It is a dirty, dirty shame that Peacock decided to cancel Rutherford Falls after two seasons. It’s an extra big shame that no other network decided to pick it up like it’s sophomore comedic counterpart, Girls5Eva. I’m looking at you, Netflix. But anyway, I can fill you in on the second, and last season, of this feel-good comedy.
In case you didn’t know, what sets this series apart from other comedies out there, besides Reservation Dogs, is that this is a show brimming with indigenous stories. Sure, they needed a funny white man to sell it a little bit, but I’m sure almost everyone, myself included, didn’t even find Ed Helms to be the most enjoyable character. By a long shot actually. What I did love about his character though, was his close friendship with Raegan. This season she really gets the chance to shine and become the successful businesswoman she always knew she was capable of being.
But before we get into all of that, let’s very quickly recap what happened at the end of the first season. Really, the big and small of it is that Nathan is not actually a Rutherford. He loses his shit and leaves town, but it turns out he didn’t last long. By the end of the first episode we learn that he’s been living in the attic of the now Minnishonkan cultural museum, too embarrassed to face the town. With some prompting, he finally does so and is pretty easily forgiven. For all the new responsibilities funneled Raegan’s way, she’s still heavily involved in Terry’s effort to transform the town into a “Ye Olde” theme.
This causes some hiccups with a portion of people in town, so when Rutherford’s mayoral position opens up, he knows he needs someone close to get the seat. Interestingly, they choose Bobby yang to campaign, and though they are young, Nathan and Terry are there with them every step of the way. As the campaign bits moved along, I too found that Bobby would make a pretty good mayor. To be fair, some towns in real life have pets for mayors, so anything is possible. Terry is still heavily involved this season, though I found his story lacking. Perhaps if I knew I’d be getting more seasons I’d be okay with it, but we’re not…so I’m bummed.
Another really fun bit this season was the turn in Raegan’s love life. Since Josh released the podcast that ruined Nathan’s life, and given that he lives in New York, she told him that they can only be friends. We don’t see much of Josh the rest of the season, but what screen time they do share, it’s clear that there is still a strong spark there. Instead, Raegan gets into a relationship with her new museum curator, Nelson. He’s odd and a bit blunt, but ultimately sweet. I have no clue who she would have ended up with in future seasons, but I’d honestly be fine with either. Nathan, too, learns some life-changing news, but I won’t spoil that for you.
While there was a small cliffhanger in the last episode, it won’t be a big enough one to make you shake with anger that the show was cancelled. But it’s still really damn disappointing. Please go give this critically acclaimed show some love because it deserves it.