Season 2 – Rutherford Falls

Audience Reviews

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Renna J 08/08/2023 I like the show just fine, but I don't think it's deserving of a 96% rotten tomatoes rating. The comedy is ok, there are a couple of laughs but for a comedy I expected more. My favorite thing about the show is the awareness and discussion they created for the indigenous people. Otherwise the show is just alright. See more 08/02/2022 This season got better and better. It's certainly funnier than the first but still had clumsy moments. Ed Helms has superb comic timing so that ticks a box, the writing seems sharper than in the first season and the writers seem to want it to be laugh out loud funnier rather than in the first season when they were making social commentary. I would image if your native this show is a lot funnier than it is to me because I don't understand the cultural jokes and references so that is a barrier to mainstream funny but the show is getting better, The final episode of season 2 was the first time I could see this show really running for more than a couple of seasons - it seems like it was coming together. Peggy and Nathan are a couple I am rooting for rather than the terrible Deirdre and Nathan paring that groans along desperately. The baby story arc isn't funny , or heartwarming and it's to obvious to even be touching, it's been done a million times before. The mayor race story was pretty dull too, in fact I preferred the side plots this season. It's coming together but will it get renewed? Who knows, if it does it needs to bring more funny and less sentimentally to season 3. Also guests stars to pep it up abit. Overall a nice try See more 07/21/2022 I am rooting for this show to grow but I have mixed feelings about it. Something is holding it back from breaking through and whilst the X factor in any show is always difficult to pinpoint, there are some rookie things that you would that a writers room full of Office/Brooklyn 99 and Good Place alums would be more aware of and that makes it tough to watch sometimes. Everyone in that room knows better than some of the lazy tropes this show spits out. In truth other moments are wonderful and keep me hopeful it can get better each season. It's a mystery why Ed Helms character is so underused? There is a frustrating sense that Helms himself is holding back (he has been MUCH funnier in other shows and is clearly capable of more) and that the writers are so focused on making this an ensemble, they ignore the obvious which is one of the cast is a movie star and they really should be making the use of his abilities because this is never going to be an ensemble show although it DESPERATELY wants to be. With the exception of Blood Quantams Michael Greyeyes who has talent, charm and gravitas in spades, Helms looks like he is leading the rest of them in an acting class at an enthusiastic drama school. There is a great addition to the cast in Dallas Goldtooth as Regans boyfriend and Jena Schmieding plays much better off the chemistry with Goldtooth than the dreadful forced relationship with Dustin Milligan's character Josh - who is for some reason still in the show when he adds nothing to it! There are wonderful moments like the pancake breakfast episode which shows how good it could be if they focused on the community as a whole or the hilarious venture into edible's that Reagan and Terry take in the back of his truck but awful lazy cliches too. Nathan gets stuck with the words most boring and predictable storyline in the Rutherford Falls universe this season when Mayor Chisenholm, a women we barly remember from the first season because she was dull, announces she is pregnant after she slept with Nathan. It is hard to muster anytime for this and as a viewers I just felt a large sigh and eye roll come over me. Nathan is supposed to have known her from school but now in his late 40s he decides to sleep with her and suddenly they are having a baby, makes you feel like the poor boy should have got out of town and had a look around years earlier bless him. Anyway despite Ed Helms and Dana Wilson having less romantic chemistry than two garbage bags floating in the air, the show decides to proceed with this nonsense and therefor removes Nathan's character from really developing, he is not in the community scenes a lot because he is off making a crib (yawn) or meeting Deirdre's parents (double yawn and didn't you go to school together so why!) or going to birthing classes - thankfully the Dula is the wonderful Beth Stelling who's wacky character is a much better fit for Nathan's and who's comedic talent could actually breath some life into the show. Hopefully the baby and Deirdre are not big parts of any coming seasons because it is by far the worst arc of the show and really doesn't fit with the rest of the shows focus on life in the town and the people in it. Sadly we don't get much of Nathan's brother this season or his zany family which also feels like a missed opportunity although we are introduced to Regans brother in an interesting episode which starts a discussion about patriarchy in native tribes. There are some great moments between Terry and Nathan too which bought together really the strongest actors and gave the show a much needed boost ,as well as a great storyline about Regan hiring a non native pretending to be a native for the museum which worked really well. New character Feather is ridiculously bad, the acting is so poor it is embarrassing and the scenes with her and the funny but very very cliche Bobbie were cringey to watch. Again inexperienced actors and very little gravitas mean the show looks like a small fry play rather than a network show. It's missing strong guest stars and really needs focus on more screen time for 2/3 of the best actors. Also to be fair they need to ditch Sally, Wayne , Feather and Deirdre and replace them with more likeable and interesting characters. A few great actors and characters can make or break a show as we have seen time and time before and this show is a perfect example. It has a famous lead, an accomplished head writer and some great people on the writing team but it also has inexperienced writers and actors and it does show sadly because it is inconsistent. It's so close to being a good show but also so far away. See more 07/19/2022 LOVE! The whole cast is amazing, I love the writing, esp in this season. I can't wait for the next one!! See more 06/27/2022 Season 2 is definitely stronger than season 1. There is a feeling the show is finding it's feet by focusing on characters being funny rather than season 1 which seemed like it was making several satirical points repeatedly - not all of which landed as well as intended. Luckily season 2 is more about the funny and so it delivers better results. Michael Greyeyes really shines this season and I loved every scene he was in. There is a nice buddy type relationship between Terry and Nathan than really adds to the dynamic and I hope this is further utilised in season 3 if this show is renewed. Regan is so much better this season, strong willed as usual but with a better softer side and Nathan has finally started to be the lead you can get behind rather than the irritating co lead that kept getting pushed aside. Sadly though the show doesn't know quite how to maximise him, odd because Helms is both a writer and co creator but it feels like he is so willing for his character to step back and not take the centre stage that he is at risk of just taking the side parts in any given episode. Whilst I respect the show rightfully wants to give Native characters a central role and I have enjoyed learning more about Native culture it seems to forget that most people giving it a go are ex Office / Ed Helms/ Michael Schur fans so the lack of real opportunity for Nathan centric comedy feels like a huge waste and a mistake when it comes to viewing figures. Principally there is a real predictable & frankly dull storyline with Nathan and the ex mayor, sadly the chemistry is lacking and there is a lot of forced staring into each other eyes with no real sign of life! This pulls Nathan away from the main plot and the dynamics of daily life in the town so the show loses the small town charm of last season. Also I really hope the end of season 2 points to more fun and silliness for Nathan and his dating life because there is real comedy to be found there rather than forcing him into a will he / won't he relationship with his ex. The episode with her parents was so boring and skipped some of it and honestly the idea of him just settling down into a formulaic side plot in a show the prides itself on every character being so different and breaking new TV ground is beyond depressing. I did get 2 wishes though, less Josh and the return of Miss Fish! Delightful. Regans new boyfriend is a very welcome addition and adds some unexpected flavour into the mix. The show only got 8 episodes this season as oppose to 10 in the first and it doesn't help it to develop to the level it needed to really but this is a small production and a sleeper show for peacock so we should hope it gets a third season to develop. There are so many green shoots but it needs more time, going in the right direction generally though with some truly funny moments See more 06/18/2022 It's absolutely awful. Offensively bad, and all of its jokes, despite obviously being designed to offend absolutely nobody according to the rules of the day, fail to find the right side of the the funny≥offensive line, and so simply offend the audience's sensibilities and collectiveintelligence. See more Read all reviews

Rutherford Falls — Season 2

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