In ’Shrill’ Season 2, the characters deepen, but the Portland-filmed comedy remains kind-hearted (review)

Aidy Bryant in Season 2 of "Shrill."

Annie (Aidy Bryant) in "Shrill" Season 2. (Photo: Allyson Riggs/Hulu)Hulu

In its first season, “Shrill” was a refreshingly low-key look at characters who could easily have been drawn with loud, broad strokes. What made the Hulu original likable was its generous-hearted approach, a non-judgmental frame around the central figure of Annie (Aidy Bryant), a Portland writer who yearns to express herself.

Annie was at times selfish, at other times kind, and at still other times lacking self-confidence because of her weight, and confusion about what she deserves. Inspired by Seattle writer Lindy West’s collection of memoir and essays, “Shrill” stood out for not slamming Annie’s choice to have an abortion, for example, but it also didn’t totally let her off the hook for her sometimes thoughtless behavior.

(How to watch “Shrill": “Shrill” is only available on the streaming service Hulu. Hulu streaming service plans start at $5.99 a month)

After the all-too-brief total of six roughly half-hour Season 1 episodes, “Shrill” returns to Hulu with eight episodes. While they don’t exactly vault the story forward, the second season effectively builds on some of what happened in Season 1, and lets us get to know Annie, and those around her, better.

Season 2 picks up exactly where the first season ended, with Annie confronting the troll (well played by Beck Bennett, Bryant’s fellow “Saturday Night Live” castmate) who had been saying horrible things about her online.

After throwing a cement flower pot at his car window, she runs away from his house, and bursts into the home shared by her boyfriend, Ryan (Lukas Jones), and his equally unambitious pals.

As Season 2 develops, we see Annie sort through the consequences of what she thought was her righteously rebellious behavior. For one thing, her career isn’t going great guns after she quit her job as assistant calendar editor at the Weekly Thorn alt-weekly.

When Annie tries to get a job at a Portland daily newspaper called “The Bridgetown Tribune,” the editor tells her that Annie doesn’t have the experience required, but she could get an unpaid internship (this is a bit of flagrant fiction, because, just for the record, The Oregonian/OregonLive pays its interns).

Then there’s Annie’s relationship with Ryan, an immature adult who doesn’t care if he’s unemployed and is still borrowing his mother’s car. Can Ryan finally grow up a little, and stop being the poster child for Portland guys who can’t get it together?

As Season 2 continues, we get a better idea of what Annie, her friends, and former colleagues all need to learn.

Aidy Bryant and Lolly Adefope in "Shrill," Season 2.

Annie (Aidy Bryant) and Fran (Lolly Adefope) in "Shrill" Season 2. (Photo: Allyson Riggs/Hulu)Hulu

Annie’s housemate and best friend, Fran (the ever-engaging Lolly Adefope), for instance, realizes she’s been having casual sex with women all over Portland, and has to stop and think about what that pattern says about her.

Gabe (John Cameron Mitchell), the editor of the Weekly Thorn, is dealing with his own issues, and Mitchell is such a pleasure to watch that even when Gabe is rambling on in self-infatuated style about his past glory days as a punk, he’s entertaining.

Most of the cast, and guest stars (including “SNL” alum Vanessa Bayer as a Gwyneth Paltrow-like female executive) are on the same wavelength, portraying people we can’t help liking. Even when they’re saying something pretentious or strange, none of them seem to be intentionally mean, not even Ruthie, the hugely self-absorbed Weekly Thorn receptionist (played with deadpan verve by Patti Harrison).

In Season 2, “Shrill” also pulls off some extended set pieces that start out funny, add tension, and build to pretty terrific comedy, as in the third episode, “Skate,” which takes place at Portland’s Oaks Park Skating Rink. Supposedly a birthday party for Ruthie, with a Studio 54 theme, it devolves into a big, delicious mess.

Unlike “Portlandia,” The IFC series co-created by another “Saturday Night Live” veteran, Fred Armisen, “Shrill” doesn’t really make jokes about Portland. Locals will some recognizably Portland stuff, though, including Oaks Parks, the Super Deluxe burger stand, the Columbia Gorge (site of a wedding that brings Fran’s family together), Fifty Licks ice cream, Blazers jackets as Ryan’s wackadoodle gifts for Annie’s parents, and a naked bide ride scene, which is becoming as inevitable a Portland touch as scenic shots of bridges over the Willamette River.

If you’re looking for pointed comedy or stinging satire, “Shrill” may not be the show for you. But at a time when TV is overloaded with heated debate and angry rhetoric, there’s something to be said for a series about people who aren’t always succeeding, but are at least trying to become better versions of themselves.

“Shrill” Season 2 begins streaming Friday, Jan. 24, on Hulu.

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-- Kristi Turnquist

kturnquist@oregonian.com 503-221-8227 @Kristiturnquist

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