Dear White People Season Two continues to tackle contemporary social issues with witty comedy, sensual scenes, and the cameos that have raised the bar from last season.
This season’s ten episodes covers a gamut of topics. The storyline in the background follows a generic history of black enrollment at the Ivy Leagues and the cultural organizations that formed throughout the years. Each episode unfolds another piece of information that Lionel (DeRon Horton) uncovers about the history of the school’s secret society.
In the forefront, we’re still following Logan Brown’s character, Samantha White, through her journey as a college woman who is mixed-race and identifies as a black woman. Then there’s the emergence of Joelle (played by Ashley Blaine Featherson) from Sam’s sidekick to a leading lady with suitors, a brain full of science references and a passionate clapback speech to chauvinist.
CoCo (Antoinette Roberson) takes us on a brief ride through a pregnancy scare. Will she have the baby or will she get an abortion? Is she going to tell the father? And why is Kelsey, Coco’s roomie played by Nia Jervier, suddenly so aware and insightful? Maybe, Sorbet’s kidnapping is a good thing.
Season two is less Spike Lee and more Wes Anderson. The visuals are rich in color, there’s some symmetry to scenes, and the dialogue is fast like the Gilmore Girls. But the in-depth emotional discussions and interjections of jazz or classical music still seem like a nod to Lee. Overall, director Justin Simien’s visual eye and guidance is like artwork.
My favorite episodes are Chapter VI, Chapter VIII and Chapter X. Chapter VI follows Lionel (DeRon Horton) and Brooke a.k.a Agatha Shifty (Courtney Sauls) on the case of the secret society and Sam’s hidden online troll. Sauls stole the whole episode with her character’s personality.
In Chapter VIII, I started shipping Gabe and Sam so hard. They aren’t the only couple I ship either, Coco and Kurt, and then Joelle and Reggie are sultry couples too. Chapter X ended with Giancarlo Esposito, a reoccurring actor in throwback Spike Lee Joints, staring into the camera with a smirk on his face because his character is about to show us the secret society called Order of X in season three. At least, I hope there’s a season three.
I must add that Reggie (Marque Richardson) still dealing with having a gun pointed at him is poignant and speaks to a mental phase that even film fails to capture many times. Kudos to the show for not letting that go.
The fake television shows in the series that mimic real ones are hilarious parodies that writers use to jumpstart commentary by the cast. Dereca, Set Me Straight parodies Iyanla, Fix My Life. When Dereca stated, “ I won’t stop until I feel tears on my tities,” I hollered with laughter. Prince-o-Palities, the Empire meets Love and Hip-Hop parody, featured a cameo by Lena Waithe as P.Ninny and she doesn’t disappoint in comedy nor in highlighting a social issue.
What I did miss was the crew that briefly formed in season one with Reggie, Joelle, Rashid (Jeremy Tardy) as the non-American conscious, Al (Jemar Micahel), and Ikumi (Ally Maki) as the catch-all Asian friend who made quips about the lack of Asian representation. What happened to that crew? I want to see them back and taking on more issues. This season I had to settle for their replacements in Chapter VII when Troy strolls around the campus high with CoCo’s new beau Kurt (Wyatt Nash) and their friends Jeffrey (David Garelik), Nate (Igor Hiller), and Colin (Mason Trueblood). They did alright.
The film for Dear White People released in 2014 with Tessa Thompson as the lead character Samantha White and Tyler James as the nerdy supportive character Lionel. The two joined the TV cast this season as opposing political commentators. I’m a fangirl for relevant cameos, however, Jay and Silent Bob on a recent episode of The Flash left me feeling ambivalent.
Anyway, season two gets 9 out 10 and a thumbs up on Netflix.
