To say that FXX’s Dave was a surprise hit last year would be an understatement. The semi-autobiographical look at that rise of the satirical rapper proved it was far more than just dick jokes, but also that it had the very best ones. Critics, viewers, and even fans of Lil Dicky the rapper didn’t know what to expect from the series. Certainly, nobody was expecting it to achieve the level of success and praise that it ultimately reached, aside from maybe Dave Burd. That confidence in his art is a theme and a strength that helps drive the show. He’s not afraid to believe in the art of the joke, and then follow it up with something astonishingly heartfelt and genuine. Each episode last year seemed to take things in an unanticipated direction, so where would season 2 pickup after Dave smashed a performance at The Breakfast Club? Korea.
This show is so smart with its marketing approach, blending storylines with their real-life approach for growing the show’s audience and popularity. On the show, LD’s first YouTube hit was a song called “My Dick Sucks.” It’s self-deprecating and sets the lowest of expectations, just as the first season did with their low-brow promotion, before blowing everyone away with what they put on screen. It was a smart move that paid off, but now how does it continue to thrive when each episode is highly anticipated? For starters, they involve the immensely talented K-pop star CL (Lee Chae-rin), whom Dave awkwardly says should change her name to CW, “cause I don’t see any L’s.” Dave says his decision to shoot the first music video off of his much-anticipated debut album in Korea with CL is “a cheat code” since her videos get millions of views instantly.
He’s not wrong, and the benefit of having her appear on Dave does the same in growing their audience as well. On the show, Dave is – at times – a painfully awkward dude, which makes him endearing, but Burd and co-creator Jeff Schaffer know exactly what they are doing. Packing episodes with stars and social media personalities like Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, and Kyle Kuzma is no accident. Aside from just representing his meteoric rise in station, having these people appear just brings more eyes to a show that’s hard to not fall in love with once you’ve seen it.
The first episode this season, “International Gander”, is a play on last year’s debut, and it’s a conversation between Dave and his now hype-man GaTa. It easily plays out as the most stressful episode of the series to date with Dave, his manager Mike (Andrew Santino), and GaTa trying to save the music video shoot, on top of recovering Dave’s laptop which has the only copy of the music for his album after it’s seized by police along with their translator (Ki Hong Lee). The episode was written by Sung-Jin Lee and has some serious tension built into it, as the trio has to navigate the language barrier, police, and criminality of weed in South Korea.
There is a lot to digest in the episode, and in true Dave fashion, they are able to take what begins as a tasteless video looking to exploit the K-pop audience and turn it on its head by the end. They don’t shy away from sensitive topics, like the general naivety around what some people perceive as “the dark side of K-pop”, as well as Western music stealing from it, while also continuing to deliver simultaneous comedic brilliance. Seeing these three characters together is always an enjoyable gift of inept fortitude.
The following episode, also made available this week on Hulu, is titled “Antsy” and that name serves a double meaning; the house that his very supportive label executive (Meagan Holder) has provided him in order to work on his album has become infested with ants, and he also spends the entire episode anxious and floundering in social settings. His focus should be on the album, but he’s leaning into every distraction possible.
Firstly, Christine Ko continues to steal any scene she is in as Dave’s friend and graphic designer, Emma. When she’s on-screen, it is impossible to not be drawn to her, and a short sequence featuring her in a road rage incident is absolutely flawless. We also get a chance to catch up with Dave’s producer, Elz (Travis ‘Taco’ Bennett), who is back in LA and appears to have been enjoying a new level of success. His party provides the worst potential distraction yet, as Ally (Taylor Misiak) could be in attendance, and it causes Dave to spiral. There is a moment at the party where he has been agonizingly embarrassing for too long, failing one conversation to the next, and seeks validation from strangers outside of the club, hoping to be recognized. It’s a crutch that you can see someone in his position using when he’s reeling, and it leads to a really honest callback to last season’s “Ally’s Toast.” It also leads to an absurd dick joke. This remains a show that does not have any qualms about being true to itself.
Ultimately over a year later, not much has changed on the Dave front. It doesn’t have to reinvent itself now that people have high expectations, it just needs to remain authentic. Thankfully, Dave remains a delightful ball of talented self-absorption and destruction. GaTa is still one of the most charming and perfectly eccentric characters ever created, and the series is still pushing boundaries as one of the funniest and most innovative shows on television. In GaTa terms, “shit goes hard.”
Dave Season 2 airs Wednesdays on FXX and Thursdays on Hulu.
