Mozart in the Jungle: Season 2 of Mozart in the Jungle

March 28, 2016 2:47 PM - Season 2 (Full Season)

Labor strife takes center stage and the orchestra heads to Mexico for a confrontation with De Souza's past and future.
posted by drezdn (3 comments total)

This show is very weird and not totally coherent, but so well-meaning, just gentle and pleasant. I find it hard after having watched it a few months ago to think about the actual plot, because there WAS one, and the strike/labor negation through-line worked better than S1 did...but that wasn't really the point. A whole episode of just people hanging out getting high and having fun and talking about classical music! That kind of thing was the point.

Loved the way there was a queer relationship and a bisexual lead without that being a big deal, loved Bernadette Peters finally getting to sing!!, still not sure about Hayley/Rodrigo but Bernal and Kirke play off each other really well.

I'm glad I watched it and I'll watch S3.
posted by ariadne's threadspinner at 11:07 PM on March 30, 2016 [1 favorite]

You're take is pretty similar to mine.

Some things I really enjoyed from the season...
-The episode where the violin got stolen. The twist was a little obvious but it to De Souza's character in an interesting direction.

-Bernadette Peters singing.

-The new assistant (Though is De Souza's changing pronunciation of people's names micro-aggression? Look for my think-piece.)

-The conductors fighting in their motion capture suits.
posted by drezdn at 7:21 PM on March 31, 2016 [1 favorite]

Just watched this season today. I really enjoy it, at the same time being a little surprised that the Golden Globes keep giving it so many nominations and awards. I mean, it's fun, but I'm not sure how fun it is for anyone who doesn't really know classical music or, more specifically, the business world of classical performing arts today.

Like, the whole trip to Mexico felt like the show bogged down for a couple episodes. The whole idea of trying to build a romantic relationship between Rodrigo and Hailey seems SO boring and "conventional TV story." The parts of the show that are truly lovely and that stick with me are Lang Lang & Joshua Bell playing ping pong. Emmanuel Ax playing "Dance Dance Revolution." Bernadette Peters singing at an open mic cabaret and finding herself in an affair with Pavel the backstage dude. The orchestra players having a birthday party with a male stripper dressed as J.S. Bach.

(And, because I'm a proud gay man not above prurient delights - Gael Garcia Bernal's butt in those motion capture tights, and Dermot Mulroney playing cello in his undies.)

It had been so long since I watched season 1 that I re-watched it right before this. Season 2 definitely feels like "oh, shit, I guess we have an actual SHOW here." Season 1 feels like "we're going to make this crazy goofy thing because we can, even if it goes nowhere." The second season shows them being more serious, but perhaps at the sacrifice of some of the brief goofy bits, like John Hodgman's Guggenheim-impersonator character in Season 1.
posted by dnash at 4:59 PM on January 2, 2017 [1 favorite]