[yasr_overall_rating]
A New York comic is forced to make a new start for himself after his wife leaves him.
Season 2 of “Crashing” picks up where Season 1 left off; Pete (Pete Holmes) shacking up with Leif (George Basil), the man partially responsible for the breakdown of Pete’s breakup with his wife Jess (Lauren Lapkus). Pete and Leif are the perfect couple, they vibe really well off one another (whether Pete likes it or not). Leif has his peace, light, love and LSD thing going and Pete still gives us creepy-caring Youth Pastor feels, and the two would be perfect together in their own Odd Couple-esque show. But my dreams are shattered as Season 2 is not about Pete and Leif, but rather just more of Pete trying to figure his life out while shaping his stand-up comedy.
You see some familiar faces like Artie Lange and Zach Cherry as the Chicken Wing Man, but as with last season, this season is equally beefed up with some guest roles including Bill Burr, Penn Jillette, Whitney Cummings, Wayne Federman, and Melissa Villasenor. It’s all a bit of fun. But “Crashing” is at its best when the focus is solely on Pete Holmes and his awkward navigations through what should be obvious situations. Case in point, Pete engages in a one night stand with fellow stand-up comedian Ali Reissen (Jamie Lee) and it develops into a cringe-worthy situation the next day as Pete decides to make himself comfortable, raid the fridge and cupboards, and is confused when he’s confronted by Ali as to why he’s still there later that afternoon. Your heart aches for his dopey naiveté but mentally you’re grabbing the mace.
Jamie Lee as Ali Reissen is a breath of fresh air, and it’s a pleasant surprise to see a relationship develop between her and Pete throughout the series. It’s interesting to see Pete getting on with moving on, and to see the dynamic between the development of his comedy and hers. Hers biting and on the pulse of the current national consciousness and his as soft and clean as ever. They are both trying to find their groove and catch a break. And situations arise which question how far a comedian should go to catch a break before forsaking authenticity. It’s a theme that crops up again and again, and it plays out nicely.
Pete is continuously forced to eat crow, and the confidence in his moral high ground dwindles with every bite. Season 1 focused on Pete getting gut-punched by life and collecting and disposing of the wreckage. Season 2 gives Pete the confidence to think he’s owning life once again, even allowing him to be cocksure, but by the end of the season, he may as well be back at square one, which is both satisfying and irritating. Satisfying because you (or maybe just me) want Pete to suffer for being insufferably “nice” and irritating because you also want to see him not get in his own way and be further along. “Crashing” seems to be going around in circles. Pete takes one step forward and two massive steps back. And every episode seems interchangeable. I want to like “Crashing” more than I do, but in order to do that, it needs to give me more. I need more Pete, more development, and fewer filler guest roles.
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