“Are you ready for the next stage?”
The Big Door Prize is back on Apple TV+ with a second season that is as delightfully off-kilter as its predecessor while digging deeper into the quirky conundrums of the denizens of Deerfield. S2 starts off right where we left them, in the wake of going wild after the life-altering and mind-bendingly aspirational revelations from the Morpho Machine, a magical arcade game that reveals a person’s potential. The Morpho stirred up the town’s dynamics and threw its residents into a whirlwind of self-discovery. As this new season unfolds, they continue to grapple with the tantalizing promises of the machine, with the limitations of their current lives. They might want to figure out why blue dots are appearing on some of their bodies, too.
Season 2 is a continued magnification of human absurdity, but now in a petri dish that has grown in both size and complexity. The show remains a comforting watch, yet it’s anything but predictable, with fully realized characters who are as bonkers as ever. Led by the ever-curious but self-involved Dusty (Chris O’Dowd) and the people-pleasing but resentful Cass (Gabrielle Dennis), the residents of Deerfield continue to navigate the bizarre reality presented by the Morpho, which now plays out scenarios in the 8-bit splendor of ’80s video games. These new elements add layers of intrigue to the weirdness, as the show explores the themes of self-discovery and philosophical introspection, with an added dose of healing from the past.
Dennis, known for her work on A Black Lady Sketch Show, shines as Cass deals with the grandeur of the ‘Royalty’ card. As a character caught between her current obligations and the allure of an unfulfilled destiny, Cass struggles with what ‘Royalty’ means to her. Causing her to oscillate between the comfort of familiarity and the allure of the “potential” grand destiny foretold by the Morpho machine. Can she reconcile her past with her options for the future? Meanwhile, O’Dowd’s Dusty has a Morpho-mid-life crisis, exploring his potential to be a complete ass. You want to shake him at times because O’Dowd plays hapless yet self-centered so well. Other strong character moments come through Trina (Djouliet Amara), wrestling with her parents’ separation and her twisty love life, or Nat (Mary Holland) and Giorgio (Josh Segarra)—who also shines on Abbott Elementary—whose budding romance and matching tracksuits are some of the season’s best giggles. (Edited May 2): While Hana (Ally Maki) has a pivotal transition, going from locked-box to unfurling feelings that parallel the themes of healing with nuance.
The show’s themes and ensemble cast give us Sims-like reflections of our own lives, offering avatars for explorations of self, through whimsical paths we might not choose or have the option of choosing for ourselves. This season, the storytelling evolves, encouraging the residents of Deerfield to take greater leaps into the unknown.
Can anyone win The Big Door Prize? After watching the season finale, “Deercoming,” only Season 3 will tell.
Stream the first four episodes now, with “Night Under the Stars” S2 E5 premiering on May 8.
