In the case of Max Greenfield, you will like him when he’s angry. No, the former “New Girl” and current “Neighborhood” star isn’t joining the MCU as our latest (and undoubtedly most) Incredible Hulk, but in “A Man on the Inside” Season 2, he does play an academic forging a financially advantageous partnership with a rich, goateed jackass. And, more to the point, he’s really, really funny.
Greenfield plays Jack Beringer, the president of Wheeler College and a gleeful narcissist whose smug sense of superiority is so secure he doesn’t even wait around for affirmation. Jack will backdoor-brag about his surgically enhanced calves or boast about a farcical flirtation with a celebrity seated next to him on a flight, then flee (or cease paying attention) before anyone has time to congratulate him (or cut him down a peg).
So it’s striking whenever he slows down, as he does after a masked assailant plasters him with a bucket of mud. The public incident (on a stage, during his speech) sends Jack spiraling, and he directs his ire at the man hired to protect him: Charles Nieuwendyk (Ted Danson). “What if it’s not mud next time?” Jack says, staring a hole through Charles’ thick black spectacles. “What if it’s… poo?!”
Between each rhetorical question, Greenfield punctuates Jack’s silly worst-case scenario by stepping closer to Charles. But he doesn’t break eye contact. He doesn’t even blink. And when he drops the punchline, he pumps his eyebrows ever so slightly on the word “poo.” There’s no questioning how serious Jack takes the situation, just as there’s no doubting how unserious the situation actually is. That’s the fun of the scene, magnified by Greenfield’s concocted whirlwind coming to a full and sudden stop in order to deliver what, in his mind, is a frightening revelation, but to everyone else reads as an absurdly oblivious poop joke. It’s wonderful. I love it. And I’ll cherish it as long as my diminishing memory allows.
But despite the four paragraphs I’ve dedicated to Greenfield’s hysterical line reading, his is a small moment in “A Man on the Inside” Season 2, and Jack is a small character — not just small-minded, but short on screen time. He’s not the main reason to watch Michael Schur’s sweet, sly Netflix sitcom, but he does illustrate its excellence. Self-aware, adaptable, and smart, the series is the exact opposite of Jack Beringer, highlighted by the fact it knows exactly who Jack Beringer is and how to draw out the best of him.
The mere fact that Season 2 makes time for Greenfield to max out speaks to its astute understanding of what makes for a great sitcom: Sometimes, like in Season 1, it’s a combination of bright jokes and poignant humanity. Sometimes, like in Season 2, it’s evolving without forgetting about the little flourishes that last in an audience’s mind, endearing them not only to the ensemble, but to the show around them.
In a season without the melancholic emotional core of its predecessor — when Charles was processing the loss of his wife — “A Man on the Inside” inhabits the same compassionate, curious, and chucklesome space as before, while fitting a new case, a new cast, and a new romance into Charles’ evolving spy story. That it’s premiering 364 days after the first season is another not-so-small blessing. (Thank you, veteran TV producers.)
Season 2 picks up with Charles’ first enticing assignment in some time. Wheeler College needs help. Admissions are down, expenses are up, and federal aid is all but non-existent. (Sound familiar?) For a quick fix, Jack turned to America’s favorite lifeline — billionaires — and found Brad Vinick (Gary Cole): a Wheeler alumnus worth more than $6 billion who agreed to donate $400 million to his old stomping grounds.
“Agreed” is the key word there, because he hasn’t handed over the dough just yet, and the administration has good reason to worry he won’t: Someone stole Jack’s laptop and is threatening to expose all his secrets if Wheeler accepts Brad’s “blood money.” Fearing any knowledge of the scandal would scare off Vinick, Jack hires Charles and his boss, Julie (Lilah Richcreek), to find the laptop, identify the thief, and save Wheeler College.
Simple enough, right? Once again, “A Man on the Inside” relies on a rather straightforward mystery to support its higher priorities: comedy, chemistry, and (light) social commentary. That may irk genre fans looking to do some serious sleuthing (from the safe remove of their living room sofa), but there are plenty of shows to scratch that itch, and far fewer that deftly balance so many characters and tones while still getting a well-earned laugh from a well-placed “poo.”
To get as close as he can to the staff (all of whom are suspects), Charles joins Wheeler as a guest lecturer — a cover story so perfect he doesn’t even need a fake name, since he used to teach engineering at a different university (and, as he may have mentioned, wrote a book on the subject). Instead, his mission grows complicated for personal reasons. Like a small-town freshman who can’t navigate his huge new college campus, Professor Nieuwendyk misses most of his (fake) classes to spend time with Mona Margadoff (Mary Steenburgen), a music theory instructor whose impulsive spirit proves irresistible to the ever-sensible egghead.
Danson and Steenburgen, whose offscreen marriage has inspired regular swooning over the last 30 years, are fantastic together. At times, it feels like the comic-mystery series has shifted into full rom-com mode, as Schur gives them plenty of scenes to flirt and fool around (in a joking sense, although when Mona poses as a nude model, the prim Charles flies into a hilarious fit of excessive modesty). Their relationship manages to give us exactly what we want while packing in a few savvy surprises — and pushing Charles forward. He’s dating again! That’s a big deal! (But that’s not all his arc with Mona is out to accomplish.)
Season 2 doesn’t go off without a hitch. Trying to replicate Charles’ uniquely moving emotional arc from Season 1 would’ve been a fool’s errand, but Season 2 still feels emptier without comparable soul-searching. (Julie reconnecting with her ex-con mom ventures into similar territory, but its a B- or even C-plot and can’t reach the same sentimental register). Also, balancing a cast as extraordinary and expansive as this is always going to be impossible, and with time at a premium in 30-minute sitcoms, a few favorites go neglected. (David Strathairn, as an English professor with an unshakable grudge against Charles, is a lovely, yet underserved, curmudgeon.)
But you’ll always want more time with the people you love, and “A Man on the Inside” knows that well enough to make peace with it. Season 2 is solid on its own, and even better at proving the series’ sustainability. Future editions can keep the friends and family who prove important to Charles (Stephen McKinley Henderson’s Calbert and more Pacific View retirees return!) while continuing to expand his second career through new cases. At the same time, it keeps the door open for what those cases might be, who may be involved in working them, and who may be called in to flesh out Charles’ personal life.
With Danson on “the Inside” and Schur the “Man” behind the scenes, their series is a guaranteed good time. What makes it simultaneously rewarding and exciting is seeing how hard they work to make it more than that. Neither rests on their laurels (as Sam Malone and the creator of “Parks and Rec” certainly could), instead endeavoring to bring out the best in each other and those around them — whether that means casting their offscreen partner of 30 years as a crush-worthy onscreen girlfriend, or finding room for a brilliant supporting actor to get good and angry, it’s a winning formula.
Grade: B+
“A Man on the Inside” Season 2 premieres Thursday, November 20 on Netflix. All eight episodes will be released at once.