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- Sundance
- Feb 14, 2022
- Sundance
- Feb 14, 2022
Summary Tom and Louise (Chris O'Dowd and Rosamund Pike) meet up in a pub to decide on what to say during their weekly marital therapy sessions in this 10-part short-form comedy series written by Nick Hornby.
Created By: Nick Hornby
- Sundance
- Feb 14, 2022
- Sundance
- Feb 14, 2022
State of the Union
Season 2
Season Premiere: Feb 14, 2022
72
User Score
Available after 4 ratings
tbd
Where to Watch
Summary Tom and Louise (Chris O'Dowd and Rosamund Pike) meet up in a pub to decide on what to say during their weekly marital therapy sessions in this 10-part short-form comedy series written by Nick Hornby.
Created By: Nick Hornby
Where to Watch
Season Episodes
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Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
72
60% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
40% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 5 Critic Reviews
72
60% Positive
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
40% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
The season gets better as it goes along, and by the end, thanks especially to the appeal of stars Brendan Gleeson and Patricia Clarkson, it has a lot to recommend it — and nothing so much as how easy it is to coast past a stretch of so-so episodes when they’re only 10 minutes apiece.
State of the Union continues to be a fascinating peek into the psychology of marriage. Even if the specifics of Scott and Ellen’s situation don’t speak to the watcher’s particular experience, there are plenty of feelings between the two that are relatable and resonate because of Gleeson’s and Clarkson’s performances.
Ben Travers [B+]: I found most every episode to be as engaging, sharply written, and splendidly acted as Season 1.
Steve Greene [B-]: When Season 2 locks into an honest conversation about what they want from the future (instead of surface-level spats about things out of their control), Clarkson and Gleeson really take all of that swirling anxiety and channel it into special moments. I just wish it felt more like a natural progression for both of them.
Thankfully – and here’s the benefit of 10-minute episodes – the excellent Gleeson and Clarkson eventually breathe life into those stock characters.
It is unusual, in a dramatic sense, in that it feels slovenly and sticky when it is all about conflict, but vastly improves when the tension between Ellen and Scott dissipates. Once they begin to have more even-handed chats – about the nature of intimacy and sex; about what they expect from life, now that they have reached this point; and about what it means not only to be happy, but to pursue happiness – then it becomes endearing, and plays to everyone’s strengths.
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