Roommates are people who live together and may or may not be part of each other’s lives in any meaningful way. In its first season, Adults explored the antics of five twentysomethings who share one roof and rarely have a plan for what they’re going to do when life throws them curveballs. Season two returns with a reassured sense of itself, very prepared and well-structured in its comedy stylings in precisely the way that its characters are absolutely the opposite.
Successful sitcoms have often benefited from their personalities playing off one another. The six stars of Friends had great banter and relationships, and Will & Grace is just one example of a show with two key leads and two equally critical supporting players. Adults makes fantastic use of all five of its stars, enabling them to shine and step into the spotlight at various moments, and also to switch off with scene partners and to interact with everyone else that shares their home. It’s hard to pick a favorite duo or trio, but this show offers in just eight episodes of its second season many great options which make a strong case for a similar focus in future episodes and seasons.
Where Adults truly demonstrates its staying power is when it tasks all five characters to be involved in a single episode-spanning storyline. When Billie (Lucy Freyer) finds her old fake ID and tracks down the teenager who’s now using it, it prompts everyone to consider what’s become of the people who used to – and may still – pretend to be them. A group acid night is derailed by the arrival of a raccoon, forcing the entire crew to band together to expel it from their home before their drugs kick in. “Room Swap” couldn’t be a more fitting episode title, showing how where each person lives makes a crucial difference in how they feel appreciate and manage to get along.
All five members of the ensemble are at the top of their game in season two, fleshing out even more humorous takes on their characters and the bad decisions and instincts over which they so entertainingly agonize. Owen Thiele gets a fun showcase as Anton learns that the offhand comments he spews are taken as gospel to encourage people to change the course of their lives and when he gets petty with the sister who he doesn’t think respects him. Amita Rao is energetic and chaotic in the best and messiest way as Issa, who is always down to go all out even and especially when the situation doesn’t call for it. Freyer and Malik Elassal electrically mix subdued and frantic as Billie and Samir find their fortunes rising and falling, and there’s no one quite like Paul Baker, whose naïve sweetness Jack Innanen so wonderfully brings to the screen.
Adults is the sitcom of the moment, utilizing clever setups that speak to how the world works right now to craft winning comedy in each of its eight episodes. These young adults are constantly failing upwards with little to no understanding of how they’re managing to get by, and it’s extremely amusing to watch as they slowly realize which steps they’ve skipped and which milestones they’ve forgotten, and to see not only how they try to fix their own mistakes but also to swoop in to be there for their roommates whose fortunes are looking even worse at any given moment. They’ve enlisted a handful of big-name guest stars to join season two but not one of them distracts from the inimitable fivesome at its center. It took months for a season two renewal to be announced after season one dropped, but based on the quality of its latest offering, a third season pickup is in order as soon as possible.
Season grade: 9/10
