Platonic: Season 2

It’s 2025 and we need some comedy in our lives. Inconsequential adult television that speaks to us in a language that isn’t overly-complicated genre or four-joke-a-page network sitcom nonsense. Not that I don’t watch a ton of genre stuff, but sometimes I just need to hang out and laugh at some folks as they wend their way around adult problems. Family problems, job problems, friend problems. Talented comedians with real chemistry like Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne. Who, as things would have it, is allowed to use her real Australian accent, which somehow makes her funnier. Platonic is a hangout show, which is exactly the type of thing that Apple TV+ doesn’t really deal in, so it’s interesting to see that this version of their programming is amongst their best. I very much enjoyed Platonic season one and was excited that it got a second. Further cementing my feeling that there is just not enough of this type of quality TV out there.

The first season of Platonic saw our protagonists, Will and Sylvia, reconciling after years apart. Intermingling, once again, in each others’ lives in a strictly platonic way (as the show’s title would indicate). He’s divorced and single and trying out dating youngsters and whatnot, and she’s a former lawyer, married and raising kids in suburban LA. He’s still growing up and she’s feeling staid and lame in her growing into middle age and seeking to maybe rekindle some sort of wild past with her single friend, Will. That was basically what happened. But now, firmly back in one another’s lives, it’s time to focus on both of them growing in some way. Him personally and professionally and Sylvia trying to find purpose in her life. But still totally sticking her nose into Will’s business because that’s just who she is.

I’m not really sure what to say about what amounts to a show where life things just kind of happen. Rogen constantly shows up in absolutely bonkers outfits that no human being should or would ever wear and Byrne’s nervous energy provides a heightened comic thing that just naturally buzzes with Rogen’s false bravado vibe. Real false. Add in an equally high-strung Luke Macfarlane going through crisis and a droll, but incredibly sharp Carla Gallo and it just rounds out the main cast. This season is one of growth for our characters. Okay, not so much. But now that they’re entrenched in one another’s life, wackiness can ensue. Will is getting married (maybe). Sylvia is his wedding planner. Charlie, Sylvia’s husband, has a big holiday work party. Sylvia is the planner. Will is homeless, Sylvia lets him move into her ADU and set up his beer-making stuff in her backyard as he plans his next work endeavor. It’s all very messy, as our characters intertwine their personal and work lives. Which makes for comedy! And while the show does peripherally investigate some adulting themes, it doesn’t delve into any of the more maudlin stuff that another decent Apple TV+ hang show, Shrinking, does. It’s just straight goofiness and slapstick and lots of riffing banter between Rogen and Byrne as they mostly act like codependent, insecure idiots.

Yeah, I don’t really have a ton to say other than if you’re anywhere in the gen X or elder millennial pocket, this will hit you right where it counts. It’ll remind you vaguely of a more grown-up version of the time of Apatow, where there was no other agenda than showing friends and couples interacting with one another, interjecting situational pressure and seeing what kind of shenanigans they can get up to. And, of course, surround them with a supporting cast of other funny folks who can dial up the comedy dial for situational lols. Super low-concept stuff. But also endlessly watchable for seasons to come.