Much has already been made of the casting for the second season of Michael Schur and Ted Danson’s Netflix comedy A Man On The Inside—notably, the fact that the show intends to Easy Mode its way into chemistry by casting Danson’s wife Mary Steenburgen as his new love interest/possible target for low-key spy shenanigans. Now, Netflix has released a fuller first look at the new season, revealing not just Steenburgen, but also that bumbling private eye Charles Nieuwendyk will be returning to his old stomping grounds for at least part of the season. And also: Jason Mantzoukas is there.
We’ve known the little Good Place reunion was coming for a while now, with Mantzoukas’ one of several names added to the show in a big casting notice a few months back. The photos show him teamed up with actress Constance Marie, and apparently playing a character named “Apollo Lamrkis,” which, yeah, fair enough. Elsewhere, Netflix has also confirmed the basic plot outline for the new season, which will see Danson’s Charles infiltrating a college to investigate blackmail attempts on its president, played by Max Greenfield. (With Gary Cole as a possible suspect, playing an “iconoclastic billionaire” on the verge of giving a major donation to the school.) Our man’s efforts to stay detached run into a big wall of Steenburgen, though, as she intrudes into his life as a “free-spirit” music professor. (Who’s also possibly the blackmailer.) Meanwhile, the photos show that Charles will spend at least part of his time back at the Pacific View Retirement Community, playing backgammon with Stephen McKinley Henderson’s Calbert. (We also get a shot of Stephanie Beatriz’s returning Didi.)
The first season of Man On The Inside pulled a bit of a con on its own audience, using the “undercover detective” schtick to tell the story it was really interested in, one about grief, aging, and finding satisfaction in various aspects of your life. It remains an open question whether season 2 will go harder on the actual mystery elements, but the presence of Steenburgen suggests it’ll be at least as interested in seeing if Charles can put himself back out there after his wife’s death as it is any of the actual spy stuff.
