Some
freaking good television:
Season Two
DAMN does this show know how to draw you in! I was quite impressed by the first season but this season blew me away. It's so good, you can't stop at 2 or 3 episodes. My limit, this time, was 6. I could stop after 3 hours straight. The writing is near perfection- why don't shows like South Park and Family Guy know that this is the way you write characters; they do have fucking eyes and ears, don't they? I think one of the reasons this easily surpasses the first season is because Henry is the boss for most of the episodes. Ron being the boss in the first season made him completely unlikable and an old, worn-out cliche. This season, he was much funnier and more likable. Not only that; I wanted him to make it so badly. Roman's ending may have been a little bit of a copout, I'm not sure. In this season, they found multiple ways to incapacitate what about him made me want to see him fall on his face all the time. Yet, here he had some really good storylines. He's still a royal asshole 99% of the time but they actually found a few people to rival him- making me hate them more than him. Also, the image of him getting into a kind of drunken threeway with another guy and a woman in her late 40's is absolutely priceless (as ego deflators go). Kyle was easily the weak link in this season, I have nothing to say about him. Lydia was a nice new addition- the stage mom thing was done more for satirical commentary on youth culture of today (Lindsay Lohan, Miley Cyrus - this season was of course pre-Rebecca Black) but she also had a cute recurring plotline about hooking up with older men (though usually younger than she is). One of them being Thomas Lennon from Reno 911! (who needs to get to the gym, pronto, and is a little lost without the blond hair), and another being a real hottie by the name of Rick Hall (WOW!).
Henry and Casey are the same, killer dialogue between them- their discussions at the bar are some of the best moments of the entire show. A little less drama this time around and the heavy stuff is saved only for the best and least hamfisted moments. Very skilled craftsmanship in that area. Was great to see Constance return. The first episode was the only awkward one. There's another racial issue episode but this one is handled a lot better than the one in the first season. The football episode didn't try to make the gay issue sad but it feel heart-breaking even though they try to end the episode's career-breaking controversy plot on a high-note (though it kinda tries to put gays in the same category as everyone else: morally bankrupt and conscienceless- is this all we ever wanted?). The Steve Guttenberg episode was a real treat, he portrays himself as a total loon. Henry gets to live out my personal fantasy at one point when Guttenberg strips naked and gets in the hottub with him (as this happens, he and Henry are alone). The camera of course cuts him off below the pelvis but it REALLY looks like he was naked during the shoot. Really great for Roman was the sci-fi writer's movie deal party episode where he is not only humiliated by a nemesis but actually finds a way (after a LOT of disses and "aw, shucks; maybe next time" attempts at one-upping this schmoe) to completely bury him. Kinda reminds me of the way studios fuck up remakes of great 70's and 80's horror films. But Roman is trying to impress his hero, who is making the deal with his nemesis, to adapt the hero's big legendary sci-fi book for an Avatar-like Hollywood movie.
I actually think it's really great when a clever show has the good characters win out in the end or the bad ones punished somehow. Nobody has to learn anything- you know. Or have their life affirmed. I did not like this show at all... at first. But then it becomes incredibly addictive, even though I've seen better work come from several of the cast members. It's probably because, as I read in a review yesterday afternoon, the stories move along so blazingly fast that you don't have time to figure everything out. This is good in one way and bad in another. Good because- you will keep watching just to find out what happens next. Bad because- well, season one of VH1's Flavor of Love has the same effect. Almost every character here is a HUGE douchebag. The show goes to extraordinary (and sorrily predictable) lengths to see if it can't top each character's latest douchebag stunt with something even worse. Especially hard to swallow is Tobias's wholly cliched existence, the fact that Buster is never truly funny, the fact that Jason Bateman's Michael can't seem to get a date without manipulating women, and Michael's "never gonna learn" relationship with Gob. Oh, and... I didn't laugh once in this season. It always seems to be teetering on the border of getting big laughs or of sheer brilliance. But it always feels just too darned cliched. There isn't a single thing I feel like I'm seeing for the first time here. Thankfully, this show has 3 killer cards in its' deck: Michael Cera, Alia Shawkat as Maeby, and - of course - Jason Bateman as the nicest guy in the model home. The father and son characters because you just can't help but want them to succeed and her because she is the only self-sufficient one of the group. It's virtually impossible not to love Cera's character after the "Not Without My Daughter" episode- I don't know where he came from but he seems like one of the sweetest and most brave young comedic actors I've ever seen in a show like this. The most believable member of the cast along with Shawkat.
(I only realized later that, after I wrote this, it seemed like I had more negatives on this season than positives but I was pressed for time when I wrote this)
Easily an improvement over the first season... for awhile. Though not for Portia De Rossi's miserable character, of course, who comes off as one of the worst of the show in this season- now surpassing Buster as the most invisible member of the family. And, shockingly, dikey as well; the episode where her voice goes Patty Bouvier and she charges after Maeby's would-be boyfriend Steve Holt with hair like Peaches and a manly suit is downright insulting. Of course, all women on the show are given so little to do that it isn't surprising the blonde is treated like a vapid airhead and nothing more. Again, Alia Shawkat is the only female member of the cast who really makes her limited screentime count; yeah, Jessica Walter tries but unless she's screaming (as she does whenever she sees Martin Mull's character in another disguise)- she practically disappears onscreen. In fact, as in the first season, she comes in 2nd to whatever is going on with Jeffrey Tambor's characters. Although, unlike the first season- she also comes in 2nd to Tony Hale's storylines. Good news for him, bad news for her.
But, since this show really wants us to pay attention to the men, I suppose we should get onto that: Gob is still a fairly insufferable, life-sucking leech for most of the season but- yeah, yeah, yeah Will Arnett does a magnificent job making us hate him or like him on the flip of a coin. The "Righteous Brothers" episode was particularly good for his character as - I believe - it ended with him and Michael bonding rather than having to fight again because Gob can't stop being a tool. Also helps that Arnett seems to want to french Jason Bateman so badly (mirroring my sentiments exactly). One of the hotter moments of the show, along with the "Immaculate Election" episode - which, by sheer dumb luck, happens to be another tender moment between the two characters (made even sweeter by Bateman practically trying to sit on the camera- NICE angle, guys!!
), Arnett deciding he should be pantless when trying to kill himself with his belt, and any plotline dealing with he Hot Cops agency.
Though, there again brings up an important problem with the show and, as a gay man I would know this- the gay jokes are getting a lot more prevalent. Of course, there also not getting any funnier and 30% of the time border on offensive. Example- when the first joke is made, the strippers aren't labeled gay and, when we see their costumes, only one or two are short-shorts. It's a good joke and the point is made without stooping to overused cliches. Later, the story clarifies that the strippers are gay and this is fine too- it makes Gob look smart and tolerance/intolerance is never an issue. Then the boat "scare tactic" episode comes up and the entire joke is ruined when a bunch of prissy guys mostly in short-shorts (who are meant to be dressed as cops but instead fucking look like UPS drivers) run up to the cast, acting like complete morons. Question: if a "cop" comes to your door in short-shorts... what are you going to think? One search on Google Images of "cop shorts" brings up Thomas Lennon and a female stripper, so the public majority would think: it's a costume or a gay stereotype.
And, how about Tobias and the mob of aspiring club stage performers? I am nothing like Tobias- I have deep-running morals, I don't steal from people, I don't try to use people, I don't hang around begging for attention, and I haven't made foolishly homophobic or unintentionally gay proclamations since I was in school (which is a difficult and confusing time for anybody). I hugely resent this show choosing him to be the token gay character. And, it would seem the writers / makers of the show have never met any interesting, intelligent gay people considering the way they continue to portray them- as followers of a royal jackass like Tobias. Whether they be brainless, queeny Broadway musical fanatics or brainless, sappy, overemotional crybabies. Meanwhile, their lead star not only talks like he's got a little suga in 'im but also motions effeminately with his hands. Don't get me wrong- I love that there are straight guys like that in the world but nobody else notices and the show even punishes him for it by making Gob and Lindsay frequently call him a chicken. This show may not mean to, but it hammers people for being decent human beings.
There are two reasons why I complain about this. 1) The show tries to cover its' ass after realizing they're doing this by then trying to make Michael less likable and more open to being compromised by his shitty family. He is better than they are, but several episodes after he proves it- someone will accuse him of being pious and then, the show tries to give us evidence of that. Look at the dynamic: 8-10 episodes in a row with Michael looking like a saint, 1 episode of him looking like a dickhead. Repeat formula, which turns out to be about 2 or 3 episodes each season. 2) The shitty family are almost always shitty. They don't get 2 or 3 redeeming episodes a season. They get maybe 4 or 5 scenes where they don't look like assholes. Not counting the parts of the story that are so smartly written that you enjoy their own greed or vanity coming back to bite them on the ass.
I don't mean to complain this much and not all of these observations apply to Season Two - some of it is still stored up from Season One and some of it is based on the first 4 episodes of Season Three (which I've already started). It's still the kind of show you can't put down after a really good ending and have to run to the next episode. But, like always, that could just be because it's so fast and packed full of stuff. When Family Guy was newer, people had the same reaction to that (thankfully, however, that show is rightly put in its' place on a regular basis). Arrested Development is still not very original and has many scenes that just leave me screeching and squirming when I hear jokes or cracks that have been done to death. Not to mention this show would be extraordinarily painful if it weren't for Shawkat, Cera, and Bateman's characters. Good guest stars in this season as well: especially Ben Stiller and Zach Braff (who, I admit, I flat-out don't like anymore on Scrubs).
Well, finally they lightened up a bit on the gay jokes and only had a couple of lackluster episodes. Then, as previously mentoned, it got funnier. Lindsay's part remained barely visible but the story made good use of her at the end. Tobias
finally became less annoying. Gob's part was improved upon greatly. The mother got more interesting. The guest stars were excellent.
And there's nothing more to say. This is a must-start show just to get to this incredible season. (One complaint, however: "For British Eyes Only" was a terrible episode. It just plain sucked.)
So... this 6-episode season could not possibly have gotten off to a rougher start. For the first 3 episodes solid - it wasn't even close to being funny, the characters and the acting were awkward (Amy Poehler was practically unbearable and Rashida Jones is... too nice, if that makes any sense; she's just impossibly "okay, since I'm nice I'll just be gung-ho and go with any suggestion or plan you may have- I'm ready at a moment's notice and I won't complain or question anything you think or do"), and the stories were ridiculously unoriginal and cliched. In fact, the only character I was gravitating toward was Ron since he was nonchalantly anti-government. However, things completely snap into place by episode 4 where - if you can believe it - they find a way to make Poehler's character Leslie's insane devotion to her ethical code hilarious. Then they blast that out of the water by making her try to be bad in easily the funniest episode of the season, "The Banquet." Either way, Leslie Knope is like the tolerable version of Election's Tracy Flick and the end half of the season opens the character up to make her a lot more likable. Paul Schneider's character, Mark, is the hardest person to figure out but I'm already liking where the start of season 2 seems to be taking him. April is a little underdeveloped in season 1 but that also seems to be changing in season 2.
