When a movie takes three years to produce, you know there’s trouble – or a pandemic.
And that’s what figures into the third season of “The Other Two,” a sharp look at the entertainment industry through the eyes of two siblings – Cary (Drew Tarver) and Brooke (Helene Yorke). Because they don’t have the adulation that surrounds their brother, ChaseDreams (Case Walker), or their mother, the irrepressible talk show host, Pat (Molly Shannon), they’re constantly trying to find a crack in the business.
Small breaks, however, are the best they can hope for. After appearing (third-billed) in a video-on-demand drama called “Night Nurse,” Cary is convinced he’ll get a shot. He preps for the premiere then finds his shining moment derailed by the downside of a business still lurching from COVID-19.
Helene York and Drew Tarver play the siblings of a teen idol in "The Other Two," a different look at show business.
Brooke, meanwhile, wants to move on and pursue something more meaningful. She, too, has a brush with reality but slips back into publicist mode when Chase edges near his 18th birthday – and a “very special” transformation.
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Created by Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider, “The Other Two” is so spot-on in its depiction of the business during COVID it should be viewed as a time capsule for generations to come. Experts make sure no one gets within a mask of someone else; protocols involve tackling – and yelling. Poor Cary is so determined to move out of the info-tainment ghetto he’s willing to put up with just about anything. In the first episode back, there’s the big premiere and the headaches it, too, can bring. The family shows up, but there’s a sea change that even Nicole Kidman couldn’t have predicted.
In the first five episodes of the new season, you see Cary testing out Zoom auditions, Brooke trying to understand the adulation surrounding nurses and Chase dealing with A-list dates for someone “almost 18.”
Mom, meanwhile, barely checks in during that time, largely because she has new irons in the fire and an influencer’s savvy. Want some Reese’s Pieces? Try Tweeting your love.
Mom’s boyfriend, Streeter Peters (Ken Marino), gets in the picture as well but (shades of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) has other clients worth touting.
For fans of HGTV, there’s a shallow dive into the pool of rehab shows and a road trip that shows just how treacherous the world can be for someone like Shawn Mendes.
Walker, in fact, has moved from his Justin Bieber phase to a decided Mendes mode. He’s taller and caught up in a world that forgot he released an album on Insurrection Day.
While Yorke is always good (particularly when she’s sparring with Wanda Sykes), the third season belongs to Tarver. When he tries to build on his “Night Nurse” reputation, we get a deep dive into product endorsements, celebrity hook-ups and the value of a good publicist.
When “The Other Two” includes a visit to a Broadway show, it manages to skewer another profession without harming it.
The series may have been a dandy offering during the pandemic (if you didn’t binge it then, you should now), but it’s a good digestif for the world we’re in now.
“The Other Two” airs on HBO Max.
