TV Review - Special: Season 2

The first season was nominated for four Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. The first season won a WGA Award for Short Form New Media Original. The creator of the series, Ryan O'Connell won a GLAAD Media Award and he won the Ruderman Seal of Approval, which goes to television or feature film projects featuring actors with disabilities in substantial speaking roles. The actor with a disability in a substantial speaking role was O'Connell himself. Ryan O'Connell was born with cerebral palsy. At age 20, he was hit by a car, which caused him to have issues with his hand. The first season was about O'Connell's character, named Ryan Hayes who is a proxy or fictionalized version of himself, dealing with the fact that he doesn't quite fit in most places and most people don't understand him.

This second season continues that feeling of not fitting in. It focuses more on Ryan's dating life though as he explores the pitfalls of pursuing a relationship with an able-body person, as opposed to one with a disabled person. Last season, Ryan was a virgin who didn't really date because of his insecurities about his body. He had to lose his virginity to a sex worker. If you've seen the film Come As You Are (2020) or The Sessions (2012), utilizing a sex worker is not uncommon for disabled people. In those aforementioned films, the disabled person was always played by an actor who wasn't actually disabled. O'Connell's scenes in the first season might have been the first time I can recall seeing an actual disabled person do a sex scene. It would happen again in the episode titled "Atlantic City" of Ramy (2019). The Oscar-nominated documentary Crip Camp (2020) was another example where we got more about the sex lives of disabled people.

Punam Patel (The Cool Kids and Kevin From Work) co-stars as Kim Laghari, the best friend to Ryan whom he met at the job he got. She and Ryan are writers for a web site or blog called "Eggwoke." The shenanigans that occur at Eggwoke are similar to the shenanigans that occur in the TV series Shrill (2019). All of it though is akin or perhaps derivative of the shenanigans at other workplace comedies, such as The Office (2005). She's a plus-size woman of Indian heritage. Her parents seem to be immigrants from India, whereas she and her brother were born in the U.S. If you've seen the show The Mindy Project (2012), Kim is very much like the character portrayed by Mindy Kaling, which Kim even references at one point, except Kim isn't as wealthy as Mindy or as financially stable, even though she wants to project an image of wealth and stability to the world.

This second season also follows Kim's dating life, as she faces her own commitment issues. Normally, it's a man who has commitment issues. Normally, it's a man who just wants to have sex casually with no strings attached. Normally, it's a man who resists developing romantic feelings. Yet, it's not a man doing that. It's a woman. It's Kim. Her presence here also fills the void that exists since The Mindy Project ended. We get to see representation of a woman of Indian heritage with her family and engaging in Indian traditions like Diwali. There is the series Never Have I Ever (2020), but, expanding upon the commentary from Aziz Ansari, there can be more than one series about an Indian-American girl on television.

Jessica Hecht (The Sinner and What About Joan?) also stars as Karen Hayes, the mother to Ryan. The first season was in a lot of ways about Ryan's relationship with his mother, a relationship that was very co-dependent. A lot of it was about the struggle for a parent to be not only a parent but also a constant caregiver for someone with a disability. It was also about how the person with the disability wants to be independent and break free from that caregiver, despite at times really needing that caregiver. Hecht's performance in that role of the conflicted caregiver was fantastic and she was very much deserving of her Emmy nomination. She only continues to be fantastic in this season, as she furthers her journey to break free of that co-dependence as well.

If the first season was like the Oscar-nominated documentary Life, Animated (2016), which was about a young man with a disability moving out of his parents' house and finding autonomy or singularity, then this second season is a bit of the reverse. It's not a complete back-track for the protagonist. It's still about though a person finding autonomy or singularity from a dependent relationship, just not the person you would assume. It's also about people discovering themselves, if not late in life, then after a bit of a rut. What should be reinforced though is that the show is funny. The humor here is breezy and smart. It's clearly one of the best comedies and should be recognized as such at the Emmys.

There is a collection of incredible guest stars here who comprise the boyfriends of the main characters. Each of them are so great that it can't be passed without mentioning them. Top of the list is Max Jenkins (Dead to Me and The Mysteries of Laura) who plays Tanner, the first boyfriend of Ryan. Tanner is an able-body person who has never been around disabled people and knows nothing about cerebral palsy. He was a backup dancer who got involved with an older man. If this were Netflix's Queer Eye (2018), Tanner would be Bobby Berk. However, Buck Andrews plays Henry, the second boyfriend for Ryan or at least a potential second boyfriend. Henry is a gardener who's autistic or on the spectrum. He's part of a support group for disabled people. Yet, Henry doesn't identify as disabled. If this were Queer Eye, Henry would be the Jonathan Van Ness of the group.

Charlie Barnett (Tales of the City and Russian Doll) plays Harrison, a wealthy tech guy who developed an app that he was able to sell for a fortune. He's a hot guy with a self-described attractive piece of anatomy. Harrison is the first boyfriend to Kim, although calling him a boyfriend might be too strong a word. Rounding out the cast though is Utkarsh Ambudkar (White Famous and The Mindy Project) who plays Ravi, a childhood friend who as an adult has become a friend with benefits for Kim. She definitely likes him and vibes with him, but she's afraid of going further with him in the romance department.

Rated TV-MA for sex and language.
Running Time: 30 mins. / 8 eps.

Available on Netflix.