Average Joe Season 2 Is Already Absolutely Chaotic – and It’s Just Getting Started

Critic’s Rating: 4.7 / 5.0

4.7

It feels good to have this crazy group back.

After a SUPER long hiatus, Average Joe Season 2 returned, and they picked up right where they left off, which was a little surprising because, with such a lengthy layoff, they could have given us a bigger time jump.

Instead, they returned to us still reeling from the war with the Russians, and quickly found themselves back on another one of Teddy’s wild adventures.

To say I’m excited about the return of Average Joe would be an understatement, as I firmly believe it’s one of the most underrated series on television.

It’s rare to find a series that will surprise you, lowkey gross you out, and make you laugh out loud, all within the course of an hour. But that’s what this show does, and it does it damn well.

And I’m happy to report that the new season gets off to a tremendous start, never breaking stride and delivering that dark comedic timing, cast chemistry, and attention to detail.

Average Joe Season 2 Episode 1 does the most important thing this show has ever done: it starts with a full-season recap of the previous season.

I’ll admit I even forgot some of the more intricate details, and it wasn’t a long, deep dive into the ins and outs of the season, but it was a nice reminder of what the core gang went through and how everything tied back to Teddy.

Cathy’s impromptu surgery and then Joe’s spiral after Angela and Jennifer decided to leave were great ways to usher in the season and remind you of the stakes.

Sure, they came out the other side of the fight with Nicolai, but look at what it cost them.

Joe dovetailing into a depression without his wife and daughter and then immediately getting it together when he thought they could be in danger again pretty much describes Joe to a T.

Those pictures were what Joe needed to snap himself out of his spiral, basically, but as is customary with this tale, nothing really makes sense at first glance. Because with Nicolai gone, why would the Russians still be coming after them?

The treasure hunt aspect of Average Joe is always a little funny because it’s random in a way, like you’re watching grown-ups in a world-sized escape room. Still, it works within the scope of the show because it brings us so much chaos and reinforces how insane Teddy was.

Or is. But we’ll get there.

The journey to South Africa completely widens the scale of this show, and I’m obsessed with the decision because the location has become a character in itself.

You’re taking these four lifelong Pittsburghers and dropping them into a whole new continent, and suddenly there’s a whole new set of rules to play by.

This being a show that thrives on shock value in a good way, I knew something was going to happen to that poor man who met them in the desert, but the gasp that left my mouth when his blood splattered all over them was downright embarrassing.

Touch is a lot of things, and like everyone in this series, he’s got his own set of internal battles he’s fighting, but the way he went into full suicidal mode was scary, and it didn’t make a ton of sense.

It’s one thing to come out of the other side of some life-changing traumatic events with a renewed sense of purpose or even a slight air of invincibility, but it’s another to have a death wish.

Identifying the dead guy as Ziri is what really kickstarted everything for them, and Average Joe does such a great job of setting just enough pieces in place to give you a general idea of the puzzle while withholding enough to leave you still basically adrift.

When they found the pay stub with Billy G’s pub on it, it was an aha moment for me, because who else was wondering who the hell that man was — the one who drowned that family in his backyard pool?

Nicolai was a scary villain in the sense that he was brutal and vindictive, but he also had a personal vendetta against Joe, which only upped his evil factor.

Sipho wasn’t just terrifying in the traditional sense of being a big-city crime lord, but also in the sense that he fancies himself as some messiah. Anyone who thinks they’re above literally everyone except a higher being will do ANYTHING with absolutely zero regrets.

He’s looking for his stolen heroin, which has to be what Cathy found, and once Billy G became a common name for both of them, it felt like just a matter of time before everything intersected. But I should have known they’d throw us for another loop.

Teddy being alive should have felt bigger than it did, but it doesn’t because it’s like, OF COURSE TEDDY FAKED HIS DEATH.

Of course, he did something so incredibly selfish and got his own son mixed up in dangerous situations while he was apparently off in Africa living his best life. OF COURSE.

Joe didn’t seem totally convinced when Billy G admitted it, but he was likely in a state of shock because it’s definitely possible, considering what his death bought him: more time. He was a dead man before his “death.”

There were so many scenes in the opening hour that were hilarious, but so much of those final ten minutes were filled with tension and humor in a way that shouldn’t always work as well as it does.

I’m not worried about any of the core four — Joe, Touch, Leon, and Cathy — dying, but they really get themselves into some mess.

Touch obviously has a reason to be competent with a gun and in a fight, but the others? They really got indoctrinated into the criminal game so seamlessly.

The big reveal that Imani was Joe’s sister was, again, not terribly shocking, but it adds a new layer of intrigue because Teddy had a bigger double life than anyone realized.

Hiding his work as a drug mule for the Russian mob AND having a whole other family in Africa?

Teddy truly was a piece of work.

Coming into Average Joe Season 2 Episode 2, finding out more about Teddy and exactly where he was felt like it would be high on the priority list, but honestly, the core four and Imani keeping themselves from being killed mattered more.

Imani seemed like she was telling the truth, but considering how much Joe has been lied to, seemingly his whole life, it’s no wonder he wasn’t ready to just fully embrace a little sister he met while they were both fighting for their lives.

Hearing that Teddy dropped her off at the house to hide out and then lured Joe to Africa to connect them would seem almost sweet in any other situation, but Teddy’s too calculated and selfish to do anything out of the kindness of his heart.

So, why did he need them to connect?

This hour doesn’t necessarily answer that question in full, but it’s the perfect next step after the premiere sets up the season at large.

Siphos is after Imani, but it can’t be because of the missing heroin, because he killed that man’s entire family since he didn’t know who took his heroin. Why is he after her then?

That’s a bigger mystery to follow moving forward because I desperately want to trust Imani, but she’s holding back or, at the very least, she’s not being fully transparent. And you can’t blame her.

Just like Joe has a reason to be wary of this stranger, sister or not, she has every right to be wary of him.

Naturally, them wanting to get the hell out of there made sense, but I loved that the way forward was to get to Teddy’s boat, because you just knew that was going to be an absolutely chaotic scene.

The way the four of them can fight like crazy, even while they’re being shot at or beaten up, is such a great theme of the series because it feels like such a true representation of family. You can fight like hell with your family, but nobody else can!

Now, even having said that, there was a real level of thinly veiled animosity wafting through the air, and even though they all worked together and had each other’s backs as they always have, everyone was a little snappier than usual.

I didn’t think much of it, considering the incredible amount of stress they’re all under. When a bullet could fly by your head at any moment, it’s normal to be a little irritable.

But every single argument was leading to those closing minutes, and if nothing else truly got me during this supersized premiere night, it was this one.

Cathy’s an intriguing lady because when the series started, she wasn’t very likable, but as things went on, she became someone reliable, even if she always remained self-serving.

I am a Leon apologist, and I won’t apologize for that. He is a nice man, and at his core, he wants to do the right thing, though he’s finding it increasingly hard.

That video, which Teddy purposefully left behind, tells the story of Cathy and Leon, though we’re likely missing some context.

We, as an audience, already knew about the heroin, unlike Joe. And now it’s obvious that Billy G stole the heroin from Cathy and Leon (and his saying it was an easy theft is hilarious in hindsight).

But the reveal that Cathy knew Teddy was alive all along and was playing in Joe’s face in that motel room? That was a real gag!

Joe’s reaction was a lot, but then again, he just found out two people he thought had his back were actually working their own agenda, so his anger wasn’t exactly unwarranted, though he could have killed Leon with how hard he was punching him!

The visual of Cathy with a gun to Joe’s head and Touch with a gun to Cathy’s head was the exact way this hour should have ended because these four probably needed everything to fall apart first.

And like a phoenix, the core four will rise again because Sipho is coming for their necks, just like he did Billy G’s, and they will never defeat him alone.

Extra, Average Notes

• Touch and Phyllis had a little chemistry! I would like to see it.

• I always wondered what that shoot was in Touch’s house because we knew he didn’t hurt himself, but that being the thing that made him feel untouchable? I hope we explore that further.

• Leon is unintentionally hilarious, and his heart is in the right place, but how many times can a man make an absolute disaster of everything he touches? It’s lowkey alarming.

• I need to see more of the Chief, who has a past case that haunts him and will likely stop at nothing to find out who killed Ziri. Right now, it feels like one too many stories, but it’s still early in the season.

• Every time Sipho is around someone, I’m going to be conditioned to think he’s going to kill them now.

• Where is Teddy? So much is happening, and yet that’s the most pressing question right now because he’s somehow avoiding ALL the terror.

We’re back, baby!

Average Joe came out swinging, and they absolutely nailed the start of this season. It feels like they decided not only to up the ante, but to destroy it.

What did you think about the first two hours?

Let me know in the comments so we can talk it through!

New episodes of Average Joe air every Wednesday through September 30, only on Paramount+.