Executive Producers and Directors Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg gave creators and writers Howard Overman, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir complete creative freedom for the second installment of the Future Man series. The sci-fi plot is more than silly references and parodies of beloved nerdy culture. Season two is a much more original deep cut into the perils of time travel in a post-apocalyptic world. Josh Hutcherson, Eliza Coupe, and Derek Wilson are at their best in the show when they are on screen together engaging in witty banter and filthy back and forths.
The misadventures of Josh Futterman, Tiger, and Wolf continue right from where season one left off with Josh being rescued from jail after being sentenced to life in prison for terrorism. The crew managed to destroy Kronish’s empire but Josh was captured immediately after. Tiger and Wolf managed to jump back to their time but not before Tiger learns that she is actually a biotic, the sworn enemies of The Resistance. Future Man is unabashedly fond of referencing its major influences. Every episode title gives you a small hint at a popular sci-fi reference. That theme continues but with bigger tweaks than the series previously tackles. The biggest influence on Future Man season two is obviously Back to the Future II, where Doc and Marty find the consequences of their time hopping and work to try to minimize their impact.
Season two goes in a drastically different direction from season one, something that was hard to adjust to after just finishing a rerun of the first 13 episodes. As opposed to time traveling between recognizable decades in recent history, most of season two takes place during 2162, Tiger and Fox’s year they left originally. They quickly find out something we all know as Time Travel: 101, anything you do or say in the past will have a butterfly effect and change the future. 2162 Earth is a desolate wasteland reverted to more primitive times as a result of climate change. Biotics are the only organisms smart enough to know that technology has its plus sides as long as they use renewable energy and benefit the land. Regular humans are satirically moronic and think all tech has to be destroyed to save the planet. That satire is one of the many aspects of Future Man that feels like a genius that actually comes form the future wrote it; except that genius is probably a peverted stoner. I’m pretty sure i just described Rogan and Goldberg.
The first three episodes are meant to focus on one main character at a time. Wolf, or Torque in this timeline, has the only entertaining bit of those episodes as he takes to Torque’s lifestyle and fits right in to a polygamist family in a “fallout” kind of city. His new family relies on him to provide for them and their collective daughter, Lugnut. Its all absolutely ridiculous and entertaining. Josh and Tiger’s prologue episodes are nowhere near as good, just set up for the overall story. Something this season was really missing was a standout character that made you think these people were as amazing as Tiger stood out in the first season. She was a flat out badass previously in all aspects: line delivery, ability to kick ass, leadership, and just about everything else. She takes a backseat to the complex story this time around which was kind of a bummer. The good part about the slow part to the show is they eventually meet back up and the humor picks up where it left off, except this time, the plot gets insanely intricate; like Inception on steroids.
The pros of this go around is that you still have that insane immature toilet humor as before, its just fewer and farther in between. Also, the plot is so much deeper than you would ever imagine. After the slow start, you better pay attention because the show will either lose you or blow your mind. If you’re going to binge, I recommend taking breaks every couple of episodes. It can be real easy to lose track of all of the side stories because everyone has something completely different going on until it all ties together in the end. It’s not a perfect delivery for such a deep plot. Its even annoying at times.
Season two of Future Man takes a lot of risks and rewards only the most die hard sci-fi nerds. Those kind of risks are huge, since viewership numbers are such a big deal in the world of streaming services. I can only hope it attracts enough viewers to continue onto a third season. Especially after the ending of this one; complete with a Seth Rogan cameo. I just don’t see it happening. What started out as one of my favorite shows I’ve seen in a while with huge potential turned into a completely different show with the same actors. It managed to lose my attention multiple times and I was pretty bummed about it. You’re probably only going to appreciate this show if you can pick up on all the references and want to dedicate 13 hours into an unpopular show. I wouldn’t recommend this show to a casual viewer after this season, however, if you’re browsing this page, you’re probably a nerd and will dig this season. just not as much as the last.
