The lifestyles of the rich and famous are so often discussed and portrayed that it feels tawdry. These stories become dull tapestries of self-absorbed people doing self-obsessed things. However, in his Apple TV dramedy, “Your Friends & Neighbors,” Jon Hamm manages to paint an intriguing picture of the ultrawealthy. The show is an in-depth, outlandish and witty depiction of some of the world’s most deplorable — and the other folks who happen to get sucked into their manic orbits. Created by Jonathan Tropper, Season 1 was a fascinating assessment of the fragility of the American dream. In Season 2, “Your Friends & Neighbors” gets more textured, showcasing a different level of affluence, the costs of lies and why wealthy white men, in particular, constantly fail upward.
In the final episodes of “Your Friends & Neighbors” Season 1, Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Jon Hamm) is exonerated after being accused of killing a neighbor. He is also given the opportunity to return to his former employer, the prestigious hedge fund Bailey Russell. Getting cleared of a gruesome crime has boosted his social cache in his upper-class neighborhood of Westmont Village, a fictional New York suburb. But, turning down his old job as a fuck you to his former boss, Jack Bailey (Corbin Bernsen), who had so viciously ousted him in the first place, has left Coop exactly where viewers met him one year ago, financially strapped and playing pretend.
Coop appears content to continue on with his new stream of income, partnering with Westmont house cleaner Elaina (Aimee Carrero) to rob his friends and neighbors of their most valuable possessions, and then pawning them on the black market. However, the arrival of a new billionaire neighbor, Owen Ashe (a perfectly cast James Marsden), quickly proves to Coop that being suspected of murder barely registers on the list of terrible things that could happen to him, especially when he’s too preoccupied providing a life he’s not certain he wants anymore.
At first glance, Ashe appears to be a charming man-boy who throws his money around like tic tacs and acquires friends like collectibles. Yet, lurking just below the surface is something so devilishly disturbing and sinister that it unnerves even Coop. There is an sinister quality to the widowed father’s appeal wafting throughout the entire season. An absolutely sensational performance by Marsden proves that, as much as people think they know about the filthy rich, they actually don’t understand anything at all. Ashe easily reels in the Westmont residents, latching on to them so they can’t get away before his true nature emerges.
Still, this 10-episode second season is hardly just the Coop and Ashe show. Amid an unexpected life change, Barney (Hoon Lee), Coop’s best friend and business manager, finds himself jumping over the line of morality even as his wife Grace (Eunice Bae) gets increasingly suspicious. Former NBA champion Nick Brandes (Mark Tallman) is moving on following a bad breakup with Mel (Amanda Peet), Coop’s ex-wife. Mel is adrift after getting fired from her job as a therapist and isolated from her friend group due to Coop and Sam’s (Olivia Munn) affair. She is also increasingly rageful, especially as perimenopause begins wreaking havoc on her body. Meanwhile, though Sam is a social leper in Westmont, Ashe’s interest in her may be the currency she needs to return to the in-crowd. This season also zooms in on Coop and Mel’s teenage kids, Tori (Isabel Gravitt) and Hunter (Donovan Colan), as well as Ali (Lena Hall), Coop’s sister, who is trying to find her footing without Coop looming over her.
Season 2 fully leans into the outlandish. It has yachts, fancy cars, affairs and piles of dog shit. Yet, it is also surprisingly tender and reflective. Episode 6, “For Everything Else, There Was Bowling,” acts as an interlude in the season, reminding the audience that despite all of the privilege and chaos swirling around Coop, he’s only human and life, particularly the most devastating parts of it, touches everyone, no matter where they fall on the socioeconomic scale.
In its second season, “Your Friends & Neighbors” ups the stakes, unveiling a world that Coop and his Westmont comrades hadn’t been privy to before. Though this season boasts several truly bonkers moments, particularly from Mel’s perspective, the series has never been more fun or shocking. It once again proves that with enough money and access, there are no rules, and the sky truly is the limit.
“Your Friends & Neighbors” Season 2 premieres April 3 on Apple TV with new episodes dropping weekly on Fridays.
