The Big Picture

UnPrisoned
Season 2 finds a better tonal balance, allowing characters to grow in new directions.
Creator Tracy McMillan’s refreshing approach upends expectations and explores the characters more deeply.
Delroy Lindo and Kerry Washington work their magic, balancing drama and comedy effortlessly, ensuring the show grapples with heavy topics while remaining light on its feet.

In the fascinating yet flawed first season of UnPrisoned, the low-key Hulu dramedy series starring the great duo of Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo, tone was an often tricky balance. Though plenty thoughtful in its exploration of a father and daughter reconnecting after the former gets out of prison, it also had its fair share of moments where it undercut itself with hit-or-miss gags. However, despite some of these recurring hiccups, UnPrisoned was still an engaging familial portrait that gave space for each of its characters to grow and change while trying to reconnect with each other. Now returning more than a year later with a second season about breaking the cycles of trauma, the series has not only found its footing but is even better this time around. Throughout all eight episodes, every moment of humor goes hand-in-hand with the heartfelt reflections that it taps into. It’s both silly and sincere, creating a greater sense of intimacy just as it isn’t afraid to let loose. The first season was solid, but this one proves that there is still plenty of room for UnPrisoned to grow.

Perhaps most critical to what makes this all work is that creator Tracy McMillan, drawing loosely from her own life, demonstrates a refreshing willingness to upend a great deal of what we’d come to expect and poke fun at the show’s narrative underpinnings. While there is still a great deal of therapy speak, the show also laughs at the pretentiousness of those who pretend to have all the answers when this messy thing we call life is not so simple. There are some of the same premises to the jokes, but each now arrives at different locations that take us deeper into all the characters as they grow in new directions. This ensures UnPrisoned finds a better tonal balance while also allowing it to take some bigger swings along the way. Even when some developments later in the season can feel shaky, you’re still along for the journey because of the care given to both the characters and the wit with which their struggles get explored. It’s not perfect by any means, but what family is?

Unprisoned Follows a therapist and single mom whose life is turned right-side-up when her dad gets out of prison and moves to her house to live with her and her teenage son.Release Date March 10, 2023 Creator Tracy McMillan Main Genre Comedy Seasons 2 Studio ABC Signature, Onyx Collective, Simpson Street, Anonymous Content Distributor Hulu Writers Tracy McMillan Expand

What Is ‘UnPrisoned’ Season 2 About?

UnPrisoned Season 2 picks up shortly after we left off with these characters, with Paige (Washington) and Edwin (Lindo) each apart following a bit of a crisis that seems like it could cause a permanent schism. Of course, this doesn’t come to pass as there is still a show about reconnection to experience, but that doesn’t make their continued struggles any less earned. At the same time, Paige’s son Finn (Faly Rakotohavana) is having to figure out how he navigates this already tumultuous period of growing up just as things seem to constantly be getting upended.

The trio remains the focus of the series, but there are also plenty of other characters that come into play. Namely, Season 2 introduces John Stamos as the world’s worst therapist, who seems driven by ego more than truly helping anyone. He’ll occasionally drop some nuggets of knowledge, but mostly he exists as a comedic sounding board for the family trio as they sit through rather uncomfortable therapy sessions together. There are also returning faces in Mal (Marque Richardson) and Esti (Jee Young Han), who each prove to be more important to the overall narrative, with the latter getting an entire episode that she can call much of her own (plus a playful Wes Anderson joke to cap it off).

Lindo and Washington Are Still ‘UnPrisoned’s Greatest Strength
Image via Hulu

With all that in mind, UnPrisoned’s main strength is still watching Washington and Lindo work their magic. Not only are both excellent dramatic performers (with Lindo’s snub for his potent performance in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods from a few years ago still proving to be a disappointment), but they’re each delightful when they get to lean into the funnier beats. Even if the moments when we step away from their characters can feel a little empty, they’re never gone too long. The way they strike the necessary balance between comedy and tragedy ensures the series can wrestle (including literally in one fun scene) with heavy topics while remaining light on its feet. One particular moment, where Edwin opens up to a stranger about his past and learns they too have someone in their life who was incarcerated, strikes a chord because of how self-assured Lindo’s performance is. He never oversells anything, instead embodying all the natural rhythms of Edwin’s life that he is trying to rebuild.

At the same time, we feel all that Paige carries with her in every move Washington makes. An episode hinging on a flashback that could feel cloying in another’s hands becomes something more crushing when we see this more complicated history through her eyes. The humor that then bursts forth from this is a prime example of how comedy can come from pain and be that much more consistently hilarious to witness. Even when things can start to feel a little scattered around its leads and a quick succession of sudden developments near the end don’t quite have the impact they should, the season holds together because of the pure charisma at its center. It’s hard to imagine UnPrisoned would work nearly as well without Lindo and Washington, though we can be glad that they’re here to guide the series through whatever rough weather befalls them. Here’s hoping we get to see more of them cooking together.

REVIEW UnPrisoned Season 2 UnPrisoned sees Kerry Washington and Delroy Lindo working their magic once again to ensure everything works even better this second outing.ProsThough the first season was solid, this second one finds a better tonal balance.All of the characters get explored with greater depth while the humor goes hand-in-hand with the show’s sense of heart.Both Washington and Lindo give excellent performances, striking the necessary balance to hold it all together. ConsThings can get a little narratively shaky, especially when the show throws in a bunch of developments near the end.

UnPrisoned Season 2 premieres with all eight episodes on July 17 on Hulu in the U.S.

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