So, a few days ago I said about another series (Radiant) that “I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a better series when it has urgent business to attend to”.  Oddly enough, Double Decker strikes me as the complete opposite.  I’m not sure this series has a better bet than when it has nothing of great import to do, because that’s when all of its charms – and they are considerable – can shine through.  It certainly proved that it could do plot-driven episodes very well indeed (the Anthem-related ones were great at their best) but the final third was thoroughly bogged down with too big and too convoluted a plot twist for the time allotted.

Happily, this first of four bonus episodes (set a month after Kirill joins Seven-O) finds us thoroughly in time-wasting mode again, and this is something Double Decker can do with one constable tied behind its back.  This series has a lot going for it – a real sense of style, an immensely likeable cast, and an overarching sense of silliness that makes it very fun.  This entire episode was basically the cast killing time and dishing a little dirt on each other at bars – first the girls, then the guys – with a bit of Kirill insecurity tossed in.  For some series that would be a throwaway or dismissed as typical OVA filler, but for Doug & Kirill it’s the essence of the show’s appeal.

The first vignette finds the women of Seven-O at Derrick’s, sharing a bottle of bubbly that Travis has bought for Sophie’s 5 year-old brother’s birthday (for reason’s that aren’t entirely clear to me).  Most of this time is spent with them reminiscing about how they became part of Seven-O, the best part of which is Deanna selling a total BS story that K buys hook, line and sinker.  Travis comes off a bit of a lowlife in all this (probably because he is).  Eventually Doug shows up to pick up a case he’s left behind (what was that, exactly?) and bum a glass of champagne off their bottle as poor Derrick fills his usual role as a verbal punching bag.

Meanwhile all Kirill wants is for Doug to ask him to go drinking after work, because that’s what partners are supposed to do.  But tone-deaf as ever Doug picks up on none of this, and eventually invites an old colleague (Mark Belgar) he randomly meets while dropping Kirill off to go drinking instead.  Ever the gallant, he eventually leaves Kirill alone at the bar while with Mark while he goes to Derrick’s to pick up his case and stays for the sparkles.  Mark shares an interesting tidbit during this interval with Mark – Travis only hires the occasional man to keep up appearances, and his only criteria is that they “don’t stand out and aren’t popular with women”.

If all of this sounds trivial, that’s because it is, but this series does trivial about as well as any from 2018.  The characters have so much charm that these sorts of low-key work stories are very engaging, and there’s a core of genuineness between Doug and Kirill that elevates their partnership quite a bit.  Even the punch line – the real reason Travis hired Kirill – is delivered with aplomb.  It certainly isn’t profound or even consequential, but this is the sort of material that made me fall for Double Decker in the first place so I wouldn’t mind if the remaining “EX” eps follow the same formula.