The new year celebration isn’t complete without the coolest party animal in Chicago. That’s right. The Chicago Party Aunt has returned to Netflix to finish the party she started last year. Of course, this is long overdue since I had completely forgotten about the animated sitcom, but hey, better late than never, am I right?
When I first watched Chicago Party Aunt, I had no idea whether I’d enjoy something involving a crazy, party-loving aunt, especially after seeing The Prince. Never forget the horrors of that painfully insulting show. It’s got plenty of raunchy elements shown in other adult animated shows, including adult language and sexual content, but it also left me with concern that it’s going to be nothing but those things. But, to my surprise, it was better than I expected. Sure, it’s nowhere near as great as The Simpsons, but its solid use of comedy and enjoyable characters are enough for me to give the second half a chance.
Like part one, the second half of Chicago Party Aunt consists of eight episodes involving Diane getting into all sorts of trouble with her friends and family. Additionally, they feature several interconnected character arcs that play a role in each episode. One involves Diane (Lauren Ash) starting a new relationship with Stuart. But, of course, she’s not the only one feeling the love, as her nephew Daniel (Rory O’Malley) found one in Chicago Cubs baseball player Jason. Unfortunately, those relationships last up to two episodes.
There are also a couple of arcs involving Daniel’s parents, Bonnie (Jill Talley) and Mark (Ike Barinholtz), with one of them being their attempt to have another baby through several methods. One example is in the ninth episode, “Doppel Anger”, where Bonnie tries to sell the apartment rooftop to earn money for the new baby. The other arc occurs in the final two episodes, with them taking on new jobs to pay their mortgages when the company Mark works at becomes bankrupt. While that’s happening, Diane and Gideon (RuPaul Charles) go into business together to sell Diane’s lotion, resulting in them trying to go global with their product.
This continues the trend of exploring character arcs through several episodes in a series, particularly the ones from the adult animation category. I still enjoy this element because it allows the writers to further expand their characters’ development during random scenarios compared to a two-hour movie. Each episode feels like a contained misadventure, but they often explore specific hints of a particular character that’ll likely pay off in the finale.
But, of course, it all comes to the execution of whether these arcs make a show worth streaming. Paradise PD delivered character arcs that were interesting to me, but I couldn’t care much about them due to them being overshadowed by unlikeable characters and unfunny humor. What makes Chicago Party Aunt more tolerable than Paradise PD is how it balances the crass humor with its character arcs. It still contains R-rated language, sexual content, and plenty of moments that’ll make you go “what the heck” like the other adult animated comedies. However, the series understands the limit of providing those jokes and attempts to blend them with its charming yet familiar plots with solid results. It also helps that most of them were pretty hilarious.
As a result, Chicago Party Aunt becomes a show that viewers like me can easily watch without feeling any signs of regret. It’s like drinking beer without worrying about getting buzzed. Okay, that might not be the best comparison, but you know what I mean. With the season’s second half, the show took what made the first eight episodes enjoyable and applied them to the final eight, resulting in them being a decent conclusion to the Netflix animated sitcom.
While the character arcs in part two were as enjoyable as in part one, some were rushed or went nowhere else with them. One example I can think of for the latter is when Kurt’s (Chris Witaske) new girlfriend is having an affair with Daniel’s art teacher in “Doppel Anger”. It’s a funny gag, but I was disappointed that it didn’t affect Kurt throughout the rest of the season. There are also a couple of episodes that felt like a rehash of other sitcom episodes, including “Empire State of Mind”, which focuses on Daniel moving out of Diane’s apartment room after their fight.
Aside from those minor issues, the second part delivers plenty of entertaining moments I’d expect from a show about a party-loving aunt. One of them is the voice cast, with Lauren Ash, who once again offers a satisfying mixture of sassy and heart in her role as Diane. However, I would say that Bob Odenkirk from Breaking Bad fame is the highlight in a couple of episodes as Feather, Daniel’s boss. One of those episodes is “Tits Up, Tits Out”, where Feather gets overly aggressive toward other drivers while Daniel drives him around to promote healthy juices to kids. Speaking of Breaking Bad, that critically acclaimed series was referenced a couple of times in the 15th episode, “Breaking Balm”.
After watching the show in its entirety, thanks to part two, I can say that Chicago Party Aunt is indeed the life of the party. In fact, I will admit that I’d rather hang out with the world’s coolest aunt again than the world’s worst cops. The voice cast is entertaining, the characters are likable, and the adult humor has a decent mixture of charm and hilarity, even if some of the jokes aren’t memorable. The second half came in a bit below the expectations set by the first eight episodes regarding the familiar sitcom plots, but it’s barely enough to cancel this wild party. Now the question is whether I’d be interested in a second season. Well, if they keep the elements that made the show good, then I wouldn’t mind revisiting Chicago for another round of partying and drinking with Diane.