SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Average Joe Season 2, Episode 8.
The Average Joe Season 2 finale recaptures the chaos that the Paramount+ show started with. It’s an episode of highs and lows, where some truly crazy things happen, but there are also moments that feel like they don’t quite stick. In the end, there’s plenty of material left for a possible Season 3—hopefully without such a long hiatus—but is it the right story?
Series creator Robb Cullen doesn’t take it easy on the audience. The pre-title sequence, which has always set the tone on Average Joe, reveals that it wasn’t Sipho who murdered Imani’s mom Jamila. It was Teddy, who shot her to keep her from reporting his drug dealing to the police. Visually, the scene is startling because of a camera angle that makes it appear like her blood is splattering the screen. Emotionally, it immediately provokes anger. Cullen and his creative team deserve credit for making the audience hate Dennis Haysbert in a way heretofore unheard of. Viewers loved the actor as Pedro Cerrano in the movie Major League, got behind him as President David Palmer in 24, and there was also Now and Again and those Allstate commercials. But as Teddy Washington, he is quite possibly one of the most hateable TV characters ever. Sipho may be more physically violent, but Teddy has been completely reprehensible in every scene he’s in, except maybe the diner flashback in Episode 7. All credit to Haysbert for totally committing to the role, but when Teddy dies, it’s actually a relief.
That said, his death is one of a couple uneven moments in the finale. Naming the episode “Teddy’s Dead—That’s What I Said” is an immediate spoiler; one could argue it doesn’t matter as much because the audience is so biased against Teddy, but that’s still a big moment given away right at the top. And when it happens, there’s intended to be some dramatic tension as Teddy tries to convince Imani to shoot Cathy instead. Yet at that point, Imani has no reason to believe a word Teddy says, so it’s confusing that she actually considers it.
Past that, the script shifts its focus partway through. In the first half, as Phyllis (a still wonderful Pearl Thusi) looks for help, she gets members of the community to help her stop Sipho. This is a really wonderful part of the story, because it makes the finale feel like a bigger story about community and the effects of drugs on that community. But aside from a brief scene of a few random people taking out Sipho’s guards at the castle, the citizen army goes by the wayside relatively fast. In a way, this is understandable; the show has to focus to an extent on its main characters. Yet there’s room to give the other “average” folks more to do without taking away from the core of Average Joe.
Lastly, the pacing of the episode is off enough that the shock ending isn’t as shocking. When Sipho dies—in a fantastic fight sequence between Deon Cole and Hakeem Kae-Kazim—there’s still almost 15 minutes left, so fans know some twist is coming. It’s cool to actually see the drugs and a whole lot more besides, after talking about the heroin so often. But the actual cliffhanger, in which Joe learns that Sipho’s business partner has taken his wife and daughter, feels like going in a circle. Wanting to save his family is what brought Joe to South Africa, and yet the stakes for Season 3 are the same: Joe’s trying to save and/or avenge his family. (The two gunshots in the final seconds suggest that Angela and Jennifer have been killed, but this is Average Joe; it’s entirely possible that’s another fakeout.)
All of this is not to say that the Average Joe Season 2 finale isn’t a fantastic piece of entertainment. It’s chaotic, it’s bloody, and the audience gets some closure in the deaths of Teddy and Sipho, as well as actually knowing the location of the heroin. The actors are once again great; if anyone somehow still had doubts about Deon Cole as a dramatic actor, they’re obliterated now. Michael Trucco gets his own scrappy fight scene when Touch saves Detective Akinyemi. And Malcolm Barrett is sublime as Leon finally gets out from under Cathy’s thumb. Speaking of Cathy, the character is obviously beyond redemption, but as with Haysbert, props to actor Cynthia Kaye McWilliams for completely going for it. It’s a joy to watch her even while loathing Cathy.
The Average Joe Season 2 finale proves it was well worth bringing this show back. The series is insanely creative, and the actors are wonderful. The finale can’t resist the all too common need to end on a cliffhanger, but other than that, the bad guys get what they deserve and the fans can feel satisfied about where the good guys end up. The issues come from there being untapped potential. There’s an even bigger story here, and it’s also hard to see from that cliffhanger where Season 3 would go that Season 2 hasn’t already gone. The episode has its flaws while also being a lot of fun. It’s just that extra step or two away from greatness.
Average Joe Season 2 is now streaming on Paramount+. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Paramount+.
Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.
