The buddy comedy Platonic is one of the best Apple TV Plus shows. But when it debuted earlier this year, it was marketed as a limited series – which is trade speak for "this is all you're gonna get". But while Apple doesn't talk numbers, it says the comedy show was a hit. So much so that it's been commissioned for another season.
The show comes from Friends From College creators Nick Stoller and Francesca Delbanco, and features Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne as former childhood best friends who try to rekindle their friendship in adulthood. It's attracted great reviews and lots of comparisons to the classic movie When Harry Met Sally, although it's very much its own thing – and so far at least it appears to be taking a different view to Sally, which suggested that people of different genders couldn't stay platonic pals.
Why Seth Rogen changed his mind about Platonic
It turns out that the limited series status was Rogen's idea: speaking to the Hollywood Reporter he said: "I really just wanted to see if we were happy with it when it came out – and if everyone else was happy with it. I was kind of nervous about how high my standards were for what we were doing, and I wanted to make sure that we could actually do it."
Details of what will actually happen in season two are still under wraps, but show co-creators Nick Stoller and Francesca Delbanco have made it clear what definitely won't happen: “Season two spoiler alert: Will and Sylvia won’t get together this time either,” they say. And that's a good thing. As The New Yorker says: "This is a show about lost youth, not lost love."
What makes Platonic so great is that it's about friendship and doesn't treat that as being lesser than a romantic relationship, which so many comedies do. The 'will they, won't they' trope is everywhere, but shows about the power, joy and sometimes stress of friendships are so much rarer. And in Byrne and Rogan, the show is perfectly cast. As RogerEbert.com puts it: "Even when Platonic can be too enamored with its minor victory of simply representing a different kind of love, Byrne and Rogen will then do something together that’s funny or sweet or endearing. You can’t fake chemistry like that."
[Spoiler alert for Season one: stop reading now if you haven't seen the finale]
The return of Platonic has been warmly received, but some viewers are wondering if the second season might feature some visitors from another, stranger land – and we don't mean Florida. The season 1 finale featured Will and Sylvia announcing that they'd seen a UFO to their friends. Writing on The Verge, Alex Cranz says: "I really hope the second season of Platonic explores its relationship to Invasion... I hope it immediately addresses the whole 'we saw aliens' subplot by pivoting the show into being a prequel to Invasion, also on Apple TV Plus."
Season one of Platonic is currently streaming on Apple TV Plus.
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