Hulu's college-football comedy Chad Powers returns for a second season that trades much of its predecessor's broad, sports-comedy humour for tension-driven drama, as star quarterback Russ Holliday (Glen Powell) fights to keep his elaborate disguise from unravelling. Created by Michael Waldron and Powell, the show built its first season on the ridiculous premise of a disgraced player donning prosthetics to sneak back onto the field, but the review argues that leaning into the deception's inherent stakes pushes the series closer to a tense thriller than the family-friendly farce its premise recalls, a shift that risks alienating viewers who tuned in for laughs.

With Russ's true identity now exposed to several characters, the South Georgia Catfish are enjoying an unlikely winning run and eyeing a possible national championship, even as pressure builds both on and off the pitch. Head coach Jake Hudson (Steve Zahn) is managing the aftermath of a heart attack, his daughter and assistant coach Ricky (Perry Mattfeld) is reluctantly complicit in the scheme to avoid forfeiting the team's wins, booster Tricia Yeager (Wynn Everett) is willing to go to extremes for victory, and backup quarterback Gerry Dougan (Colton Ryan) grows increasingly suspicious of Chad Powers. The review suggests that while Season 1's comedic foundation made its rare emotional gut-punches land harder, Season 2's heavier dramatic focus marks an uneven evolution for the show.