Clone High season 2 turned into exactly the show it used to parody

First, the good news. Tommy Walter still understands.

The California-born musician played a key role in shaping MTV’s initial operations with his solo project, Abandoned Pools. clone highcomposed its theme song and allowed a needle drop from his (amazing) 2001 album humanistic. The Max reboot of the series sees Walter reappear for themed retaliation, plus a few additional tracks, and will be Walter’s first new album in nearly a decade. Everything sounds great, maybe a little too great.His wry, early-’80s emo sensibilities were once perfectly in tune with his surroundings clone high In 2002, during a relatively amorphous season of television, I was reacting to a flash of cultural idiosyncrasies that now seem like vestiges.

This new season ended with two episodes, each representing an often inexplicable turn in its own way. The first is an extended flashback that chronicles a person’s life. clone highMr. Butler Tron. The second is his half-hour finale in which the cast explores a dangerous labyrinth as part of their college entrance exams. There are jokes, some funny.But I almost never feel that way clone high.

Of course, the vanity at the heart of the show remains the same. A bunch of cloned historical figures, mostly he’s around 16-17 years old and they went to high school together. Key players in the first season were Abe Lincoln, Joan of Arc, Cleopatra, Mahatma Gandhi and John F. Kennedy. Everyone but Gandhi will be back for Season 2. Plus new faces like Frida Kahlo, Harriet Tubman, Confucius and Christopher Columbus. It’s a wonderful, infinitely malleable premise, one that makes the audience instantly imagine different scenarios.

but clone high‘s true strength has always been its sharp satire edge. It wasn’t just celebrities in odd situations.It was a celebrity in a strange situation Degrassiagain Dawson’s Creekagain my so called lifeagain Saved by. Because each main character is a variation on his 80s or 90s teen drama archetype, and each episode is a transmission of a “very special episode” of these dramas, usually focusing on heavier subject matter. was so designated.of clone high, its gravity was a joke. The show’s “darkest” (and funniest) episode was modeled after: Beverly Hills 90210‘s “The Next Fifty Years” features a never-before-seen (but widely-loved) clone of Ponce de Leon. 90210 Alum’s Luke Perry — dead in a freak ‘littering accident’. Nothing of value is learned, the status quo is not changed, and the person is never mentioned again. But this episode, in its own insane form, feels more real than spoofed.

Image: Warner Media

Image: Warner Media

clone high He was cynical, but never dishonest. It merely confirmed that most of Pop’s sincerity was bullshit and did the same. Laughing at the quirkiness of these shows was more in the adolescent psyche than almost everything in the show itself. Teenagers see through this! Sure, there’s fun in it (I love it) Dawson’s CreekFar more often, though, attempts to recreate the teens’ real-life experiences, or to keep them real, sound hollow. This was a cookie-cutter series with absolutely no meaningful lessons to convey. It transcends the notion that we were once filthy people, especially those stiff historical figures we read about in school.in the world of clone highdirty is a virtue, and the show’s unwavering love for its broken, queer characters is as heartbreaking as it is contagious.

It ended too soon, ended after just 13 episodes (and ended on a high-stakes cliffhanger), and was abruptly cancelled. Traditionally, when asked which TV show I’d like to see rebooted, the question seems more pernicious than it once was in our current sequel- and prequel-filled media landscape, but my first One answer is always: clone high. In retrospect, this may have been short-sighted. The show focused on a very cultural moment that was already fraying on the fringes. The soap-infused teen-drama format was slowly dying out, at a time when My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy were becoming big names in emo music, and a new discovery in Western adult animation. . Cultural fame came with surprise hits such as: beavis and butt head, south parkand family guy, which is eventually equalized.I don’t know what you thought about rebooting clone high It will or should be.

Either way, I wasn’t alone. The show’s fanbase has been vociferous for the show’s revival for years, and its creators Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Bill Lawrence have all gone on to mainstream success. went repeatedly on record say to resurrect clone high It was a top priority for most of their career. On July 2nd, 2020, I was ecstatic when news of the resurrection became official. An episode about cancellation culture premiered on May 23, 2023.

which, who, who I be concernedEveryone has their own definition of the term, but very few artists have been able to tackle cancel culture in a way that’s more insightful than obnoxious.? No, Lord and Miller don’t meet that standard. (Episode 1 of the reboot is the only episode they are credited with writing the script. clone highThe original version of , which now serves as showrunner and shares the credits. ) “Let’s Try This Again” is a reboot in miniature, occasionally faithfully recreating the comedic tone of the original.I clearly enjoyed that point in particular clone highAbe Lincoln decides to apologize by having his friends pour hot sauce on his paper wounds, but it’s usually immoral that he chooses to throw punches and stare at his navel.

This episode is less about a contemporary issue than about itself, and like the rest of the season, the show’s creators are trying to make up for what they perceive as a decades-old mistake. As if, it looks like conflict and confusion. At the same time, he is venting his frustration at not being able to write the jokes he wants to write.And if so, perhaps clone high Not worth a revisit. I’d rather have no show at all than one that I’m not particularly proud of.

Image: Warner Media

Image: Warner Media

Image: Warner Media

Thankfully there are exceptions. The high point of Season 2 is probably his second episode, “Sleepover,” which is largely a vehicle for establishing an ongoing power relationship between multiple new characters.Most of the gags are successful, with key plot points of Frida Kahlo and Harriet Tubman revealing that they committed motor vehicle manslaughter as children during a game of Never Never. The expansion is just goofy and mean enough that you can enjoy it in peace clone highundermines (but does not extinguish) real passions with its eerie absurdity.

Sadly, that’s where the show is missing most of its teeth. The edges of the characters are being scraped little by little. JFK morphs from belligerent, philandering jock to silly Golden Retriever, and Cleopatra, once characterized as shrewd as a mean woman’s vanity, is now far more hysterical and short-sighted. It seems to me that this change is more misogynistic than any of the old jokes the writers are apologizing for. Gandhi is gone for good, except for a few eye-blinking mentions. This is a tricky question. Her irreverent portrayal of Gandhi was the main reason for the series’ initial cancellation, and I don’t blame anyone who was offended by this. But his absence is felt, and none of the new characters quite fills the same anarchic niche.

Even more disappointing, and in some ways predictable, is the overall shapelessness of the reboot. A far cry from the teen drama season 1 that was used as a definitive reference, this one is erratic and largely chooses to paint its plotlines in rough, uninspiring strokes. Considering those dramas no longer exist, this makes some sense.They’ve been superseded by shows like euphoria, riverdaleand 13 reasonsthey all have their own brand of out-and-out drama, sometimes more crime thriller than soap opera.

But a change this dramatic would mean big changes for the company. clone high, and Season 2 makes it clear from the start that big swings are off the table. It seems much more interesting than being mirrored in modern pop television. embody Modern pop television, or at least shades of it. Brave, perhaps self-aware, but still largely in keeping with the flood of other proven adult anime shows that have saturated streaming services.

In Episode 5, Harriet claims that she wants her artwork to be vulgar, audience-pleasing and safe, which is expressed as a bold and noble stance. The fact that the show is taking some stance, let alone this one, underscores the regrettable shift in priorities. clone high‘s sharp (and endearing) cynicism has been replaced by a tendency to take a deep breath and “keep it real.”

Photo: Colin Bentley/CW

Image: Warner Media

Much like the show that season 1 skewered, it’s a hoax here too, a sign of the media’s widespread push toward occlusive sentimentality. Good for Twitter gift sets, but distracting for out-of-the-box art. A counterculture is always needed. That’s what he needed in 2002 and still needs. Of course, I wouldn’t expect MTV animation to be the trailblazer here, but what once seemed so crude and ahead of its time could use this new opportunity to push back even harder. It’s disappointing to see it deliberately softening without.For all dated references, see the original clone high‘s approach to parody still feels fresh. Well, I’m trying very hard to say something meaningful, but in the end I’m doing very little satire.

This may sound too strict, but it probably is. Season 2 is an absolutely harmless, forgettable few hours of TV. That finale ends on a dull vibe, but it’s not sour, and I was left with the feeling that the show still has a lot of ideas in the barrel: some characters and relationships remain intact and underwritten. It feels like it’s been done, and the reboot’s slightly more overt commitment to the overarching sci-fi story suggests it could be poised for a big crescendo. Who knows if it will be a good thing or if it will be necessary.still not convinced clone high It could be rebooted in any significant way, but I’m going to continue until the (already announced) third season. Because I’ve wanted more than that for too long. Perhaps, with any luck, the show will find a stronger identity. I hope you at least remember how to be cool.

Until then, there will always be Season 1. If you don’t have the version with royalty-free music, we recommend watching it in Max.

clone high Season 2 is now streaming in full on Max.