Egos collide on the Westbrook basketball court in Season 2 of Big Shot, streaming Wednesday, October 12th, on Disney+. That’s right, this season is primed for binge-watching, and you won’t have to wait for weekly episode drops. More comedy, more drama, and more coming-of-age life lessons to learn.
(Disney/Christopher Willard)
The Sirens are now in Division 2, and Coach Marvyn Korn (John Stamos) has his sights set on a new victory – becoming the first team to make it to the finals in their first year of D-2. To get there, he decides to recruit a temperamental volleyball star named Ava (Sara Echeagaray) who is great at playing defense, both on the court and in life. Ava’s arrival instantly becomes an issue for Coach Korn’s star player Louise Gruzinsky (Nell Verlaque). And Marvyn is still trying to become a better father to his daughter Emma (Sophia Mitri Schloss), who was recently dumped by her boyfriend/Louise’s brother Lucas, just as Westbrook is forced to temporarily go co-ed.
Relationship problems, cyberbullying, winning on your own terms, anxiety management, and sexism are some of the themes tackled in the sophomore season of Big Shot. New cast members bring some fresh energy to the show, including a new love interests for several of the girls with the arrival of boys at Westbrook (episode two is appropriately titled “BOYS!”). Nick, played by Charlie Hall (Love, Victor), becomes a potential match for both Ava and Louise, adding fuel to their instant rivalry. And Trevor (Samuel-Taylor) not only becomes a romantic interest for Destiny (Tiana Le), but is also revealed to be the son of Principal Sherilyn Thomas (Yvette Nicole Brown), expanding her role this season.
(Disney/Christopher Willard)
Where Season 2 of Big Shot drops the ball is through characters who are curiously absent this season without any real explanation. Westbrook’s drama teacher Maggie Goodwyn, Marvyn’s ex-girlfriend who broke up with him when he was seemingly leaving the school and mother of Mouse’s girlfriend Harper, has vanished without an honorable mention (presumably actress Kathleen Rose Perkins was tied up with Season 2 of Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.). This removes an obstacle from the will-they/won’t-they tension between Marvyn and his former assistant coach Holly Barrett (Jessalyn Gilsig), who ends up back at Westbrook this season. But as with the vanishing drama teacher, nearly all of Westbrook’s lovable faculty have disappeared, including George Pappas, the guidance counselor assigned to assist Marvyn with his personality management.
Characters have also lost their expanded families. Last season, Destiny discovered that her cool aunt was actually her birth mother. None of that gets brought up this season, while she secretly searches for her birth dad. With Louise’s father in jail and her brother transferring schools, she suddenly finds herself living all alone in a defunct condo the family owns. Whether the result of a lower budget or lack of availability from actors, it feels like all of the hanging threads from Season 1 were abandoned. The Sirens even lose their after school frozen yogurt hangout spot.
That being said, Big Shot retains the tone that made viewers fall in love with it last year. John Stamos walks that fine line between tough coach and fatherly figure so well that you can’t look away. And while Season 2 feels like the end of a chapter (the finale features the graduation of several characters), it also leaves you wanting more. Here’s hoping there is a Season 3 and that it can carry on some of the plotlines that vanished this season.
(Disney/Christopher Willard)
I give Season 2 of Big Shot 3.5 out of 5 promposals.
All 10 episodes of Season 2 of Big Shot stream Wednesday, October 12th on Disney+.