Tired of stagnant TV comedies? This Fool is here to remind you small-screen yukfest’s can deliver more than expected.
This Fool’s first season saw main character, Luis (Frankie Quiñones), getting out of prison and reuniting with his cousin Julio Lopez (Chris Estrada) at the Hugs Not Thugs program in Los Angeles. For many shows, getting out of the slammer would be the focal point of the drama, the end goal to build an entire season of storylines around. Instead, the series hits the ground running with Luis emerging from incarceration. Then it draws out comedic scenarios from him trying to get his life back on track.
This Fool Season 2 begins with Julio and Luis feeling stagnated. Having previously broken things off with his girlfriend, the former is now stuck living in a garage, devoid of ambition. Meanwhile, Luis works security at a clothing store, staving off boredom by any means. However, after a hold-up, the duo finds their lives going in a radically different direction. Now, Julio is determined to realize his dream of making a great coffee joint. Unfortunately, committing to a goal won’t suddenly make his long-standing mental health issues vanish.
Hulu)" class="wp-image-43365"/>This Fool Season 2 features an overarching narrative with certain plot developments—such as romantic entanglements—connecting installments. Despite this, writers like Curtis Cook and Eliza Jimenez Cossio primarily opt for standalone storytelling. It’s a shame this collection of episodes drops all at once, as the creators took great pains to ensure each yarn, save for a two-parter plotline, stands on its own. Binge-watching will only erase those charms.
With its commitment to providing satisfying 30-minute chunks of storytelling (rather than opting for being “an 8-hour movie”), This Fool Season 2 harkens back to the hallmarks of classic television. The enjoyable personalities also harken back to vintage small-screen hangout yukfests. There’s an instantly endearing air to the messy but often well-meaning characters like Luis and Julio. They’re the relatably flawed individuals that have led to great TV comedies for decades.
Granted, the overall stories themselves are a little more scattershot. The season two premiere, in particular, struggles to juggle a nuanced tone in its finale. The sequence swerves from darker material seemingly lifted from other weighty modern “comedies” like The Bear and Barry to fizzier surface-level gags ripped straight from a 1990s ABC sitcom. Still, the compelling rawness of the darker elements suggests value in the show trying to channel so many vibes simultaneously.
With its commitment to providing satisfying 30-minute chunks of storytelling…This Fool Season 2 harkens back to the hallmarks of classic television.
Much more consistently successful is the score by Gabriel Rowland, a delightfully pronounced presence throughout all of This Fool Season 2. Whether Julio is getting a particularly important package in the mail or Esperanza (Laura Patalano) is navigating accusations from her loved ones, Rowland is right there to deliver a memorably grandiose music cue. It’s wonderful to hear a score that opts to match the emotional scope rather than settling for generic.
It isn’t just the score of This Fool that goes above and beyond expectations, though. Directors like Pat Bishop instill an exact visual scheme into the production, enhancing memorable gags. For example, the controlled camera work allows this season’s fifth episode to deliver a worthy homage to an iconic Synecdoche, New York shot. The care is remarkable in an age of TV comedies that often look assembled the day before they aired. It’s also emblematic of how This Fool Season 2 truly goes above and beyond expectations.
The Fool Season 2 starts making your half-caff non-fat Americano July 28 on Hulu.