Last year I gave you 5 reasons why you should watch American Vandal. I caught the series a bit late after a friend recommended that I check it out. This year, I decided to catch an advance preview of the series. This will be a spoiler-free review of course but trust me when I say that this season of American Vandal is even better than I could have expected.
Before you read this post any further, be forewarned that you may feel nauseous after reading. If you easily get grossed out over the discussion of human excrement, you may want to stop reading now. And it’s best that you don’t even watch season 2 of American Vandal.
I’m giving you my top 5 reasons to watch anyway.
First of all, if you have not seen season 1 of American Vandal, read my 5 reasons why you should check it out and go ahead and binge watch it on Netflix. The beauty of American Vandal is each episode ranges from 25-40 minutes long, so it’s a super quick binge!
Last season, our vandal was Dylan Maxwell — the self-absorbed prankster who was accused of spray painting a series of dicks on vehicles in a school parking lot. His story left an indelible impression on all of this in the breakout season of the show which immediately led to a series renewal only weeks after it premiered.
Season 2 of the Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning true-crime satire follows our favorite documentarians Peter Maldonado and Sam Ecklund as they bring their investigative skills to an elite Catholic school. This investigation is full of shit.
No literally. Peter and Sam are investigating a perpetrator known as the Turd Burglar who created 4 poop-related crimes in St. Bernardine, a prestigious Catholic School in Bellevue, WA. The following crimes were:
- The Brownout
- The Poop Piñata
- Shit Launcher
- Crap Calendar
1. The Writing and Development of this Mockumentary Series is Pure Genius
I cannot begin to tell you how fully developed this story evolves from beginning to end. And when every suspect becomes a red herring, the plot twist throws you in a completely different direction and you’re quite impressed on how the story meanders its way opposite of where your own conspiracy theories went.
2. The Kids Can Act Their Asses Off
I tend to pay a great deal of attention to actors performances because for me one of the worst things ever to experience when watching fictional content is seeing a bad performance which takes you out completely from the movie or TV show. Not the case with American Vandal, every actor gives a top-notch performance and you are convinced that they are either guilty or innocent.
3. This Investigation Is Even More Thorough
I thought the theories were bananas in season 1, but in this season the theories are on level 10 this year! Peter and Sam give us everything in finding out every detail about this investigation. There are times when I side with Peter’s theories and other moments when I side with Sam’s theories. I’m just amazed at how these detectives put their facts together. They honestly need to be consultants on the Serial podcast. Even if they are mockumentary producers.
4. The Ties To Social Media
There are so many stories out there that tie into the digital culture we live in. Let’s face it, social media is the very fabric of who we are now and this season of American Vandal exploits our obsessions and our insecurities in how we use various platforms perfectly. The season basically sums up that any one of us can be vulnerable enough to pull off some of the shenanigans that happen in this season. We could all potentially become Turd Burglars.
5. Quick Binges Are Fun
I’ve said this reason last year and I’ll say it again. I’m a fan of a quick binge. Give me an episodic TV show that’s 8 episodes in 30 minutes or less, you have my attention. Each episode ends with a fantastic climax that forces you to move on to the next episode without question. Just be careful and don’t do what I did going into episode 1 without knowing any context behind the season — do not eat anything!
American Vandal Season 2 stars Tyler Alvarez (Peter), Griffin Gluck (Sam), Travis Tope (Kevin), Taylor Dearden (Chloe), Melvin Gregg (DeMarcus) and DeRon Horton (Lou). The series is produced for Netflix by CBS Television Studios, Funny Or Die and 3Arts. Executive producers include Tony Yacenda, Daniel Perrault and Dan Lagana, Joe Farrell for Funny Or Die, and Ari Lubet, Josh Lieberman and Michael Rotenberg for 3Arts.
The series premieres Sept 14th on Netflix
