My favourite episode of the superbly written and deeply humanistic Season 2 of the Netflix mystery-comedy-drama sequence “A Man on the Inside” is a “bottle episode,” i.e., an interlude restricted to only a few main units, with the primary plot on maintain as we delve into a stunning and poignant ensemble character examine.
Ted Danson’s Charles Nieuwendyk, a widowed and retired professor of engineering turned non-public eye, is internet hosting a Thanksgiving gathering at his house. It’s his most treasured vacation custom: “Small group. Shut buddies and family members…We speak, we drink, we eat. We now have a relaxed, quiet night.”
Spoiler alert: that’s not fairly the way it goes. The gathering expands to greater than a dozen friends, together with one full stranger, and turns right into a messy and peculiar and heartbreaking but additionally fantastic affair, involving every thing from a spilled entrée to the seek for the proper pecan pie to some shocking revelations to a guinea pig named Joni Mitchell, don’t ask.
It’s a near-perfect episode of cozy, sensible, empathetic tv. The second season of “A Man on the Inside” represents one other triumph from sequence creator Michael Schur, whose resume contains writing, producing, and/or creating duties on “The Workplace,” “Parks and Recreation,” “Brooklyn 9-9,” and “The Good Place” (which additionally starred Danson). Please hold making TV, good sir. You might be offering a few of the greatest binge-worthy and rerun-gold comedy requirements of this century.
Season 2 opens with the erudite however barely goofy Charles getting stressed along with his job as an apprentice non-public eye for the San Francisco-based Kovalenko Investigations, as he’s mired in a rut of working mundane instances, normally involving somebody suspected of infidelity. Simply as Charles’ boss Julie Kovalenko (Lilah Richreeck-Estrada, expertly enjoying the contrasting-character comedic foil) explains that that is the character of the gig, that juicy instances are few and much between, in walks Jack Berenger (Max Greenfield), the slick president of the liberal arts Wheeler Faculty, and the frazzled and overextended provost, one Holly Bodgemark (Jill Talley).
As Jack explains it, Wheeler’s wealthiest alum, the preternaturally unethical billionaire Brad Vinick (Gary Cole) has verbally pledged $400 million to the varsity— however somebody calling themselves “Wheeler Guardian” has stolen Berenger’s laptop computer and has despatched an electronic mail saying, “You’re taking one greenback of [Vinick’s] bloody cash, I spill all of your secrets and techniques.” Involved that even the whiff of a scandal will scare Vinick away, Berenger and Holly are hoping Kovalenko Investigations may help them determine “Wheeler Guardian” and retrieve the laptop computer.
“Each single college member may very well be a suspect,” says Charles. “Your solely probability to save lots of Wheeler Faculty is when you have…”
Properly. A Man on the Inside.
It’s a intelligent setup; who higher to go undercover on the Wheeler Faculty as “Charles Nieuwendyk, visiting lecturer in engineering,” than Charles Nieuwendyk, retired engineering professor? (The Caltech campus in Pasadena, CA, doubles for the fictional Wheeler Faculty, and the manufacturing workforce makes nice use of the idyllic exteriors.) We’re launched to a bevy of well-drawn, colourful teachers and college students—any of them may very well be a suspect!—performed by a robust forged.
Most notably, there’s Mary Steenburgen (Danson’s longtime real-life partner) as professor of music idea Mona Margadoff, a free-spirited soul who sang lead in a one-hit surprise band known as Lavender Freeway within the Nineteen Seventies; David Straitharn as Dr. Benjamin Cole, the curmudgeonly however beloved head of the English Dept.; and Madison Hu as Claire Chung, a junior who works a number of jobs on campus to assist offset the price of tuition.
The writers additionally discover welcome excuses—some extra intrinsic to the primary story than others—to convey again first-season favorites, together with Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Charles’ daughter, Emily; Stephen McKinley Henderson as Charles’ pal Calbert; and Stephanie Beatriz as Didi, the managing director of the Pacific View retirement residence.
The central thriller in Season 2 isn’t all that compelling; it’s actually simply an ongoing McGuffin that opens doorways to myriad storylines exploring the difficult nature of relationships between mother and father and grown siblings, the lasting worth of friendship and loyalty, and the opportunity of love at a complicated age. There’s zero point out of politics, however there’s an apparent real-world connection in a plot a few liberal arts faculty that’s struggling financially and is contemplating a take care of the satan to remain afloat. (We additionally get some sly social and financial commentary, as when Claire laments that altering tips imply she’ll must drop out, and he or she says, “I made numerous recollections right here, and you may’t actually put a price ticket on that, ? Properly, truly, you possibly can. It’s $86,000 a yr.”)
A couple of minor characters are broad and sitcom-y, e.g., Lisa Gilroy’s Kelseigh Rose, the brand new and far youthful and selfie-obsessed spouse of the billionaire Brad Vinick. (It’s not the fault of Gilroy, who does what she will with a cartoonishly silly function.) That is however a quibble, although, because the casting on the entire is sort of good; I imply, Cole owns the function of a vainglorious wealthy d-bag in hilarious vogue, and how will you high Strathairn as a grouchy educational who appears to be like like he cuts his personal hair and clearly believes books are so a lot better than folks?
Danson, a grasp at enjoying dignified but foolish, is correct up there with Pierce Brosnan as Guys In Their Seventies Who Look Spectacular in Tailor-made Fits. He has created one more memorable comedic character in Charles, who has his flights of ego and his moments of self-indulgence, however is nearly the most effective dad, grandfather, pal, and colleague—and Man on the Inside—you would ever hope to have.
That is low-key, endearing, stress-free viewing at its greatest. The quiet humor is soothing, and the moments which have your eyes glistening are well-earned and artfully executed.
All eight episodes of Season 2 of “A Man on the Inside” have been screened for assessment.
