The limits of cringe comedy

In the first season of The Rehearsal in 2022, comedian Nathan Fielder established himself as the deadpan, awkward king of cringe-fest comedy. Predicated on the premise that it would help people to navigate difficult situations in their lives by rehearsing for them beforehand, Fielder used lots of HBO’s money to construct elaborate sets that allowed slightly bemused, ordinary people to prepare for any eventuality before stepping into their real-world challenges. The problem was, as the show so brilliantly demonstrated, no matter how hard you might prepare, life can always find a way to throw you a curve ball.

It was also a show about Fielder, or at least the on-screen version of him, who may or may not be the same as the real, unobserved Fielder. In the context of the show, Fielder wasn't only trying to help his subjects navigate their lives more confidently, he was also trying to overcome his own social and psychological shortcomings, with varying levels of success.

Watched by millions around the world with hands over their faces, peering through their fingers — paralysed by extreme cringe, yet never able to completely look away — the first season of the show ended with a much-commented-on, controversial episode in which a child actor became convinced that Fielder was his father.

This time, as Fielder assures us in the second season’s opening episode, there are no children involved, but if you thought that season one was the pinnacle of unbearable cringe comedy, you best buckle up because season two goes to new heights of absurd, almost unwatchable levels of goose-bumping cringy recognition you'll need two hands over your face to get through. You must see it to believe it and, most of all, you must make it through the show’s gobsmacking finale to fully appreciate the lengths to which Fielder has gone this time.

Without spoiling too much, it’s enough to say that season two’s new heights are suitably set with an opening that appears to be either a dedicatedly dramatic re-enactment or a horribly obtained real recording of a pilot and co-pilot in the cockpit of a commercial plane having an argument that soon leads to the plane crashing into flames. The reveal makes it clear that it’s thankfully a re-enactment as Fielder, his trademark laptop harness on his chest and noticeable eyebrows knit tightly in concentration, steps out of the flames.

As Fielder goes on to explain in his monotone voice-over narration, he’s been deep diving into the cockpit recording transcripts from commercial aviation disasters and has identified an overlooked cause of plane crashes — lack of communication between pilots — as a possible breakthrough that he hopes to be able to use his rehearsal method to improve and thus save lives. Fielder pitches his research and idea to civil aviation experts, builds a fully functional exact replica of the Houston airport to run his rehearsals in and recruits a cohort of real but horribly awkward pilots and co-pilots to train to have better communication skills.

Along the way, as this main arc of the series plays out, Fielder’s intensely self-punishing soul searching of his own failings leads viewers down a series of insane detours that include deadpan serious investigations of dog cloning, Evanescence’s hit song Bring me to Life, neurodiversity, a fake reality singing show called Wings of Life, and an earnest attempt to help a shy and reserved pilot’s love life with the assistance of a Greek dramatic chorus who say everything he says as he says it. These are all big-stakes jokes on their own but they’re also a means of distracting attention and creating a hall of mirrors that you can’t help but following before Fielder finally brings you back to his overarching goal.

His commitment to his big idea is unsurpassed and its final act will have you ducking behind your couch in rubbernecking horror, but it’s all worth it for one of TV’s most unbelievable payoffs that will have you asking, “How the hell did that happen?” long after the end.

If you’re a nervous flyer then best take your seat, fasten up tightly and be prepared for physical and psychological turbulence you'll be thankful you’re watching, not actually experiencing. The destination here is certainly the big point but the journey is one that again proves that Fielder is the most original thinker and big-idea executor in a TV universe that’s increasingly bereft of originality.

Whether he can make a third season and top what he’s done this time is a question that for now remains tantalisingly difficult to answer but, if there’s one thing you can’t do with Nathan Fielder, it’s underestimate how far he’s willing to go.

• The Rehearsal Season 2 is streaming on Showmax.