Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Men in Kilts Season 2’ on Starz, the Return of ‘Outlander’ Stars Sam and Graham’s Reality Road-Trip Series

Two years ago, Outlander stars and buddies Sam Hueghan and Graham McTavish bickered and bantered as they explored their native Scotland in the road-trip docuseries Men in Kilts  (now on Starz) – but they’ve relocated to New Zealand for a second season of their shenanigans. Why New Zealand? First, it’s an unbearably gorgeous country, with some of the most rugged and picturesque natural scenery on the entire damn planet. Second, McTavish has lived in the multi-island nation ever since he spent two-and-a-half years filming The Hobbit movies there. And third, New Zealand boasts a large contingent of Scottish folk – 20 percent claim Scottish ancestry – whose influence will make our two hosts feel more at home as they meander about, entertaining us with their goofball adventures.

MEN IN KILTS SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: Sam’s feet stroll across a barroom floor as he parks at a stool and orders a drink.

The Gist: The bartender is sick of listening to Sam whine about how he misses his pal Graham. Every day, he sits there, reminiscing glumly, but today, he does something about it: He calls Graham at his home in New Zealand and suggests they resume their cross-country van travels. Graham sounds a little annoyed that his peace and quiet have been interrupted, but he agrees and, moments later, as if he teleported halfway around the world, Sam is at his door. Time to drive around New Zealand and do stuff that makes for theoretically enjoyable television!

Title card: ADRENALINE COUNTRY. All that amazing terrain makes New Zealand perfect for insane shit like paragliding and helicopter skiing; this is where bungee jumping was invented, you know. Today, Sam and Graham venture to Glenorchy to go ziplining from a 300-foot location, reaching speeds of 30 miles per hour as they zoom over the trees and rivers and lakes and, if it were me, an impromptu all-natural organic toilet. 

Next stop, the ocean, where they don scuba gear and drop into the water with a great white shark. Granted, they’re in a cage and only a few feet deep, and the shark is of unspecified size, so it’s probably not one of those monster 18-footers. But still, another impromptu all-natural organic toilet!

Finally, Graham gets to pick the third excursion, a helicopter ride over Milford Sound, which provided some breathtaking backdrops for flying dragons and crap in The Hobbit, and, if you can believe it, it’s even more beautiful without the CGI monsters. They land on a glacier and hop out and stand there in their kilts, in awe, before Sam makes a joke about being the first kilted man to go commando in this remote locale. 

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Men in Kilts is a lightweight version of Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay’s various road-trip shows, with yin-yang personalities along the lines of reserved, grumpy Jamie and gregarious Adam on Mythbusters. 

Our Take: Men in Kilts is a “reality” show in which two personae do “crazy” things that most tourists wouldn’t do. Sam is the doofus who “gets them into trouble” by forcing the wily curmudgeon Graham to do terrifying things. Occasionally, they eat food, but this episode is all about controlled-daredevil outings, and I’m using all those quotation marks to underscore the fact that so much of this is scripted, borderline-cornball stuff that’ll probably go farther for Outlander fans (and appreciators of Hueghan’s abdominal muscles) than agnostics looking for a light, escapist docuseries to watch.

But it’s still a workable formula, and enjoyable enough, with a few amusing bits and scenery worthy of promotional-tourism videos (the mighty and wondrous New Zealand sure can sell itself, can’t it?). Sam and Graham play up their shtick in a roughly two-thirds-convincing manner, reminding us that they’re pretty good actors who seem to be enjoying working together. The season-two debut gets plenty of mileage from the ziplining and helicopter segments; the photography is gorgeous. But the shark bit goes splat, dependent upon sped-up footage of a great white zooming somewhere nearish-by the cage; the encounter must have been relatively lackluster considering the lack of screen time it gets. Two out of three ain’t bad, and if the series maintains that batting average, it’ll be worth tuning in every week.

Sex and Skin: Sam’s bare ass in a clip from Season 1. Oh, and a preview clip of him rubbing mud all over his abs and chest. I’m sure it’s a good reason!

Parting Shot: Our hosts sit in the van, Graham explaining to Sam that New Zealand consists of several islands. “How do you drive between islands?” Sam asks. “I’ll let you think about that one,” Graham replies.

Sleeper Star: Cute li’l sharky-poo! Just wants a bit of a snack. He’s always hungry, you know! Munch munch yum yum, chum chum in his tum-tum!

Most Pilot-y Line: Graham to Sam: “So what’s your lack of a frontal lobe planning next?”

Our Call: My eyes roll at the thought of another road-trip series to far-flung locales, but Men in Kilts has just enough personality and lighthearted spirit to warrant your time. STREAM IT.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.