Inside Amy Schumer

Great comedy can come from a place of rage and indignation — that was the default mode for the late, lamented Full Frontal with Samantha Bee — but it’s a tougher needle to thread than, say, when Schumer satirized Friday Night Lights or Aaron Sorkin. ... Mostly, though, the new stuff works by finding ways to unleash the fury of Schumer and the other writers while maintaining a sillier vibe.

Season 5 of Inside Amy Schumer is another amusing showcase of the comedian’s deftness when she sticks to what she knows rather than trying to comment on a larger spectrum of issues, like too many progressive comics aim to do. ... Overall, the series’ post-Trump comedy feels more relaxed and less concerned with having something important to say. At times, that lack of urgency or desire to feel timely is refreshing; some solid counterprogramming to Ziwe or Saturday Night Live. Other times, the show comes off as unenthusiastic about its own existence.

Fans will find the same puckish feminist flavor as before, with perhaps a few more politically pointed punchlines. (Not surprising, given the times.) These can seem a little obvious. ... At its best, Schumer’s work goes off on unexpected tangents. ... The sketches are accompanied less effectively by short “behind the scenes” comments from Schumer and her team.

The return of Inside Amy Schumer often tries to reflect that alarming world, to greater and lesser success. Schumer’s sketch series is at its best, though, when it’s reaffirming that some things are still reliable. ... Amid the show’s other sketches, “Fart Park” feels like a safe haven in the darkness. Schumer wants the revival series to reflect all the righteous fury she obviously feels about the state of the country. It would be nice if there were a few more farts to help the medicine go down.

The show’s long-awaited return attempts to recapture the former’s spark while crafting a less raunchy, more inclusive environment. Sadly, its execution is disappointingly scattershot with long-winded and in-your-face sketches that lack an absurdist or nuanced punch that made the series beloved in the first place.

Skip the first episode, go to episode two and stream it instead before you make your decision to commit to the rest of the season. The sketches in the season premiere don’t really heighten effectively past their premises, while at least the second episode, also available now, goes a bit harder.

The best sketches, then, are the ones that take an even slightly unexpected way to what seems like a straightforward punchline. ... If “Inside Amy Schumer” were returning to do more of that, it would be genuinely exciting; otherwise, it seems content to mostly go where it’s already gone before, give or take a fart park.