Season Review: The Freak Brothers Season Two Part Two

The Freak Brothers made history during this year’s summer season. It’s not because they time travel through the power of drugs. It’s also because their drug-oriented show became the first series renewal for Tubi, let alone one from the animation department. Considering that Tubi is a free streaming service filled with old, recent, and obscure movies and shows, it’s an impressive accomplishment showing signs of the service’s booming future amid the streaming wars. It’s too bad this accomplishment came from a subpar adult animated sitcom filled with formulaic plots and jokes involving sex and drugs.

For those living underneath the basement for 50 years, the second season of The Freak Brothers was split into two parts, with the first four episodes already available on Tubi. Long story short, the mediocre display of adult humor and animation in the sophomore season’s first four episodes didn’t give me much hope for the show’s future despite its talented voice cast. Although, I can see it being watchable for those who enjoyed the first season. If you want an in-depth explanation, check out my full review of the show’s first half of season two. Based on my perspective of the first four episodes, it’s no secret that I wasn’t overly excited for the season’s second half, consisting of the final four episodes. So, the best way I could do is to hope that these episodes would at least provide more enjoyment in their drug trips than the first few misadventures. Boy, I was wrong for thinking that.

The second half of season two sees Frank and Harper getting caught in the street racing scene when he spots his old 1968 Pontiac Trans Am in “Trans Trans Am”. Meanwhile, Phineas and Kitty train Fat Freddy to compete in the drag queen karaoke competition, but their training methods have done more harm to Freddy than good. The second episode, “Pet Condoms”, is what the title suggests: the brothers start a business selling condoms for pets while attempting to help Harper’s boss, Dennis Chang, with his anxiety. The third episode, “Meataverse”, consists of Freddy learning how to cook from Kitty, which led them to craft dishes for Mark Zuckerberg at his “meta shelter for the homeless”. However, they also uncover a disturbing conspiracy during the process. Finally, the season finale, “Freaking Bad”, sees Phineas competing against Seth Rogen by making his pot brownies, while Frank finds himself in a love triangle between Gretchen and Calamity Jane.

Like the first half of season two, the second half offers another series of formulaic fish-out-of-water plots involving the title characters encountering several modern topics of the current generation. For example, in “Trans Trans Am”, Frank confronts Mary, a transgender driver driving his prized possession, a Pontiac Trans Am, which he named “Betty”. Another example is Christianity in “Pet Condoms”, where Kirk Cameron hosted a Christian-based strike against cow hugging, much to Chang’s disapproval. The series continues its tradition of satirizing the topics and celebrities shown amid its adult-animated-sitcom shenanigans and a series of pop culture references, cursing, and sexual references. What you see is what you get, for better or worse.

Unfortunately for me, I get the latter side of the spectrum. Along with the season’s by-the-numbers narratives, it still struggles to add absurdity and liveliness to its adult humor. It’s got some clever ideas hidden underneath its weed-fueled presentation, mainly Zuckerberg’s “Metaverse” goggles in “Meataverse”, which happens to be my favorite of the bunch due to its depiction of reality vs. virtual reality. However, its dull direction and lazily rushed elements in the episodic plots prevented the comedy from getting me high.

If there’s one thing I can at least credit the series for, it’s that the second half retained the brightest spot that made it slightly watchable. Of course, I’m talking about the voice cast, mainly for the titular Freak Brothers. It bears repeating that Pete Davidson, Woody Harrelson, and John Goodman were great choices for the roles, especially the latter two for their distinctive performances. They’re still the only ones talented enough to carry the bare-bones series through its sophomore season. Tiffany Haddish continues to be serviceable as Kitty despite her lackluster approach to her brand of adult humor. 

Overall, the second half of season two delivers more of the same as I expected based on my experience with the previous four episodes and season one. It’s too bad the result is just as tedious and lifeless as the Freak Brothers’s last few drug-based mishaps. Its good intentions will likely get the show’s fans high, including the main cast. Sadly, the final four episodes of season two fail to improve the low-level quality of the season’s first half to get the naysayers intoxicated. Despite “Meataverse” being my favorite of the second half, the conclusion of the show’s sophomore season knocked me up for all the wrong reasons. The season two finale teases that the brothers will be starting a weed business in the show’s potential third season, which could be an interesting direction for The Freak Brothers going forward. Hopefully, it turns out a bit better than this mediocre series of adventures.