Space Force season 2 review: A light yet underwhelming season

Rating: 2/5

The second season of Space Force follows the aftermath of the moon mission and focuses on the attempts of the members of the governmental branch to prove their usefulness amidst many roadblocks.

Story

General Mark Naird (Steve Carell) has once again found his leadership of the Space Force questioned following the chaotic moon mission but he has the support of his colleagues to push him through.

He also has to deal with an impending divorce and the stress of where his daughter decides to go to college. Erin (Diana Silvers) is getting used to spending time at the compound and has a wide range of influences to help her decide on her future.

Dr Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich) is used to being the smartest person in the room but once the cracks begin to show and the future of Space Force seems less certain, he contemplates taking on other opportunities to maintain his legacy.

Chan (Jimmy Yang) and Angela (Tawny Newsome) have a complicated relationship as they were close before the moon mission but ever since she came back, Angela has been having trouble dealing with her emotions and life in general.

Tony (Ben Schwartz) is also continuing in his job while helping out his colleagues with various issues but he too is considering jumping ship in search of something new.

Performances

Steve Carell has a very trademark style of humour which most people are used to by now. There’s nothing new on offer here, but that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily bad. He does a suitable job given the material he had at his disposal.

John Malkovich is easily one of the better standouts in the series, simply because he’s so good at playing this type of character that is usually smarter than the rest and the way he delivers his lines really have you hooked.

The rest of the cast all have their little moments under the sun, doing their best to translate an average script into a strong performance and they do come close.

Positives

The pacing makes this a very easy and casual watch. The episodes do not seem to drag on at any moment and the brisk runtime means the average content is at times forgivable.

The toned-down nature of this season is marked improvement on that last, not relying on plots that are way out there making this a slightly better watch.

Negatives

The script is still found lacking for most of the series. Many of the jokes struggle to land with only a few moments really garnering a laugh thanks to the efforts of the cast.

The characters are given side plots to flesh them out, but there is hardly any investment in them and they feel like an afterthought by the end.

There isn’t a coherent story being told across the 7 episodes, with a broad structure in place that is noticed but apart from that it is found lacking.

Verdict

The second season of Space Force is definitely a step up from the first installment and it’s modest run time makes it the perfect series for a casual watch but it lacks any serious qualities to write home about.


Also Read: Space Force season 2 summary and ending explained

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