At the end of the first season of Hulu’s Deli Boys, Raj and Mir Dar rebuilt their father’s drug business after his death, to become Philly’s largest coke dealers. In the second season they have to deal with much bigger issues, like how to launder so much cash.
DELI BOYS SEASON 2: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Opening Shot: A gunshot at the deli owned by Mir Dar (Asif Ali) and his brother Raj (Saagar Shaikh). “Where the hell is the money!” two guys in Ben Franklin masks demand. The brothers’ Auntie Lucky (Poorna Jagannathan), hair mussed, tells the boys to hide the cash.
The Gist: That morning, Lucky, Mir and Raj pay a visit to the Sugar Palace Casino. They’re there to meet the owner, Max Sugar (Fred Armisen); after DarCo became the biggest drug dealer in Philadelphia, the boys and Lucky have more cash than they know what to do with. They’re hiding it around the deli in the freezer, in bags of chips, and in cupcake boxes. They definitely need someone who can help them launder millions of dollars, and Sugar is pretty much the only one in Philly that can do that.
Sugar’s business acumen is admired by Mir, though the less business-oriented Raj doesn’t understand why. All Lucky wants is a good deal, and isn’t intimidated by the reputation preceding Sugar. When they meet him, he seems like a mild-mannered guy, but his brand of intimidation is scary as hell, as they see when they follow him to the casino floor and personally deal with a cheater at a craps table.
He also takes a liking to Lucky, and he intertwines his negotiations with the Dars with his desire to have a date to her. But Lucky isn’t having any of it, because she doesn’t want to mix business with pleasure — “Business is more intimate,” she tells the boys. She does agree to see him that night, and he empties the casino to give the meeting an intimate, date-like atmosphere. She leaves her “emotional support gun” out, just in case. But soon, she throws caution to the wind and they sleep together. But it’s what Sugar does later, when those masked thugs come in to rob the drug money, that seals the business-pleasure deal with Lucky and the brothers.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Deli Boys, created by Abudllah Saeed, feels like The Pradeeps Of Pittsburgh crossed with Breaking Bad.
Our Take: It’s pretty safe to say that at this point, Deli Boys is as much about the bumbling Dar brothers trying to keep this burgeoning enterprise going, and having their butts saved time after time by the ruthless Lucky, than it is about family and loyalty. Sure, Saeed still has those elements in the show, but by bringing in Armisen as Max Sugar, the DarCo’s business enters a new dimension.
The first episode was certainly funny, mainly because of the aforementioned brothers still being less than capable of being drug kingpins, despite DarCo’s success. A scene where some booby-trapped coke literally blows up in their faces was a good sight gag. And the brothers’ distaste for seeing Lucky and Sugar display PDA didn’t get old.
But the deal with Sugar changes things. Now Lucky and the brothers will start to be able to enjoy a new lifestyle, and they’ll be able to really go after Ahmad (Brian George), who betrayed all of them. Will the Dar brothers’ differences still be funny when they’re luxuriating in the kingpin life?
Performance Worth Watching: We’d probably be happy if the season just concentrated on Lucky, mainly because Poorna Jagannathan is so dynamic as the ruthless — but only to a point — person who is really in charge of DarCo.
Sex And Skin: None in the first episode.
Parting Shot: Andrew Chadwater (Andrew Rannells), who is running for mayor on a “Say Heck No To Drugs” platform, is informed by his assistant Safia (Nikita Chaudhry) that the Dars are at Sugar’s casino.
Sleeper Star: Speaking of Rannalls, he’s always a welcome addition to the show, and we hope Chadwater is a good opponent for the Dars in Season 2. Kumail Nanjiani, Lilly Singh and Tan France will also guest star this season.
Most Pilot-y Line: Raj thinks the Benjamin Franklin masks on the robbers looks like “White Madea.”
Our Call: STREAM IT. The dynamics of Deli Boys have changed as DarCo’s business has grown, but there are still enough funny moments to make the second season fun to watch.
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.