‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ Season 2 Review: Are You Happy Now?

There are three absolutes in life: death, taxes, and Apple TV having the best selection of original TV programming out there. Well, let’s add a fourth — if Jon Hamm is starring in a series, it is bound to be incredible. Mad Men, Fargo, The Morning Show, and now Your Friends & Neighbors all have this in common.

It’s rare nowadays for TV shows to produce seasons year after year, but Your Friends & Neighbors has been successful at doing so. With an early Season 3 renewal, does Season 2 deliver another solid season of television as Season 1 did?

What is ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ About?

Your Friends & Neighbors follows Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Hamm), an insanely successful hedge fund manager who finds himself losing his job, putting not only his own but also his family’s expensive lifestyle at risk. To make up for his lost income, Coop starts stealing from his rich neighbors to provide for his kids and his ex-wife, Mel (Amanda Peet).

Coop’s new profession not only leads him to discover his peers’ affairs and secrets as he snoops through their belongings to find forgotten goods to flip for profit, but also puts him in the crosshairs of a murder investigation. The victim just happens to be the ex-husband of his new secret fling, Samantha Levitt (Olivia Munn), who is also Mel’s best friend. Yes, Your Friends & Neighbors is full of DRAMA.

Season 1 ends with Coop being proven innocent after the truth comes forth about how Sam tried to stage his suicide as a homicide so she could collect his life insurance policy. Now, Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2 starts with Coop doubling down on his theft efforts.

Burglary is not a one-person job, as housekeeper and “inside woman” Elena (Aimee Carrero) provides intel and is Coop’s lookout. Obviously, this profession has its risks, and Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2 brings some of those risks right to the surface. Actually, the only major issue with Season 2 is the underuse of Elena. Her character takes a bit of a back seat to others, and she deserves more of the spotlight.

A New Villain… Or Neighbor, Moves In

Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2 introduces Owen Ashe (James Marsden) to the neighborhood, who becomes a major foil for Coop. Ashe becomes a very real threat to destroying his entire life, and his existence pushes Coop back into familiar circles, forcing him to juggle far too many things at once.

Not to mention, Ashe becomes the love interest of Sam, bringing her back into the fold of the elite. Marsden is undoubtedly charming in the role, but carries this hint of evil that’s impossible to ignore. A perfect parallel to set-beside Coop, becoming an undeniable addition to the series that will have lasting effects for seasons to come.

On the plus side, Elena and Coop’s efforts have been paying off. So well that the income needs to appear legitimate, so his business manager and best friend, Barney (Hoon Lee), gets pulled into the fray. The further Coop dives into the world of crime, the more the life he tries to keep separated from it becomes more and more intertwined. While Season 1 focuses on Coop struggling not to lose his wealth and family, Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2 shifts the perspective to showcase that there are so many things in life that can be lost.

The older people get, the more loss becomes a norm. Friends and family die, relationships fail, children become more independent, and jobs change. The amount of money you have means nothing if you have no one to share it with, and it certainly isn’t the key to finding that happiness one usually spends their whole life seeking. This season puts that under a microscope, especially for Coop.

‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ Season 2 Emphasizes the Pursuit of Happiness

The best thing about Your Friends & Neighbors is how it examines happiness. Is happiness truly possible, or something everyone struggles to work towards their entire life? The series, at its core, is set to prove that materials are meaningless. Coop steals from his rich peers because he believes they won’t miss these valuable items, since they have so much. What he fails to realize is that some of these items mean something not because of their value, but the sentiment behind their existence.

It cannot be overstated how much Jon Hamm excels in his role as Coop. Most of the series is on his shoulders, and he handles complicated emotions and situations that make these characters, who shouldn’t feel relatable, relatable. Rich people are searching for happiness just as much as anyone else.

Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2 is the most underrated show on TV. While it may seem like just a series about robbing the 1% on the surface, it’s truly about the pursuit of happiness. This show is another addition to the illustrious catalogue Apple TV continues to build, and I personally can’t wait for more of the series. Let’s hope they can keep up with the one-season-a-year pace.

Your Friends & Neighbors Season 2 premieres on Apple TV on April 3, with new episodes every Friday. Make sure to follow the Agents of Fandom socials for the latest entertainment news and reviews.