New FOX comedy in the workplace Animal control ended the rookie season earlier this month. The good news for fans of the new series is that the series has been renewed for a second season. The bad news is that the Writers Guild of America (WGA) is currently leading an unresolved strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So, depending on how long the strike goes on, the wait for season 2 could be longer. In addition, if new deals are not made with the Actors and Directors Guilds and AMPTP, further delays may occur.
For now, let’s remember how Animal control marked the end of the debut season. The series started out a bit rough, but as it progressed, it developed a strong cast of characters with great chemistry, and by the end of the season, it turned into a real comedy.
Shred misses his window with Emily
During the first season, former snowboarder Fred “Shred” Taylor (Michael Rowland) has a budding relationship with Emily Price (Vella Lovell); Director of Animal Control in Seattle. Unfortunately for Shred, he is still in a relationship with his previous girlfriend Camila (Maria Gabriela de Faria) when he joins the site and meets Emily. However, the situation becomes turbulent due to Shred and Camila’s long-distance relationship, as well as Shred’s growing feelings for Emily, who mutually separate. However, although Emily is also attracted to Shred, she does not try to form a relationship due to Shred’s relationship with Camila as well as her Rick Doyle issue (Kevin Bigley), Emily’s predecessor at the precinct, who occasionally visits the office to help and give advice.
With Shred seemingly unavailable, Emily begins to “vibrate” with Rick, and despite Rick being a bit over the top in his early attempts to woo her, the season ends with the two of them agreeing to date each other. Realizing his growing feelings for Emily, Shred spends most of the season finale trying to reach out to Camila in order to end his relationship with her and continue with Emily as it is a “noble” act. Unfortunately, Camila is constantly away from her phone. By the time he finally reaches her, Camila believes that Shred is calling to propose to her, but instead he ends things with her via video call, with Camille’s entire family watching in the room. It’s an awkward breakup, but Shred was left with no other choice as the clock seemed to be ticking to invite Emily and Frank (Joel McHale) advised Shred not to waste money and fly abroad to personally part with Camila. When Shred finally goes looking for Emily, he sees Emily and Rick kiss in a very romantic kiss. Now Shred has lost both his girlfriend and what appears to be a new relationship with Emily in one fell swoop.
Frank and Shred make an emotional breakthrough
In the season finale, McHale’s usually cold and detached Frank Shaw is at his most emotionally vulnerable. Frank remains melancholy for much of the finale after losing subject C-38, a feral mountain lion whom Frank respects and risks his career to protect him at the start of the season. Unfortunately, C-38 later passed away, and a memorial has been erected on the site in honor of the poor fellow. While Frank is usually cynical and sarcastic about his past cop who lost his career for trying to expose corruption, in this episode he shows a lot of vulnerability as well as obvious sadness over the loss of the C-38. For most of the season, Frank has been rather mean and taunting towards his idealistic and optimistic new partner, Shred. However, Shred’s good nature manages to soften Frank’s rather stern appearance.
This leads to a surprising breakthrough in the closing moments of the finale. With the party and the C-38 memorial still in full swing, Shred emerges from the bathroom after breaking up with Camila by joining Frank at the bar. Realizing what happened, Frank this time shows some compassion for Shred, finally acknowledging Shred as his partner for the first time in the series. Although things are a little rough for both Frank and Shred in this episode, they have at least made progress in their relationship and seem to be finally on their way to becoming close friends. However, these are just childish steps as Shred is flustered by Frank’s statement and Frank then replies, “Tell someone and I’ll kill you.”
Leading up to Season 2 of Animal Control
As the show gets a second season pickup, it looks like season two will primarily focus on what comes next in the brewing love triangle between Shred, Emily, and Rick. Rick is a nice guy who is liked by most of the cops in the precinct. However, despite Rick showing remarkable positivity after being mauled by a mink, Rick deliberately abandons a frightened Frank when he helps him on call to contain another wild mink. This appears to be payback for Frank running away from an earlier off-screen mink attack that caused Rick to lose one of his ears. This shows that Rick has a vengeful, perhaps more malevolent side, despite his outwardly kind and optimistic nature. While Emily appears to be starting a relationship with Rick now, it remains to be seen if the mutual feelings between her and Shred will eventually develop into something.
As far as Frank’s love life goes, it looks like there could be a spark between him and fellow animal control officer Victoria Sands (Grace Palmer). Although Victoria is quite open about her casual sex life and doesn’t seem to be looking for anything long-term, it looks like there might be some feelings developing between her and Frank. They have a friendly rivalry throughout the season, bonding throughout the C-38’s defense period, with Victoria showing remarkable care for Frank as he recovers from the C-38’s demise. Meanwhile, Ravi Patel is married and has children (Amit Patel) learns that his vasectomy was “one in 1,000” that didn’t work. So, he gets word from his wife that she’s pregnant again, so Ravi spends the wake getting drunk, not quite ready for the news of another baby being born. Ravi is a comically suffering middle-aged father, so there’s bound to be more family antics and dad-themed humor ahead.
Judging by the first season, there will probably be a lot more animal-related jokes. The series uses a solid mixture of real animals and puppet shows. However, what’s great about the show is that it’s pretty positive when it comes to animal plots. Frank, for example, loves animals more than people. Feeling betrayed by his days as a Seattle police officer and his estranged father, Frank chooses to deal with animals over people. Most of the officers also show remarkable care for the animals they usually have to deal with. When animal “fights” occur, they are usually highly exaggerated, overly comedic situations, usually involving poor Ravi being beaten up by a kangaroo or stabbed by a crab. Situations usually end with the animals being kept or captured unharmed. Also, people are always hurt in these incidents, usually to great comedic effect.
The entire first season of the series Animal control currently streaming on Hulu. A second season is expected to air on FOX at a date yet to be announced.
Source: Collider
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