AdvertisementTim Robinson, comedian, has tried many difficult second acts. He was a Saturday Night Live featured player in his first season, and he began the next one as a writer. He created Detroiters in 2017 for Comedy Central with his real-life friend Sam Richardson. It was a success story that earned the show a second season order. However, it needed to reach a larger audience beyond its cult-hit status. It didn't.AdvertisementAdvertisementRobinson's career so far had not prepared him for the pressure of following up a hugely loved hit. It's not obvious, but you can see it in the second season of Netflix's smash hit, I Think You Should Go. This is a true sequel that avoids the pitfalls associated with a repeat. Robinson's unique sketch series was not widely known when it first launched in spring 2019, but quickly became a comedy hit. Zach Kanin and Robinson co-created I Think You Should Go, which elevated everyday awkwardness to high art. Six episodes of all-killer, no-filler, each lasted around 16 minutes. This set spawned a number of all-purpose memes, which seemed perfectly suited for the chaos of 2020. It also led to a critical reassessment of the series. Netflix quickly renewed the series in summer 2019. They understood the cultural impact of the underdog hit. The new season will be a burden, unlike the original. It premieres July 6. Robinson and his team not only shoulder it well but also do so in a manner that shows the show's initial success was no fluke.AdvertisementAdvertisementIn the first episode, viewers will see a man about to eat hot dogs. This review will not spoil anything that's already in the trailer. This food didn't have to be a hotdog. Other lunch options would have sufficed. Hot dogs are a part of the show's most popular sketch, however. This is not a coincidence. The show creators are instead telegraphing their appreciation for the sketch's popularity and the shows. They also entertain the notion of trying to force more of it down viewers' throats. They end up doing something else.AdvertisementI Think You Should Let Go of Your Home focuses on the things that people love about the show and not any particular characters or sets. For example, there are no more ads for TC Tuggers. However, there are clothing brands mocking masculine consumerism. There are no motorcycle aliens anymore, but there are still people who don't know how the world works. Although there isn't a Baby of the Decade, we can say that there is something close by. The creators still enjoy taking the most uncomfortable moments in life, such as a friend's baby who cries only when you hold them, and pushing them beyond their limits. It's like a door opening backwards. This is not for everyone. The Hot Dog Costume sketch was accessible. However, it shows that the key to success is staying tuned into a specific frequency. While the humor can be credited to Mr. Show, Tim and Eric, who are both stars here, it is also its own thing. It is post-irony, pre-antihumor and imminently pre-apocalyptic. It's sketch comedy for those who don't like what sketch comedy has become.AdvertisementIn yet another awkward encounter between strangers, a character asks: "What if you get there and it's a job interview?" This subtle sign is a signal that Robinson and Kanin know the standard trajectory sketches follow as well as defying it. It's the show's unpredictability that makes it so addictively rewatchable. Many I Think You Should Be Leave stans share a common trait: they've seen the entire series at least five to six times. This is partly due to the short length of six episodes, but also because each sketch seems completely unbound by formula. It is a language that is rich in nonsense vocabulary, specificity and rhythm. This results in hilarious comedic zen koans such as Tiny Dinky Danffy: Pancaked at the dump truck driver by a drunken dump truck driver. The show has a formula. It is this: While something in the show's world goes horribly, catastrophically wrong, everyone treats it as a normal part of everyday life. Contrary to what the title suggests, everyone in every situation takes great care not to kick out anyone who is making it difficult, but rather offer them every opportunity to stay. Because nothing really matters, nobody is immune to redemption. This is a great antidote for the real world, where everything seems to be falling apart but the stakes are higher.Advertisement
