FX’s Adults Season 2 is so good that it earns the right to be worthy of comparison to the iconic Friends.
Right off the bat, the new season addressed the problems we had with the first batch of episodes. We felt like the loud and in-your-face humor was overshadowing its potential to be something more. Also, we believed such joking around brought little depth to the narrative that automatically suffers with twenty-minutes per eight episodes. While we’d still like more episodes, we weren’t left as bothered after watching this season.
We’re in a time where distributors cancel a show after the first season before people have the chance to truly connect with a story. While that wasn’t the case with this show, it’s a hard truth to remain aware of. Nowadays, writers are barely given the chance to develop characters, identities, and group dynamics that audiences crave. So, when given the rare opportunity to see these messy lovable adults again, Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw deliver their best in Adults Season 2.
They utilize this rare opportunity to build upon its many strengths and few weaknesses. We got exactly what we wished for in the return to the chaotic and messy friend group of Billie (Lucy Freyer), Anton (Owen Thiele), Paul Baker (Jack Innanen), Issa (Amita Rao) and Samir (Malik Elassal) who all live in the same house in their mid-twenties. Personally, we think Adults Season 2 hits the bullseye of being both hilarious and meaningful.
MORE: Need a refresher? Read our review of FX’s Adults Season 1!
The Rare Opportunity for Growth
Giving ensemble shows the time to grow their story and characters is important. Because the first seasons of most television shows function as introductions to characters and the world they live in. Truthfully, we can’t see relationships grow or change with only the beginning of a story.
So, it was crucial to see Kronengold and Shaw build on each character in Season 2. Not only because we wanted to know more about Samir, Anton, Issa, Billie, and Paul Baker as individuals. But because we already know how they act as a group. Together, they’re the ride-or-die friends we think everyone should have. But making us care about them as people separate from each other matters.
Who are they when they’re apart? Paul Baker works multiple jobs as a model employee. Anton is a sales guy who loves his job. As for Billie, she feels unaccomplished in life for not being able to get a job. Then, how does pairing certain characters together give insight to them as individuals? We knew Anton and Paul Baker had an instant connection where they feel understood. But seeing Samir and Paul Baker’s friendship grow was nice because they stabilized each other. Also, Anton and Billie would do anything for each other cause their egos are fragile.
Quickly, we’re reminded that they’re all people pleasers who hate being thought of negatively. While Anton and Billie like to pretend like everything is okay, Issa brushes off her insecurities with charm. And we think diving into emotions is important because laughs should matter just as much as writing interesting characters that have substance.
If you want us to care, there has to be a balance in order to make a memorable ensemble show. Honestly, that realization is what made the biggest difference between seasons one and two of FX’s Adults. They gave us the hard and vulnerable conversations we craved to see when humor couldn’t fix relationship or life problems. And they knew how to lift the tension with a perfectly timed laugh after the fact.
There’s So Much to Love
We’ve begun to see underneath the personas that this group hides behind when their walls crack open in Season 2. And we think watching them struggle to let go of their youth and bad habits was necessary. Moreover, we were able to see them as human and not just laughing exercises. Which creates a reason as to why every joke and funny moment worked this season. They landed differently because now they had a purpose.
We saw Paul Baker act like a loud and annoying frat-guy with old friends because he didn’t want to let them go. Even if he felt like they were too crazy to introduce to the group. Then, we watched an eighteen-year-old girl tell Billie she might be too old to have kids or have fun at twenty-five because she was trying so hard to fit in at the club. Also, Samir struggled to tell his girlfriend Carly to give up on singing because she was awful. Sure, we laughed, but Samir hates to let people down. It’s what him wanting to be a role model to fake Samir (Gaten Matarazzo) so heartfelt. All in all, their insecurities were driving their necessity to act out, make insensitive jokes, or behave differently.
Similarly, Anton’s immature fights with his older sister Talia (Raven Symone) are where we learned that he’s defensive with people he loves because he’s afraid of judgement. In Billie’s persistence to get a bunch of teenagers to like her, we saw how little she occasionally values herself. Issa’s faking of accents around strangers is where we learned how she behaves when she’s uncomfortable in public. Overall, learning more about what scares, motivates, or pushes these characters in life is what made us feel most connected to them.
Issa Deserves The World
We loved the trio of Amita Rao, Jack Innanen, and Owen Thiele in Season 2. Their characters were the ones who expressed the most growth on screen and the ones we got to know the most over time. First, we believe Thiele’s Anton was the beacon that held everyone in place. Naturally, he was so easy to root for to be happy because he rarely put himself first. While eager for attention at times, he always tried to be selfless when it came to the group.
On the other hand, Issa is someone who believed being single meant she wasn’t lovable. She had to be with someone to feel happy and secure. For the first time we saw her overcome her fear of being left by doing the leaving herself. She was the one to sit Paul Baker down to break up in the effortlessly funny yet emotional Season 2, Episode 4 ‘Raccoon.’ Despite initiating the make out session between the trio, she finally grew tired of lying to herself. There was nothing left with Paul Baker and Issa couldn’t hold on anymore.
Afterwards, Issa had this accountability to fix issues this season that made her stand out. She began doing the work to be happy outside of a relationship. Which meant doing a hard thing like getting her ex and best friend together. Which we loved to see because being the brave “bigger” person is Issa choosing herself. She’s someone who finds equal value in friendships and relationships. And she wasn’t going to let a man get in between her and one of her best friends. Not when Anton felt the magic with Paul Baker that she really never has felt.
Honestly, she did the right thing here and we adore her character for everything that she is. Season 2, Episode 8 ‘Vote for Paul Baker’ has Issa meet-cute with a nerdy librarian who shares her awkward quirks. So, we hope we can see her get a happy ending like the one she gave to Anton and Paul Baker.
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Last Thoughts
Lastly, we just wanted to give Jack Innanen’s Paul Baker a hug each time we saw him struggle with not going to Anton because he was afraid of hurting Issa. It was endearing to watch these three characters avoid the truth for as long as they did to prevent hurting each other. Because it just shows how much their friendships matter to each other. As a whole, nothing had changed in how deeply the overall group cares for each other.
Admittedly, we are glad that Kronengold and Shaw didn’t prolong the love triangle for longer than necessary. They treated Paul Baker and Anton’s journey to their last kiss of the season like a romantic comedy worthy of being in theaters. Notably, their longing stares before getting together hurt in the best way. Because their happiness, along with Issa’s, is what they all deserved in the end.
Now, we have a newly coupled Anton and Paul Baker that changes the group’s dynamic for the better. However, what would a comedy drama be without a cliffhanger? Nothing worth remembering. So, how will newly single Samir and Billie hooking up shift everything once again? We don’t know but there’s no hiding that big of a secret in a crowded house. Season 2 of FX’s Adults left us wishing there were more than eight episodes. We want more because we’re that obsessed.
All episodes of Adults are streaming on Hulu/Disney+.
