Picture: Netflix
Although there was a time when the Rob Lowe comedy Unstable looked like it may have its future in doubt, Netflix has kept its renewal for Unstable, with the series officially renewed and set to begin filming in late November.
Releasing on Netflix back in March 2023, Unstable is the Netflix Original comedy series created by father-son pair Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe alongside Victor Fresco and Marc Buckland.
The eight-episode first season followed a biotech genius who is trying to bounce back following the death of his wife. Meanwhile, his son is trying to save the family business.
A renewal was first reported by Deadline for Unstable in early May 2023 when it revealed that production had begun as of early March. However, their report cast some doubt that the show would be coming back as it was one of the early Netflix shows severely impacted by the WGA strike, which began on May 1st.
Back then, their report stated that the series hadn’t received a full greenlight but was prepping at Sunset Gower Studios in Hollywood with six of the eight scripts for the eight planned episodes already complete.
Both Hollywood strikes ended in early November 2023, and we’ve now begun hearing about what shows and movies are starting production soon, including a return for Unstable.
The plan, we hear, is for production to start up for the second season in Los Angeles on or around November 20th and continue through to the New Year, wrapping up sometime in late January 2024.
Netflix officially confirmed the renewal on November 16th, stating that Rob and John would return for the second season, consisting of eight episodes.
In addition, they announced that showrunning duties would be handled by Andrew Gurland, best known for his work on Married and Platonic.
In an exclusive self-dealt quote to Netflix’s own TUDUM, the two Lowe’s said:
“It’s a dream come true for us to jump back into the world of Unstable. Here’s to season two and the many hours of family therapy that we will need along the way.”
Rob Lowe and John Owen Lowe announce S2 of Unstable. Cr. Netflix/2023
How well did Unstable perform on Netflix?
Unstable made it into the top ten lists of 45 countries worldwide. However, in the first five days, which includes the entire weekend, Unstable has only been able to amass 11.36 million viewing hours. In week 2, the show fell out of the global top 10s entirely.
In our top 10 report for the week ending April 2nd, 2023, when you convert the viewership to CVE, it didn’t paint a strong case for renewal lagging behind the likes of That 90s Show significantly.
As we’ve covered on this site, with a few exceptions, many comedy series from Netflix struggle to get beyond a first season, particularly star-driven ones. God’s Favorite Idiot, The Pentaverate, Living With Yourself, Hard Cell, and countless more all find themselves waiting for new season announcements, but they’ll likely never come.
What to Expect from Season 2 of Unstable
There are some key moments in the finale of the first season that set up some plot threads for season 2;
- In the aftermath of Jean’s deception and her attempt to remove Ellis from the board, she was given her marching orders by Ellis and was fired. However, clearly affected by her plot, Ellis sets Jean’s car on fire, in an unhinged and manic display of revenge.
- Ellis taking out his revenge on Jean’s car could result in a nasty court case, and may even galvanize Jean further in her attempt to have him removed from his own company. She has allies on the board that may leave the back door open to her returning to the company if Ellis is ousted.
- Ellis clearly needs help from a mental health professional as taking revenge on a person by setting their car on fire is not healthy. We’d expect to see more than a few visits to the shrink in order to help Ellis.
Picture: Ellis (Rob Lowe) definitely needs to visit a shrink in season 2 – Garfield Grove / LoweProfile
- Initially, Jackson had a thing for Ruby, but despite going out on a date, any romance between the pair quickly fizzled out. However, this has led to Jackson finding romance with Ruby’s best friend Luna, after sharing a kiss.
- We’d expect to see the romance between Jackson and Luna blossom in the second season, and how that will impact her friendship with Ruby.
- Jackson is also in an extremely vulnerable place right now thanks to Jean’s deception, as he may feel like Jean was just using him in order to enact her plan against his father.
- With his father still reeling from the death of his mother, and the aftermath of Jean’s attempt at a coup, Jackson will have a lot on his plate as he tried to juggle his budding relationship with Luna, his career, and dealing with his dad.
Is there still a music career in the future for Jackson? (John Owen Lowe) – Garfield Grove/Lowe Profile
Are you looking forward to a second season of Unstable on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.