Feel Good Season 2 premiered on 4th June 2021 on Netflix. Created by Mae Martin and Joe Hampson, the 6-episode long series stars Mae Martin, Charlotte Ritchie, Lisa Kudrow, Philip Burgers, and Adrian Lukis alongside other cast members.
Complexities and Life
Back in March 2020 when Feel Good premiered on Netflix, I fell in love with the characters and the storyline. Therefore, I was eagerly waiting for Feel Good Season 2 as there was a lot to be talked about and explored in both Mae and George’s life both on personal and professional fronts. With season 2 of the show now streaming on Netflix, it brings me a sense of satisfaction knowing that the storyline and the character arcs have not dipped in the second season.
Feel Good established a lot in its first season, exploring gender, sexuality, substance abuse, relationships, and self-discovery in a multi-layered and compelling way. Feel Good Season 2, which is also only six episodes long, is equally as beautifully nuanced and ambitious in terms of storytelling. Martin’s humorous voice is unique and cutting, and the show addresses discomfort, trauma, and messes head-on. The show continues to stick to its central themes and plays along with the thin line between self-fulfilment and self-destruction, the complexities of relationships and how they impact one’s life, societal pressure, trauma, exploitation, and more for the characters.
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We see Mae’s attempt to reconcile with her parents and George, and her life after her relapse phase as she checks in and out of rehab in the second season. Mae’s reconnection with her mother and father forces her to confront her past, and as she realises that her recollections of her teenage years are fragmented or sometimes lost entirely, she begins to process events that had lain dormant, making her feel like her mind is a “cupboard full of empty Tupperware rattling around, in her own words.”
Throughout its 6-episodes, Feel Good Season 2, for the most part, prefers humour over sadness and optimism to despair. It portrays PTSD sensitively and deftly, and it works in shades of grey, delving into events with the kind of nuance that is frequently missing from public discourse but essential in private conversations. Martin and Hampson have created a subtle comedy and a touching love story, layering both onto an undertone of grief without ever being overly sentimental. Feel Good Season 2 is a lovely achievement, gentle and compassionate, as intelligent as it is amusing.
Another thing about the show that keeps viewers engaged is the dynamics between Mae and her family and friends. It is complex and mostly relatable as we get to see the tension between one’s own self and how one is perceived by people and how they can be polar opposites of each other. Every character gets a chance to leave an impact on the viewers in some way or the other.
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The sex scenes in Feel Good Season 2 are queer in a way that doesn’t feel suited to heteronormative notions and it feels right. These scenes feature a variety of power relations and toys and are tightly tied to the characters’ journeys, acting similarly to many of the series’s gags in that there are risks and latent meaning underneath that are eventually revealed. George and Mae while having sex are undoubtedly at their most healthy and communicative. Mae has more reasons for choosing to pretend to be someone else than just having romantic pleasure with it.
The characters go through stages of development, catharsis, and little successes. Friendships and connections are re-established. Nothing is simple. Feel Good Season 2 understands that all relationships, including one’s connection with oneself, necessitate hard work. Throughout all of these complicated characters and interpersonal arcs, there’s still that wacky and unique humorous voice from the first season, which occasionally borders on the bizarre. After all, life is ludicrous. And the Feel Good franchise understands that and does a fantastic job of exploring that.
Stream It or Skip It
STREAM IT! Feel Good Season 2 is beautiful, real, and definitely worth your time. The series does not build on situations without understanding the depths of them, rather, it offers the truth and brings forth the complexities of existence in a beautiful way. Lastly, everyone should ship Mae and George.
Feel Good Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix.