Have you ever been ditched by one of your friends because they’ve just gotten a girlfriend? Man Seeking Woman’s second season premiere “Wings” deals exactly with that. And deals with it in the surreal, funny way we’ve come to expect from the show.
Even though the main focus is on Josh (Jay Baruchel), this has been a show that’s been unafraid of taking detours and focus on other characters, as they struggle with finding love or the consequences of their friends and family finding love. This time it is Mike’s turn. Mike (Eric André) finds himself put in the backburner by Josh after Josh has gotten a girlfriend. What follows is the fantastical and surreal representation of real-life conflicts we know and love from Man Seeking Woman: Court battles, protests, and even a slasher movie parody.
Man Seeking Woman often comes off as a show where the writers seem to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. Often this can be a sign of insecurity on the show’s part, but Man Seeking Woman uses these crazy ideas and detours to represent a message and make it more relatable than a lot of so-called “grounded” TV shows about dating. You can tell everyone is having fun writing and making this show, and thankfully, so are we as viewers.
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A lot of this comes through in the show’s style, which often chooses a naturalistic hand-held style. Not in a Friday Night Lights kind of way, but something closer to Michel Gondry. Enough to make it believable, but also enough to let style come through when it wants us to be aware that we’re watching a parody of a specific genre or film. Often this allows the show to be very good-looking, allowing it to show off its Toronto location (It’s Toronto as Chicago, but oh well.)
Man Seeking Woman has made a welcome return to television. If this season opener is a taste of what’s to come, this looks like a show that will match the first season at its best or maybe even surpass it. If you’re having trouble with your love life, this show is out there to remind you that you’re not alone.
Man Seeking Woman airs on FXX on Wednesdays at 10:30PM ET/PT.
If you haven’t watched the show at all, you can get the DVD right here.
