Two years after Season 1 was released, Apple TV+’s “Platonic” has returned for a second season of chaos, mishaps, and road trips throughout Los Angeles. While the series follows former best friends Sylvia (Rose Byrne) and Will (Seth Rogen) after they pick up their friendship from an extended hiatus after Will gets a divorce, “Platonic” asks the age-old question: can a man and a woman be nothing more than friends?
Season 1 of “Platonic” ended with Will and Sylvia reconciling their friendship yet again, and revealed that Will was engaged to his boss, Jenna (Rachel Rosenbloom) after working together for a few months. With new love interests, new career opportunities and conversations about sex, Season 2 picks up immediately after Season 1 as Will and Jenna’s wedding is on the horizon.
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Byrne and Rogen spoke with Variety about the first two episodes of Season 2, the shocking line that Jenna tells Sylvia in the bathroom, and what game shows they believe their “Platonic” characters would thrive in.
Season 1 of “Platonic” was supposed to end on Sylvia and Will’s story, leading to an anthology series following a new season of friends until Francesca [Delbanco] and Nick [Stoller] changed it to where both of you would come back for a second season. What were the early conversations about as they began to plan the next chapter in Will and Sylvia’s lives?
Seth Rogen: From my memory, it started as we were finishing shooting the first season, and I remember we were shooting some of those scenes at the wedding that kind of wrapped up the season with Carla. It was while we were shooting those scenes that I remember talking to Nick and Francesca and being like “I don’t know, is there a way to make this feel maybe a little more open ended and like, we don’t completely wrap it up?” We felt like the season did have an ending, but what if it kept going? If it kept going, it wouldn’t feel completely crazy. Then they came up with more ideas, and they thought of a whole second season. I remember they sort of pitched me some of the ideas for Season 2, and I thought they were great and felt kind of new enough, but the same enough that Season 2 was exciting.
I gasped when Jenna told Sylvia that she was nothing during Episode 2. It’s such an unexpected scene that I feel like everyone has gone through, which is the feeling of hearing your best friend’s significant other say something harsh about you that you would never expect to come out of their mouth.
Rose Byrne: That’s right! That’s such a great, weird, awkward, amazing moment.
SR: Jenna’s a real crazy person at that moment.
From Sylvia’s perspective, what do you think really hurts her the most about hearing that from Jenna, who is days away from becoming Will’s wife?
RB: It’s one of those comments that can be read in so many different ways. It’s sort of offhand, and it’s like being gaslit a little bit. You’re like “Wait, what? Did she say that?” It’s a gaslighting comment that I’ve had said to me in the past. Of course, throughout your life, people throw things your way, and you’re like “What are you talking about?” In the moment, you’re asking yourself if they’re joking or if maybe you’re uptight. It’s more complex because Jenna is her best friend’s bride, and Sylvia is desperately trying to be supportive. I’m so glad that moment resonated with you.
In the first two episodes, we see Will struggle with the fact that he’s not sexually intimate with Jenna. In Season 1, Will goes through a messy divorce with Audrey, his ex-wife, where the two of them often hook-up with each other instead of talking through their problems. Do you think that Will subconsciously compares Audrey and Jenna in the ways that they both approach the topic of sex?
SR: For sure. I think if you’re in a relationship with no sex, you would probably fixate on previous relationships that had a lot of sex. Even if those relationships felt dysfunctional in the moment, they would probably feel more functional in some ways. I mostly think Will is just incapable of having a meaningful relationship, and I think he is ultimately not someone who is made to be in a long-term relationship. I don’t think everyone needs to be in a relationship.
Throughout the first 2 episodes, it’s ultimately Sylvia who changes Will’s perspective on his relationship with Jenna. Do you believe that Will and Jenna would have a successful relationship if they just talked out their feelings with one another?
SR: I think Will would go through with his relationship with Jenna. He would just get married and decide to live an unhappy life. Some people would rather get murdered than have an awkward conversation, you know what I mean?
In the first two episodes, we learn that Charlie (Luke MacFarlane) is getting ready to appear on his favorite game show, “Jeopardy.” If Will and Sylvia could get on a game show, which one would they get on and win?
RB: Sylvia would be on “Is It Cake?” because I’m pretty good at figuring out which one is cake and which one isn’t. You can always tell, there’s always signs.
SR: Will would definitely be on “Naked and Afraid.”
I could see Will winning “Naked and Afraid” in some way.
SR: I know! I feel like Will would win or he’d be one of those people who eats a weird fruit and goes home on the first day. He’d be like “Oh, I found some berries,” and then the camera would cut to him being like “So, I’ve been shitting for 24 hours straight, and have to get helicoptered out of New Guinea.”
RB: I feel like Sylvia should be competitive from the Outback. My friend Miranda actually won “Celebrity Survivor” in Australia. She’s a five foot one Sicilian, and you wouldn’t think on first viewing that she would be a candidate, and she was so good. She played the game! You never would have expected it. Sylvia would thrive in it.
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