Season Review: Duncanville Season Two

Overview (Spoilers Below):

The Harris family members are all very different people, but they all love crazy escapades. The show stars Duncan, a 15-year-old boy who has no goals, aspirations, or abilities. He has two little sisters, Kimberly (12) and Jing (5), as well as parents Jack and Annie. Together the family embarks on a variety of adventures both big and small.

In season two, those involve a tropical vacation that turns into an unhinged thriller, Duncan turning into a first class stock car racing champion, and a witch festival where Jing gets magical powers courtesy of an actual witch trapped inside a tree. If season one was all about getting to know the characters and setting the stage, season two is all about taking things to new heights and unexpected territories.

Our Take:

The first season of Duncanville started off a bit slow, with many comparisons drawn between the Simpsons and other animated family comedies. It took a while for the Harris family to find their footing on the screen, but by the end of the season it felt like things were falling into place. Luckily, season two seems to continue that trend, with the show being more intentional about what it wants to do and how it wants to tell stories.

There were some real highlights this season, both in terms of casting and episodic storylines. The season kicked off with a Parks and Rec cast reunion, with names like Aubrey Plaza, Nick Offerman, and Adam Scott coming in to join show co-creator Amy Pohler in an episode that has the Harris family thinking they may have caused a murder by the end of it. It was a fun way to get things started, and while I wrote at the time about what a weird episode it was, I had no idea what was to come later on.

From getting chased by a feral moose to being attacked by gangs of angry birds, parts of this season really leaned into the strange, supernatural-ish type plot lines. The season finale even saw the arrival of a coven of actual witches who wreak havoc on the entire town. In season one I feel like the more fantastical elements were confined to Duncan and the other character’s imaginations, but things get pretty unhinged in season two, as the entire town witnesses some of the mayhem and it starts to feel more like Gravity Falls than a late night comedy. Heck, even Stephen King made a cameo this season on the show, so maybe the writer’s room was just feeling spooky!

The real appeal to Duncanville is the main cast of family members. With each one being in a different stage of life, it’s easy for viewers to find someone they relate to and enjoy watching. This season did a pretty good job of balancing out storylines for everyone. Kimberly got to get her braces off and sing an imaginative Disney-esque musical number, Duncan and Annie bonded over stock car racing, and Jing and Jack started their own band—one of my favorite plotlines of the season. Mr. Mitch and Duncan’s friend group felt a little less present in this season, which I’m not sure how to feel about. On one hand, it opens things up for more familial storylines, but it also makes Duncan feel more like a side character in his own show.

Duncanville is still a relatively new show in the scheme of things, but season two feels like the series is already finding its groove and feeling comfortable enough to try some crazy things and branch out in unexpected directions. The second season wasn’t entirely filled with home runs, but there were plenty of solid episodes with some real gems thrown in here and there. That’s enough for me to declare that season two was an improvement over season one—and it makes me look forward to how the show can level up even more in the upcoming third season.