Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Wolf Like Me’ Season 2 On Peacock, Where Mary Is A Pregnant Werewolf And Gary Is Even More Stressed Out

One of the reasons why we enjoyed Season 1 of Wolf Like Me so much is that it insisted that its main couple, played by Josh Gad and Isla Fisher, were meant to be together despite some significant baggage, not the least of which is that Fisher’s character Mary is a werewolf. It’s definitely a misdirection that’s welcomed in a genre like this, and Season 2 solidifies the family that was created in Season 1, with a small complication: Mary is pregnant.

WOLF LIKE ME SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: After a recap of the first season, we se Mary (Isla Fisher) looking up at wind rustling through the trees. She’s pregnant and in a wedding dress.

The Gist: She’s walking down the aisle, where her groom, Gary (Josh Gad) is waiting. Everyone is in white. At the altar, a blood spot develops on her stomach. Suddenly, her belly bursts open and a tiny monster jumps out, attacking Gary and everyone else.

Mary wakes up from this nightmare and reaches down to rub her pregnant belly. While she and Gary aren’t married yet, they are going to have a baby. But given that Mary is a werewolf, neither has any idea just what’s growing in Mary’s uterus.

There’s a lot going on with Gary and Mary besides the pregnancy. Gary’s daughter Emma (Ariel Donoghue) is about to start high school, and they’ve decided to sell Mary’s house and move into a new home, complete with a new basement for Mary to “wolf out” when there’s a full moon. Mary is feeling anxious about this because she knew she could wolf out in her old basement and know everyone above was safe; when he shows her the new one, she mutters, “Worry less about the ambience and more about me not eating you.”

She has absolutely no idea if she’s going to have a human, a wolf or some combination of the two. Gary is so unsure that he watches YouTube videos of wolf litters and how their mothers take care of them. Mary gets the name of an OB/GYN from a friend but is afraid to get an ultrasound. But when they finally go to the doctor, she asks to be induced before the full moon, or at least have a c-section. But the doctor can’t accommodate the induction if the fetus is healthy and the recovery time for the c-section will run right into wolf time — what she calls a “social engagement.”

The pair go to a birthing class, but it stresses Mary out so much that she runs and gets some raw chicken to gnaw on to calm her nerves. They finally get that ultrasound, but even if they get reassured that the baby is human, does it mean that it won’t wolf out like Mary does?

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Cross the “couple with baggage” genre that spawned shows like You’re The Worst with absurdist Australian comedies like Wilfred, and you get Wolf Like Me.

Our Take: It’s pretty apparent that Season 2 of Wolf Like Me, created by Abe Forsythe, will center around Mary’s pregnancy. It’s an interesting direction for the show to go in, because all of the factors that come into play when Mary turns into a werewolf are amplified by the fact that she’s pregnant. At some point, she’s going to “wolf out” during the pregnancy, for instance, and it’ll be fun to see how she and Gary deal with that. But the not knowing just what they’re going to have is going to be in play all season, as well. Even if they know the baby is human, it doesn’t mean that it won’t be just like Mary is, and have to learn to not be a danger to others when it turns into a wolf.

But what’s also readily apparent, especially after the first season, is that the show is as much about this unusual family bonding, getting closer to each other, and dealing with everyone’s baggage. In a scene after Gary and Mary are called to Emma’s school after she gets into a scrape with another student, we see how close Mary and Emma have gotten, and how she advises her stepdaughter to “go with the flow” by explaining how to swim with a rip current and not against it. Of course, it’s advice she should also take, and she may at some point, but at least she can give that kind of advice out when it’s needed.

And that’s what we’re really looking forward to seeing this season: Mary, Gary and Emma strengthening their family unit in anticipation of this baby’s arrival. Will they be able to let some outsiders in, even with Mary’s secret? And just how will this new baby be a part of this unit? All of that will be fun to explore.

Sex and Skin: Nothing in the first episode.

Parting Shot: As Mary plays Dolly Parton’s “Coat of Many Colors” to the fetus, we see the fetus inside of her open its eyes. And it’s not a look of bliss.

Sleeper Star: Edgar Ramirez shows up in subsequent episodes as a therapist named Anton, which should add an interesting dynamic to the story.

Most Pilot-y Line: Just like during the first season, we wonder why Fisher is playing an American despite the fact that she’s Australian and the series is shot and takes place in Australia. There’s some backstory involved in this choice, but not enough to convince us that Mary should have just been Australian in order to give Fisher a bit of a break.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Wolf Like Me solidifies its surprisingly warm story about a family that rallies together despite some pretty significant baggage, not the least of which is the fact that one of them is a werewolf.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.