Unstable Season 2 Review: Working with Family isn’t Rocket Science (Rocket Science is Easier)

Ellis and Jackson Dragon, played respectively by father and son Rob and John Owen Lowe, come into Unstable Season 2 with something close to a good relationship. It takes less than half an episode for Ellis to keep being Ellis.

A threat of prison for crimes including arson is quickly set aside as the season focuses on his efforts to keep his son from moving on, whether that be from the company or even his own home. To be fair, Dragon does need Jackson even if Jackson doesn’t need it.

After buying Magma, the company Jackson attempts to flee to, Ellis continues with the kind of antics that make everyone doubt his sanity, save for a couple adoring employees and the (still borderline terrifying) relationship with his therapist.

The chaos again blossoms through other characters, including death threats sent to boost Ellis’s ego, a will they/won’t they flirtation between Jackson and Georgia, Anna’s newly-hired stepdaughter, and a brief period where Jackson becomes Ellis 2.0.

The overarching plot of the season focuses on leadership at Dragon after Ellis’s latest public display. Ellis’s push for Jackson to take the reins is alternately met by excitement and intense resistance, paving a path for Peter (Magma’s CEO) to jump in.

Despite these stakes, the main takeaway is that nothing really changes. Dragon is filled with people who enable Ellis’s every insane move even while attempting to corral him. Again, if you were expecting character growth, you may have missed all of season one.

The introduction of Peter and other characters also shakes up some of the relatively amicable relationships within Dragon. After Peter chooses Ruby, an old friend, for a position, Luna gives her and others the cold shoulder.

Georgia is a piece of work herself, unnerving her new coworkers even more than Ellis. Though she largely exasperates Anna, after a couple messy steps in Georgia’s romantic arc with Jackson, the two actually manage to have a nice bonding moment.

Even so, the plot is there mostly to give some structure to what would otherwise just be a bunch of weird people being led by the weirdest among them. We know that these people are going to stay exactly the same– and that’s exactly why we keep tuning in.

 It should be a wonder that any such company stays afloat, much less a powerful tech firm like Dragon. But with so much sharp, if sometimes intentionally absurd, writing and acting, it’s hard to be bothered by that. Isn’t suspension of belief part of the point?

While this an ensemble piece stacked with talent, father and son will always be at the center of it. Rob Lowe leans fully into the reputation he’s gained in other roles. John Owen’s reactions, projected into Jackson, are almost uncomfortably close to home.

Of course, after all this, the series has one last plot twist—Ellis seemingly agrees to leave Dragon behind after a climactic conference, only to reveal (in a mock ad over the end credits) that he’s running for president. Yes, of the country.

Joke or not, the writers will have to follow up on this if we get a season 3, and I worry that such a candidacy may be less humorous and more, y’know, traumatizing. I guess we’ll see  if “living interesting times” applies to this fictional world, too.

 

What did you think of Unstable Season 2? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Unstable Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.

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