Why do we watch television? The general answer is quite basic: for entertainment, of course! What better way is there to distract oneself after a long day than with a story unraveling mere feet in front of you? There are a select few shows that manage to do more beyond filling time in an enjoyable way. Some shows stick with you, their themes reverberating in your soul long after you’ve finished them. However, that is not what HBO’s White House Plumbers is. It’s not a deep or emotional show by any means, nor are you ever particularly invested in the characters. Rather, it chooses to be a silly, surface-level, and undeniably fun show. And while a more complex show would have certainly been more memorable, I appreciate White House Plumbers for how safely entertaining it is. 

While White House Plumbers occasionally attempts to have emotional moments, these are largely hit-or-miss. In particular, the drama regarding E. Howard Hunt’s (Woody Harrelson) strained relationship with his daughter Lisa (Zoe Levin) is somewhat excruciating to watch, as the latter is not written with much depth and their dynamic never ventures past cliches. His relationship with his wife Dorothy (Lena Headey) is more engaging but also mostly treads on familiar ground until the 4th episode. Howard’s not a terribly entertaining character around his family, and his dynamics with them aren’t engaging or well-written enough to make this justifiable. The show is only really impactful during its masterful finale, which grounds the largely zany adventure we’ve been on for the first 4 episodes. And while I think that some stronger character writing throughout (particularly for Howard’s family and Gordon’s wife) could have made this series top-notch, I don’t mind the largely comedic nature of this show or the emphasis on the dynamic between Howard Hunt and G. Gordon Liddy (Justin Theroux).

Speaking of which, Howard Hunt and Gordon Liddy are an absolute blast whenever they share the screen (which is almost the entire time). Their dynamic of two self-important buffoons was too much fun, and I could not get enough of it. Harrelson and especially Theroux lean into the stupidity of it all quite hard and have wonderful chemistry. I did occasionally wish that the show didn’t have such a one-track-mind plot-wise and allowed other characters to shine, like Lena Headey’s Dorothy Hunt and the criminally underutilized Judy Greer’s Fran Liddy. However, the sheer outrageousness of the antics of our Nixon zealots (and their lovable Cuban sidekicks!) kept me hooked the whole way through, and I don’t think I’d trade any scenes of the two for scenes without them. Rather, I think the show would just benefit from having an extra episode or two to give more depth to the supporting cast.

While I had a few issues with the character writing of this show, its direction by David Mandel is simply fantastic. The series always feels evocative of the early 70s thanks to his brilliant visual storytelling combined with excellent technical aspects. For instance, the show’s numerous heist scenes are some of my favorites to watch thanks to how simultaneously energetic, tense, and hilarious to watch, and Mandel manages to balance those tones superbly with the way these scenes are shot. White House Plumbers is a very distinct-feeling show despite how basic the premise may sound, and it owes a lot of that to Mandel’s unique direction. 

While White House Plumbers could have used additional episodes to flesh out its cast of characters and their relationships, the dynamic between its main duo is consistently entertaining. It’s evident that the people working on this show — both in front of and behind the camera — are having the time of their lives doing so, and that pleasure extends to the audience as a result. It is a deeply enjoyable show, though not particularly moving until the very end. Thus, if you’re looking for a riveting miniseries that will stick with you, maybe check out Fleishman Is in Trouble or a season of The White Lotus instead. But if you want to be entertained and laugh at characters that are somehow real and events that somehow happened, this show is undoubtedly worth your time.

7/10