Season Review: Ten Year Old Tom Season Two

Overview:

The world can be a big, scary place, but this is especially true for ten-year-old Tom, a curious New Jersey boy who, time after time, finds himself in social quicksand. Tom has good intentions, but his inability to leave good enough alone or mind his own business turns him into a beacon for embarrassment. Tom just wants to get through his days in one piece, but this simple task seems to be increasingly impossible in Ten Year Old Tom.

Our Take:

There’s a thin line between comedy and tragedy, but Ten Year Old Tom truly blurs the lines between these two as a precocious boy finds himself as the universe’s perpetual punching bag; a Sisyphus of karmic comedy who can’t help but attract mayhem. The smallest act from Tom always finds a way to snowball into a city-wide disaster by the end of the episode and it never ceases to satisfy in a way that differs from the standard comedy, animated or otherwise. “Confidence. Strength. Integrity” is advice that gets parroted at Tom in the opening minutes of Ten Year Old Tom’s second season. These values become a guiding mantra that runs through the entire season. Unfortunately, ”Weakness. Fear. Feebleness” are the adjectives that reign supreme in Tom’s chaotic life, which at least produce extremely funny, uncomfortable comedy that’s just as strong as its first season.

Ten Year Old Tom comfortably lives in chaos and it’s appreciated how little of a barrier exists in order to figure out this series and its whole vibe. It never takes long for Tom to be off to the races when it comes to absurd social entanglements. Ten Year Old Tom’s comedy and awkward situations are as effortless as they were in season one, but there’s now an even greater confidence to the series’ storytelling now that Steve Dildarian and company have a greater grasp on these characters and the heightened comedy of their world.

A lot of this season’s stories revolve around presumed social niceties, status, or large corporations and “The Man” coming down on the little guy. All of this properly resonates in Ten Year Old Tom’s pressure cooker comedy. Understandably, most of the season’s stories steem from Tom’s school-based shenanigans, but Ten Year Old Tom still finds plenty of occasions to put Tom in other environments that uniquely tax him. Regardless of Tom’s location there’s still the same tightly-plotted comedy where seemingly disparate story ideas dovetail together. 

Some of this season’s episodes break down bullies, viral videos and cancel culture, public apologies, school uniforms, and participation trophies. These episodes even dip their toes in bluer comedy, like the episode “Tom Can’t Stop Farting,” as Ten Year Old Tom explores different styles of humor beyond its standard timbre. This season also contains the series’ biggest episode to date that surprisingly gets into the nature of Tom’s lineage in a manner that’s grandiose for the show’s more insular storytelling.

There’s a really lyrical nature to the series’ conversations and comedic rhythms. The dialogue adopts this sing-song call and response quality as Tom struggles to interject reason between increasingly ludicrous claims. It all makes for such an easy, natural watch where it’s not hard to binge half the season without even trying. It’s a testament to the show’s affable nature and its effective role as comedic comfort food. Ten Year Old Tom’s sense of humor never takes itself too seriously and gags are willing to trade realism for a fun joke, like how the offices of Nelson’s lawyer father have signage that says, “Law Offices of Nelson’s Dad.”

It’s rare that Tom isn’t front and center, but this season does excellent work with how it builds upon its ancillary supporting characters, like the bus driver (Ben Rodgers) or gym teacher (Erik Griffin). These characters gain genuine depth and transcend their original roles, all while Ten Year Old Tom effectively expands the boundaries of its world. There’s such natural chemistry between every character that would make it all the more bittersweet if Ten Year Old Tom’s run ends after only two seasons. The chemistry between Tom and his mom (Edi Patterson) remains the show’s secret weapon and it’s just so much fun to see her get caught up in unexpected social anxiety just as much as Tom does. 

Tom’s mom trying (and failing) to bond with Dakota’s mom (Jennifer Coolidge) is also such an entertaining counterpoint to the genuine–albeit awkward–friendship that exists between their children who are too pure and honest for the classist subterfuge that’s infected the adults of the world. This season confirms that Tom’s mom might be even more of a lightning rod for chaos and bad luck than her son. There’s also more simmering hatred between Dakota’s parents than ever before, which provides a lot of cruel, inappropriate entertainment over the course of the season.

Ten Year Old Tom’s second season further develops the hierarchy of Tom’s group of friends and episodes figure out when it’s the right time to turn to Nelson (Byron Bowers), Randy (Paul Rust), or Dakota (Gillian Jacobs) rather than making them all interchangeable with each other. The same is true with Tom’s grandmother (Sandy Martin) and Uncle Bill, who both get some really fun material this season that feels naturally integrated into the stories rather than them just serving the role of rotating parental guardians for Tom. Rounding out the cast, Todd Glass’ Principal still goes above and beyond and is such a reckless wild card who easily improves any episode, whether he’s bouncing off of Tom or anyone else. John Malkovich’s music teacher, Mr. B, is also electric every second that he’s around. He delivers such a keyed-in performance that’s a perpetual delight, especially when he’s in opposition to Tom.

Ten Year Old Tom also just makes the perfect use of reliable comedic performers like Thomas Lennon, Paul Rust, Jessica McKenna, Mark Proksch, and Mitra Jouhari who thrive in this punk rock setting where they’re able to lean into their awkward eccentricities so these supporting players come alive and feel like real people.This season even finds opportunities to bring back all of the most entertaining guest characters from season one, whether it’s Tim Robinson’s plumber of David Duchovny’s ice cream man, while also bringing many talented new performers into the mix.

Ten Year Old Tom delivers on its promises and the only real knock this season is the somewhat repetitive nature to the types of stories that are being told. There’s a palpable tension by every episode’s final act whenever Tom gets excited over some supposed conquest because the audience knows that the deck is eternally stacked against him. While that does soften the series’ impact to some extent, the whole point of Ten Year Old Tom is to get lost in this awkward tension, which it more than achieves in every single episode. It’s hard to begrudge the series when it lands its comedic ideas so well, but nevertheless, it still feels as if some middle ground could be reached wherein Ten Year Old Tom plays outside of its comfort zone a little more rather than returning to the same entertaining storytelling formula.

Ten Year Old Tom’s second season is more of the same, but in this case that’s an encouraging confirmation that the animated comedy is able to consistently sustain the high benchmark that’s established in season one. A lack of a grander serialized story might make it easier on some level to end Ten Year Old Tom after only two seasons, but these new episodes flesh out the show’s universe in satisfying ways that point towards a bright future. There needs to be more small-scale, minutiae-driven animated adult comedies on television and Ten Year Old Tom remains one of the best in the game. Ten Year Old Tom deserves to live for at least as long as Dildarian’s The Life and Times of Tim. It’s quietly building a passionate cult audience and given the right encouragement it could easily become Max’s animated equivalent to Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiasm. Ten Year Old Tom still has a lot more to say…even if it’s likely to put Tom through hell in the process.

This review is based on all ten episodes of ‘Ten Year Old Tom’s’ second season

Season 2 of ‘Ten Year Old Tom’ premieres June 29th, only on Max