Last night, HBO's Bored to Death finished its second season. It's a noir-comedy, and that if sounds odd, you should see it! I liked the second season way better than the first. The characters were better defined, as were their relationships to each other. The humor was tighter. Guest stars became recurring characters. Less case-of-the-week, and more play into an ongoing plot. Plus the cases-of-the-week they did have often came back up later, and they were just more fun.
In the finale, Jonathan (Jason Schwartzman) contemplates whether he should let Nina (Zoe Kazan) move in after one night of great sex. By the end of the episode, Jonathan still hasn't made a decision. He's too involved with his friends' drama, and fighting with nemesis Louis (John Hodgman) to think all that much about it.
In fact, all three principal characters are pretty self-involved. They care about each other, but that's about it. Only Ray (Zach Galifianakis) truly loves a woman, Leah (Heather Burns). But while Ray is still thinking about her, he beds several other women this season, whom he doesn't seem to care a lick about. Jonathan similarly doesn't seem to let his most recent breakup affect him that much. Even Jonathan's pining over his ex in season one seemed more for his benefit than to make her happy. Thankfully, the pining did not really continue into season two.
Self-involvment can be funny (think Seinfeld or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), but somehow this show makes it seem fresh all over again. Not to mention, the characters stay very likable. They're not mean to others; they let Vikram (Ajay Naidu) hang out with them instead of treating him like a driver. They just don't take much interest in others.
Article comments
1 - Gerry
I've been enjoying this series, too! However, for me, the finale fell a little flat. I love that the series's plots are very character rather than plot driven, but too little really happened in the finale to justify the time it took to tell the story. At least, for me. I do enjoy the characters, though, so I'll tune in next year. As you say, three A list actors having some fun.
2 - Jerome Wetzel
I agree that the finale wasn't the best episode of the season. I enjoyed "Escape From the Castle!" and "The Gowanas Canal Has Gonorrhea!" the most.