much killed him inside. This experience set up a personal grudge between him and The Terror. Despite all the evidence on the contrary, he believes that The Terror is still alive and tries to track him down.
Arthur stakes out a suspicious place where a gang is smuggling some sort of illegal item before he meets The Tick. The Tick is a superhero wearing a blue suit and appears to be not quite all in the head but is a good guy overall. He has super strength, speed, is bulletproof and overall awesome as well as powerful. We are shown on multiple occasions how overpowered The Tick is. He seems to have antennae on his head which moves and animates according to his feelings. This aspect catches your eye and is actually quite mesmerizing.
In his own unique way, The Tick tries to convince Arthur to join him as his sidekick, become a hero and fight against evil. Arthur will even get a super advanced suit of his own (themed around a moth). He is reluctant to enter the world of superheroes even though he had studied them so much. Arthur also doesn't easily adapt to the suit's functions and has to slowly learn about it. This is a comedy series and most of the humor comes from The Tick and his dialogue, mannerisms and overall good guy vibe. It plays on superhero tropes and makes fun of a few of them while playing others straight. There are gems of humor scattered in each of the episodes. It's funny how The Tick and some of the other characters are oblivious to common sense and normal etiquette. Some of the best parts are where the characters subtly break the fourth wall.
Naturally in a world of superheroes, there are plenty of other characters with interesting powers. Overkill is one that will definitely grown on you and is a cool character all in all. The series slowly expands on its world and how the superheroes integrate into it, from licenses to the consequences of mishandling in the past resulting in deaths. The halfway point is where the show starts to become more like a typical superhero show. Arthur and The Tick starts getting into the swing of things and the plot starts moving forward with some significance. While it constantly shrouds The Tick in mystery and he starts to question his own past, it never gets to the point of actually revealing what The Tick actually is.
Despite the campiness, The Terror is no joke. He is a cold killer and more than once, we see how he just slits the throat of an unsuspecting person with blood spilling out. It is surprisingly gruesome for the show. The plot threads start to converge in the second half of the season . Once it is revealed how all the plot threads are interlinked in the penultimate episode, you feel the foreshadowing was at least meaningful. It culminates into a satisfying ending, resolving nearly all the loose ends and each character meets the fate that they deserve.
Overall, the first season of The Tick is charming and has a good balance of being funny and serious. It plays it loose with the plot but it comes together neatly in the end. The Tick himself has a lot of charisma as well as a few of the other characters, making it enjoyable just to see what they would get up to in the next episode.
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