While General Naird and Dr Mallory brace themselves for a contentious hearing on Capitol Hill, Erin gets to know Captain Ali.

It’s still hard to get a handle on Netflix’s new comedy drama. At times it tries really hard to get a laugh – and misses by a mile – and then it’s happy to just be vaguely, gently amusing. Whether it’s the writers or actors (in this case Carell fills both roles) finding their space legs, or maybe the show is just ill-conceived, or maybe it’s a grower, I’m still not convinced.

Naird and Mallory are up on Capitol Hill at a Congressional budget hearing where they’re requesting a further billion dollars funding. Ben Schwartz is fun as PR guy F. Tony Scarapiducci, but it’s a broad role that has been played better in Veep and The Thick of It. An encounter with other generals at the Pentagon – Patrick Warburton, Noah Emmerich, Jane Lynch – also raises a few smiles, but here’s the thing… This isn’t satire when the real world US leaders and politicians are making even dumber decisions than these knuckleheads.

A sub-plot with Naird’s daughter hanging round on base with Captain Ali is this week’s variation on the previous episode’s trigonometry practice, reminding us that Naird has a wider family and responsibilities. But tonally it’s in a different place to Carell’s schtick, which is bluster and silly voices. I’ll hang in here and see how it develops.

Verdict: It’s really hard to see where this show is going and what it wants to achieve. In a crowded marketplace of streaming content providers, you have to be special to get the views, and this has not grabbed me yet. 6/10

Nick Joy