Summary
Undone remains ambitious, touching, and beautifully told. A mental health allegory that will move you in unexpected ways and bring a few tears to your eyes. At least, it did to mine.
This review of the Amazon original Undone season 2 contains minor spoilers. The second season will be streaming on April 29th, 2022
Access the archive of news, recaps, and reviews for Undone.
Undone’s first season was an addictive trip, one with stunning animation and snark cannon comedy. There is ambitious storytelling wrapped around a hypnotizing mystery. By the end of its freshman run, BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg and scribe Kate Purdy had Alma (Rosa Salazar) and Becca (Angelique Cabral) waiting to see if their father, Jacob (the great Bob Odenkirk) would emerge from the cave in Mexico. Alma’s eyes widen as if she sees something, and the credits roll.
Can Alma alter time, or is she suffering from psychosis? Undone’s writers methodically and wonderfully lay out this question for the viewer. A fantasy story with real human stakes that feels palpable, Undone was the first series to utilize rotoscope animation. (Which requires scenes to be acted out first and traced over by animators). Rather than box themselves in, the writers morph the series return into something achingly real, powerfully relevant, and beautifully told.
Season 2 has Alma finding out that Becca revisits memories through time. As Alma puts it, she is a time traveler, just like her. They use their powers to solve why their mother, Camila (Constance Marie), suffers from depression. She is seen as sad and, at points, crying and holding back tears. When she bounces a check for 5,000 dollars, she refuses to tell anyone where it came from and becomes defensive. Together, they team up to revisit various timelines to find out why their mother is being so secretive and what she may be hiding. What comes with that is the ramifications of changing the past and revisiting it.
You’ll notice I left out some key figures. The most important one is Bob Odenkirk. That’s because the outcome of the unresolved cliffhanger is key to the success of the second season. Without ruining anything, I will say Undone rides on the coattails of not just the acclaimed Odenkirk but of the talented Salazar. She does not get enough credit for what she brings to the role. She is funny, sassy, thoughtful, and hits the right tone and emotional notes that engage the viewer and allow you to give yourself over to the bold storytelling choices.
The real draw is how you have a nonlinear narrative about two women’s immigration stories that find common ground—that of Camila and Jacob’s mother, Geraldine (a wonderful Holley Faine). From there are threaded, tender scenes at the heart of Undone, those of a broken family. There are haunting choices and unhealable wounds that compound deep emotional regret. Purdy and Bob-Waksberg’s series attempts to encapsulate the journey of putting together a family torn apart by resentment. All of this leads to the series’ best and most ambitious episode. “Rectify” pays off in emotionally overwhelming and deeply satisfying ways.
While the story seems straightforward, you may find that Geraldine’s plotline has hidden depth. You may consider how this may be a metaphor for Alma’s childhood by the end of the season. While it certainly doesn’t overtly state this or even hint it, I argue that it could mirror Alma to a degree. Whatever is playing out over eight episodes, why could this not be years of emotional damage that have led to a psychotic break? Is this real, or is she repairing a mind suffering from endless grief?
Undone is like no other show on television; broadcast, cable, or streaming. It’s funny, touching, and brimming with vitality. For all of the series’ intrigue and charming comic relief, Undone season 2 leads to a compelling conclusion that is just so beautiful—a fantastical allegory of mental health that moves you in unexpected ways.
The first season was about reopening old wounds that have never quite healed. It reveals how much deeper they reach and the devastating effects that shape families for generations. It will spring some goosebumps from your arms and perhaps a few tears to your eyes.
At least, it did for me.
What did you think of Amazon’s Undone season 2? Comment below.
