Space Force is much improved in Season 2

The Hollywood Reporter

Steve Carell and Greg Daniels' Netflix space workplace comedy, starring Carell, had a rocky first season that ended on a stronger note than it had begun, says Angie Han. "The good news is that Space Force does seem to have undergone a much-needed course correction, leading to a more consistent and coherent series," says Han. "The extraneous satire and off-base subplots have been jettisoned in favor of a greater focus on the central cast of characters, which in turn has allowed Space Force to reveal itself as the more streamlined and sincere workplace comedy it always seemed to have the potential to become. The bad news is that it still doesn’t really work. If season one was just promising enough to seem worth another chance, season two remains just disappointing enough to suggest we don’t need another."

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• Space Force feels more comfortable in its own skin in Season 2: The second season feels more like a "lower-stakes workplace comedy," says Caroline Framke. "The result isn’t half as sleek or ambitious as the initial season, but the show at least seems much more comfortable in its own skin. In fact, it almost feels like an inverse of what Daniels and Michael Schur had to do with Parks and Rec after its first bumpy season. Instead of smoothing out the kinks by making its bureaucrat protagonist more competent, Space Force saps some of Naird’s power to bring him and his co-workers down to Earth."
• This season doesn’t hit any strides so much glide along, and sometimes surprise you with an extra goofy moment: "Space Force season two is a little too sporadic with the laugh-out-loud moments, but there was never a moment in which I cursed having to return to the series," says Nick Allen. "Instead, these episodes made clear more what is special about it: the performances are so entertaining in this laidback environment that casually touts brainpower, especially when they work off each other over a silly conflict. Where else are we going to get a lovable nincompoop like Don Lake’s Brad opposite the full-bodied intense geekery of John Malkovich’s series-stealing Dr. Mallory?"
• Season 2 will leave you wanting more: "Naird’s path in Season 2 is a distinct improvement over Season 1," says Liz Shannon Miller. "This all coalesces into the most significant issue with Season 2: There isn’t quite enough of it. It’s not just that there are only seven episodes (as opposed to the 10 episodes of Season 1), but that there’s a rushed feeling to the last episode or two, the sense that things are ending just as they’re getting good."
• Jimmy O. Yang, Diana Silvers and Tawny Newsome discuss filming Season 2
• Greg Daniels on Space Force's Season 2 changes: "To shift and change is really important for comedy," he says. "It seemed really important to Steve Carell and me in the beginning that Space Force not resemble The Office too much, so we attempted to be Stanley Kubrick-y in our cinematography. The downside when there’s so much attention on cinematography is that the cast is extraordinary and they didn’t get as much chance to improvise with each other."