Starstruck’s blend of strange humor and character drama feels a little bit more reined in than some earlier seasons and not prone to bits that could admittedly go on a little longer than necessary. Some beats the season plays relatively straight, such as the arcs of Axford’s helper robot Sundry Sidney or, ironically, Beardsley’s gay girlboss Margaret Encino. But others, like everything tied up in Skip and Murphy’s super soldier clone Barry Syx, have stories that go in unexpected directions that don’t at all clash with the more straightforward stories of the other crew members. As is often the case with D20, the NPCs that Mulligan plays also help anchor the universe and help it feel more real, whether they’ve got actual plot relevance to the characters or are someone whose continued existence feels like he’s making up on the fly.
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Similar to Star Trek, there’s a real sense that the Wurst crew and their actors are having the time of their lives. Whether they’re surviving a job by the skin of their teeth or hanging out with the inhabitants of whatever planet or space station they’re on, that joy is as infectious as a brain slug. Watching these people triumph, fail, and dick around has always made Dimension 20 so watchable, and Starstruck Odyssey takes all that fun to new, cosmic heights.
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