Spun Out is barely into its second season—No. 2 goes tonight on CTV—so it’s a little hard (and perhaps unfair) to envision where the series is going for its sophomore season. But after snagging a preview of tonight’s new episode, I can say I’m impressed with how things are shaking out so far.
As showrunner Jeff Biederman told Anthony Marco during the latest TV, Eh, B Cs podcast, the writing is tighter this time around. The performances are better too, something that happens when writers and producers have a season to figure out what their cast’s strengths and weaknesses are. This year, Rebecca Dalton’s Stephanie is smarter and given more responsibility by Dave; in Tuesday’s “Under the Influencer,” she runs a focus group in a local bar to gauge reaction to a new beer/vodka mixed drink. Sure Stephanie makes some mistakes, but it’s nice to see her take the reins on something for DLPR. It should be said that Dalton has got a gift for physical comedy … at least I hope that’s what made her club dancing so darned awful.
This is the second week in a row that Bryce and Gordon have been paired up in storyline, and I’m digging it. The duo were keep separate in Season 1, but putting the weird characters together has made for some great comedic moments. Barb Hayne’s script involved Bryce becoming obsessed with Internet polls and videos—the fake quiz titles actually sounded real to me—and Gordon and Dave teaming for an impromptu intervention to get their co-worker offline. The trio worked really well together and I’m hoping they get more screen time this season.
For me, the weak spot so far is the relationship between Nelson and Beckett. The two don’t come off as the longtime friends they’re supposed to be. It may be that neither character is particularly smooth or confident, but their conversations always come off stilted and devoid of the chemistry and rapport friends share. The result? The scenes in tonight’s episode are awkward and in some cases a little cringeworthy.
But, like I said, looking at the broad strokes Spun Out has definitely made strides. The laughs are more natural (still hating the laugh track) and there’s a nice little groove happening. Last week’s first episode attracted around 400,000 viewers, not at all bad for a summer sitcom that was announced it was returning just days before it did.
Spun Out airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on CTV.
One of the biggest snubs of last year’s Emmys has been rectified this year: Tatiana Maslany got her first nomination as outstanding actress for her multitude of roles on Orphan Black. I hope they give her 7 statues if she wins. Long-running Degrassi — recently revived by Netflix and Family Channel after its cancellation by TeenNick and Bell — was nominated as outstanding children’s program.
