Three years after Jury Duty warmed our hearts and made us cry with laughter (and just cry!), season 2 has debuted, and fans will be pleased to know it’s just as good as the first outing.
The premise of the second season shifts away from the tense atmosphere of a courtroom and to the charged vibes of a company retreat. Titled Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, the show takes place during an extended retreat for the fictional Rockin’ Grandma’s hot sauce company.
The ‘hero’ of the season is Anthony Norman, a HR temp hired via Craigslist, who somehow doesn’t realise that everyone else on the retreat, but him, is an actor.
Though the format is familiar, the second season is “a follow-up so beautifully outrageous it somehow not only matches the original’s energy and heart, but tops it,” as Metro wrote. They went so far as to say it “might be the best show of the year”.
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The first season is a tough act to follow, with Fat Guys at the Movies calling it “warm-hearted and outrageous” and The Financial Times writing: “What might have been an ethically dubious experiment and an exercise in extreme discomfort has turned out to be both funny and life-affirming.”
But season 2 has upped the ante. One of the show’s uniquely positive aspects, as ScreenRant put it, is that “the core idea is not rooted in exploitation or designed as a means of making the protagonist feel gullible or betrayed.” In a sea of reality TV that feels designed to profit on meanness, Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat is a breath of fresh air.
NME has also been positive about the series, writing: “There are a couple of laugh-out-loud moments – a TMI lecture from an inspirational speaker is a gut-busting highlight – and if it lacks the element of surprise this time round, the amiable cast and oblivious protagonist still make for very pleasant company.”
However, some people did point to a lack of star power – season 1 featured James Marsden – though Esquire wrote: “Season 2 is not only real, but it has a new mark, a fresh location, and a bold concept to make up for (sadly) no James Marsden.”
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Roger Ebert also pointed out how season 2 built upon the first season for the better, saying it hones “in on the elements that made the first season work so well, while jettisoning or downplaying what didn’t.” They added, “Company Retreat actually manages to make Anthony feel like a protagonist rather than a straight-man outsider. Anthony takes charge, invests deeply in the constructed characters around him, and unwittingly makes himself an integral part of this fake company.”
So if you were worried season 2 wouldn’t live up to season 1’s heartwarming heights, fear not.
The first three episodes of Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat are available to watch now on Prime Video.
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