{"id":3232,"date":"2025-10-19T03:49:05","date_gmt":"2025-10-19T03:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/10\/19\/platonic-season-two-is-funnier-bigger-better\/"},"modified":"2025-10-19T03:49:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-19T03:49:15","slug":"platonic-season-two-is-funnier-bigger-better","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2025\/10\/19\/platonic-season-two-is-funnier-bigger-better\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Platonic&#8217; season two is funnier, bigger, better"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>All miniseries face an identity crisis when they get renewed for a second season. Apple TV\u2019s magnificent low-stakes, good-vibe comedy \u201cPlatonic\u201d is no different. That\u2019s why it\u2019s such a relief to say that season two is not only a significant improvement upon season one, but a genuinely pretty good season of TV in its own right. Having established great character dynamics in the first season, showrunners Francesca Delbanco (\u201cFriends from College\u201d) and Nicholas Stoller (\u201cThe Studio\u201d) are free to experiment with more ambitious plotlines and a larger cast. Episodes are more high-concept. Guest stars abound. It\u2019s more of the same, but on steroids.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Brewmaster and professional manchild Will Zysman (Seth Rogen, \u201cThe Studio\u201d) is living large, engaged to the CEO of restaurant conglomerate Johnny 66. Meanwhile, Sylvia Greaves\u2019 (Rose Byrne, \u201cTow\u201d) event planning business is taking off. But Will\u2019s fianc\u00e9 Jenna (Rachel Rosenbloom, \u201cGood Trouble\u201d) isn\u2019t right for Will, and Sylvia\u2019s husband Charlie (Luke Macfarlane, \u201cBros\u201d) is on the brink of falling into a serious midlife crisis. Let the degeneracy begin.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The highs of this season are unbelievable. If season one was a bit shaggier, with Sylvia and Will\u2019s lack of direction being reflected in occasionally meandering episodes, season two\u2019s crop of episodes is tighter, better structured and more packed with jokes. The stakes and plotlines are similar \u2014 the pilot centers on Will and Sylvia having to buy more champagne for a party \u2014 but almost all episodes feel leaner and more confidently made. In episode three, \u201cThe Bachelor Party,\u201d Will and Sylvia\u2019s friend Wild Card (Beck Bennett, \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d) flies in for Will\u2019s bachelor party, only for Sylvia to take edibles, get way too high and get into a fight with Will at a planetarium. Bennett is a fantastic addition to the cast, playing the boring, mellowed-out 40-something version of everyone\u2019s crazy best friend from college. He\u2019s a standout in a season full of fantastic guest spots, and the best part of one of the season\u2019s funniest episodes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Compared to the previous season, \u201cPlatonic\u201d season two dips its toes into more serious themes. Episode six, \u201cRoad Trip,\u201d follows Sylvia, Will and Katie (Carla Gallo, \u201cBones\u201d) as they drive to Palm Springs to drop one of Sylvia\u2019s kids off at a debate tournament. Meanwhile, Will meditates on the direction his life has recently taken and whether he will make a big decision once they return home. The episode is never actively unfunny, per se, but it made me realize the strength of the show\u2019s character writing. What a miracle it is that a show whose first season was all about the joy of being idiots and riding Spin scooters around Los Angeles can earn mature character moments without causing whiplash.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p>Not every episode strikes this balance: \u201cThe Dinner Party\u201d is an early cringeworthy dud, and later episodes push the Sylvia-Will tension a little too far, leading to an awkward stretch of fighting that slows the show down and takes it away from what it does best: having Rose Byrne and Seth Rogen be really funny together.<\/p>\n<p>The show never grinds to a halt, though. Because \u201cPlatonic\u201d has spent so much time building a solid roster of supporting characters that even when Will and Sylvia aren\u2019t together, the show is still able to build great moments with other characters, giving the show an ensemble feel. \u201cJeopardy,\u201d for example, is a great Will-Charlie episode, and Katie gets fantastic moments to shine this season with an insufferable podcast and depraved hijinks of her own.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Season two of \u201cPlatonic\u201d isn\u2019t perfect TV, but it\u2019s more ambitious than its first season and hits its stride to amazing effect at certain points. At its best, it\u2019s relentlessly funny television, and one of the most engaging laugh-out-loud half-hour comedies I\u2019ve seen in a while. All one can hope is that these characters are given more room to grow and develop in upcoming seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><em>Daily Arts Writer Jack Connolly can be reached at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/arts\/tv\/platonic-season-two-the-adult-children-are-gettin-all-grown-up\/mailto:jconno@umich.edu\">jconno@umich.edu<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All miniseries face an identity crisis when they get renewed for a second season. Apple TV\u2019s magnificent low-stakes, good-vibe comedy \u201cPlatonic\u201d is no different. That\u2019s why it\u2019s such a relief to say that season two is not only a significant improvement upon season one, but a genuinely pretty good season of TV in its own [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[3323,3322,3321,315],"class_list":{"0":"post-3232","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-bigger","9":"tag-funnier","10":"tag-platonic","11":"tag-season"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3234,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3232\/revisions\/3234"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}