On Our Streaming Radar this week, it is second-season city, as perhaps the most British show and the most American show on television right now are both back for their sophomore years. Each is looking to avoid the dreaded slump, and it appears both have done exactly that.
First up is The Gentlemen, returning to Netflix for Season 2. Inspired by Guy Ritchie’s 2019 film of the same name, the series stars Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Giancarlo Esposito, Vinnie Jones, Ray Winstone and more. Its inaugural season was quite a splendid expansion of Ritchie’s criminal world, with James serving as an incredibly strong lead.
James had frequently been mentioned as a possible next James Bond, though he recently appeared to take himself out of contention. Whatever his future with 007, it is easy to see why his name stayed in the conversation. He has the charm, polish and quiet danger the part demands, all of which serve him well as Eddie Horniman.
Eddie is on something of a Michael Corleone-esque journey. A former Army officer, he entered this world after unexpectedly inheriting his family’s title and estate, only to learn that a massive cannabis operation was running beneath the land. In Season 1, he wanted his family out of the business. By Season 2, he has discovered he may be very good at it.
A year later, Eddie and Susie Glass have taken the operation overseas, and Eddie is no longer merely trying to survive the criminal underworld. He is trying to master it, with ambitions that reach beyond the cannabis trade and into political power.
Veterans Vinnie Jones, Giancarlo Esposito and Ray Winstone help fill out the cast, and each brings exactly the kind of seasoned presence this heightened world needs. The show retains the signature Guy Ritchie feel you look for: a strong sense of menace, danger, humor, wit, satire, action and British elegance. It can be vicious without becoming joyless and funny without sacrificing the stakes.
The second season does something that is very, very hard. Second seasons are difficult enough, but this one also has to prove that a television series inspired by a successful film can continue beyond its initial novelty. In this critic’s opinion, each new entry into the world of The Gentlemen has only elevated the concept. It is not simply avoiding the sophomore slump; it is growing more confident in what it wants to be.
All eight episodes of The Gentlemen Season 2 stream now on Netflix.
I would not quite call him Texas’ favorite son, but he sure as hell is close. Austin native Glen Powell is back for a second season of Chad Powers on Hulu.
Chad Powers was created by Powell and Michael Waldron, a name many television fans already know. Waldron created the critically acclaimed wrestling drama Heels, starring Stephen Amell, and served as head writer on Disney+’s Loki, starring Tom Hiddleston. That resume makes him a natural fit for a series balancing outsized sports spectacle with very human ambition.
Powell anchors the show as Russ Holliday, once a star quarterback at a major college program. After an on-field meltdown destroyed his reputation and career, Russ adopts a new persona to get one more chance at the game he loves. With prosthetics, a wig and a deeply strange personality, Chad Powers is born.
The premise originated in a 2022 episode of the ESPN+ series Eli’s Places, in which Eli Manning tried out at Penn State in disguise, and the series wisely does not run from that absurdity. It leans into it. The cast includes Steve Zahn as Coach Jake Hudson and Toby Huss as Russ’s father, Mike. The show even found room in its first season for Manning to guest as an Ole Miss coach, a perfect nod to its roots.
In Season 2, Russ’s lie becomes harder to maintain just as Chad grows into a star. More people are suspicious, some already know the truth, and keeping the Catfish’s season alive may depend on the very people he deceived. That gives the show more room for farce, but also a sturdier emotional engine than a premise this silly should probably support.
Chad Powers is a fun watch when you want something aimed squarely at the feel-good funny bone. Powell plays the ridiculousness broadly when the show calls for it, but he does not lose the desperation underneath the disguise. It is a second-chance story hiding inside one of television’s most outlandish sports comedies.
All six episodes of Chad Powers Season 2 stream now on Hulu.
