The Catch - The New Deal - Advance Preview

Shondaland’s latest show is about to return for its sophomore run and here’s my hot take based on the first episode: It’s a stupid show, it really is. It’s ludricrous and absurd and ridiculous and farcical to the point where you will ask yourself "Is this really happening right now?" because of how hilariously stupid it is.

But here’s the catch: All of those things don’t necessarily make The Catch a bad show, just a stupid one (your mileage may vary, of course). What makes the show a good-kind-of-bad rather than actually bad is that it manages to entertain and is self-aware of dumb it can be. It embraces its own silliness and is all the better for it.

The shows leans heavily into its comedic side for the new season and while it’s mostly hilarious and sticks the landing, there are times when its attempts to be shameless and irreverent come across as trying too hard to be funny, for instance someone’s sperm is gonna be important during a portion of the episode. Yep, you read that right. Sperm, as in the stuff you make humans with.

There are still serialized elements to the show. There’s of course the romance between Alice and Ben who are going through another honeymoon phase. Margot struggles as the new head of the Kensington Firm and turns to her mother for advise. Alice’s brother Tommy (played by T.R. Knight) shows up with a rather unique problem, Rhys replaces Reggie as Ben’s partner and we meet Gina Torres’ character in the premiere.

Got more questions about the episode? Ask away in the comments and I might give you some non-spoilery answers.

The second season of The Catch premieres this Thursday on ABC at 10/9c.