NOTE: This review is a continuation of my reviews of this series. If you have not seen any of the volumes or my previous reviews, you risk spoilers by continuing.

Intro

After a wildly successful first series, the hit British comedy Coupling comes back for another go at it with this, their brilliant second series!

The Story

After a successful first series, Coupling was given nine episodes this time around rather than six and the result is hilarity all around. When the series ended last time, Susan and Steve were on the rocks after Steve watched a homemade porno tape that he thought starred Susan until she showed up unannounced and pointed out that it wasn’t her on the tape at all.

Things between the two have been patched up since then but over the course of this series they will go undergo many more trials such as Steve seeing Sally naked and the two then falling into the pit of boredom as their relationship starts to grow boring and both of them realize that sometimes, they do still miss being single.

Meanwhile though, their friends are having just as much fun as after many failed attempts with girls (telling them that he’s an ax murderer, telling them that he collects ears in a bucket, telling them that he has a wooden leg, the list goes on…), he finally manages to get a girlfriend! While on the other side of the dating spectrum, Sally and Patrick must confront their feelings for each other and Jane must confront reality… well, ok maybe Jane isn’t quite ready for reality yet.

The Good And The Bad

As with the first series of this show, Coupling has been brilliantly written by Steven Moffat. Loosely based on his real life relationship with the show’s producer, Sue Vertue, Steven creates a hilarious show which once again gives us an ample voyeur’s peek into the lives of an everyday couple and their not so everyday friends.

While the humor has been greatly exaggerated for television, what I think I love best about this series is how naturally the time line of the show progresses. It just seems like whenever you watch a television show that within one season, not only is a couple meeting and falling in love but then by the end of the season they’re already married and ready to start spitting out kids like pumpkin seeds.

In this series though, Steve and Susan are allowed to progress in a very natural and realistic time line. In this series they have been together for about a year and while marriage has been brought up repeatedly, it is never really approached (because you know, Steve and Susan have an ‘agreement’).

While the comedy isn’t always as sharp as it was in the first series, I have to admit that there were so many occasions when I actually found myself hiding my eyes behind my hand because the situations that the characters had gotten themselves into were so outlandish, ridiculous and hilarious that I just couldn’t bare to watch because I knew how downright embarrassing the end result was going to be… this entire series was one of those ‘I fear to watch but I dare not look away’ moments.

Music

Once again, there is minimal music to speak of in this series besides the use of ‘Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps’ as the opening and closing theme.

Extras

Also there was very few extras to speak of which made me sad to find out as I was really looking forward to see some outtakes at the very least but instead we have to settle for three rather boring interviews and the same cast bios that were on the series one DVD.

Overall

While minor flaws such as lack of extras and some outlandish comedy situations keep this series from reaching a full 100% mark, they don’t take away that many points as once again I found myself laughing hysterically at this series and I absolutely cannot wait to see series three and find out what happens next in the lives of these six people.

If you haven’t already begun to watch this series, you owe it to yourself to start. It’ll be a long time before you find a British comedy as funny as this one.



Final Grade: 95% - A

Related Reviews

Coupling: Series 1
Coupling: Series 3
Coupling: Series 4




©L.B. Bryant 2005



Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age