Round Two: Hollywood

Hollywood: Season 1, Episode 2 “Hooray for Hollywood: Part 2” (B+)

This second episode wasn’t quite as enthralling and captivating as the first, but it was still immensely interesting. Jack’s big arrest turned out not to be such a big deal, and instead he just had to deal with making his wife crazy since his all-nighter schedule didn’t fool her quite as easily as he had hoped. We met a good deal of the rest of the cast in this hour, and it’s great to see a reliable group of performers, some who have been regularly featured in Ryan Murphy productions in the past. The best example is of course Darren Criss, who broke out with “Glee” and then won a slew of awards for “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.” He seems comfortable – perhaps too much – in this role, but that doesn’t make him any less watchable. Laura Harrier seems like she’ll bring a lot to the part of Camille, who knows full well what people expect of her based on the color of her skin and that she’s not going to take that discrimination lying down. Samara Weaving from “SMILF” is Claire, and she’s definitely going to pose a bigger threat than many expect, and Jim Parsons from “The Big Bang Theory” is a powerful agent who has a proven way of keeping his clients close to the vest. An actress with considerably more experience – Emmy winner Holland Taylor – is also in the cast, and she seems like a great companion for Patti LuPone’s Avis, fully aware of what she wants and how to make the best use out of talentless set dressing like Jack. Ending with the three boys walking together and picturing their future makes me excited to see what comes next, even if I’ve heard that most people aren’t so impressed with the direction of this series after this.