Derek is Not What I Expected, and Thank You for That, Mr. Gervais

Promo for Netlix full-season launch of Derek (netflix.com)

I sat down to the pilot episode of Derek knowing just two things about the show: it starred Ricky Gervais, and he was playing a character with some sort of mental challenge. I was scared. Scared to watch Ricky mock the disabled for laughs. David Brent was social awkward and most definitely not very smart, but the viewer felt like her could have done and known better and therefore it was safe to laugh at him. I was afraid Derek might be the helpless victim of Gervais' comedy leaving the jokes humorless. 

Those fears are quickly put to rest as a beautifully acted character came to life. Derek is no buffoon. He is brimming with humanity, pure of heart. Is he different? Yes. Do funny things happen to him? Yes. Are we laughing at his differentness? Absolutely not. We are on his team and it is more often other's inability to handle his difference who are made the objects of ridicule. To erase any positional ambiguity concerning whose side we are on, those who would look to Derek for laughs at his expense, in this case symbolized by a woman at Derek's favorite pub, are delivered a perfunctory head butt by the show's heroine, comedian Kerry Godliman's Hannah.

Comedian Kerry Godliman's quietly endearing Hannah (channel14.com) 

I initially found the music perhaps a bit too didactic in its direction of our emotional states, a tinkling piano routinely pulling us back to poignancy when we teeter too close to brink of absurdity and insensitivity. By the end of the second episode, I began to welcome this musical sign post, as reminder of the import of the shows storytelling. These characters represent real people in the world, a world where budgets are often given more consideration than the people affected by those numbers. Two episodes in, this is a serious show with humorous moments, not a show designed the other way around.

Gervais' performance is truly stunning. He had me in tears more than once an episode and it was his nuanced performance, not the musical score than got me there. This deeply embodied character is another piece of evidence in the case that some of our best comedians can really kill it in dramatic roles. Think Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting, Tom Hanks in Philedelpia, Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love and Reign on Me, Jim Carrey in The Truman Show. The converse, a dramatic genius really nailing a turn at comedy, seems much more rare.

Still from a heart-wrenchingly sweet Derek confessional
(thefunniestvideos.com) 

Finally then, we must deal with the elephant in the room. What exactly is Derek's condition? I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Is he really an employee, or a resident Hannah and the others humor with an honorary employee status. A possible diagnosis, autism, is mentioned at the end of episode two, but when Derek is asked about being tested, he responds, "Would it change who I am? No. Then just let it be then." With Gervais in seeming total command of the potential pitfalls around his depiction of Derek, I suggest we take Derek's advice.