Advanced Camp: Inside the Outrageous World of All's Fair Season 2
The second season of Ryan Murphy's campy legal drama "All's Fair" on Disney+, starring Kim Kardashian and Glenn Close, embraces its over-the-top drama, wild catfights, and high-end trash aesthetic.
The first season of "All's Fair" failed to impress critics, receiving zero stars in a notable review by Lucy Mangan in The Guardian. However, the second season, now streaming on Disney+, managed to earn a full star out of five from the same reviewer in the same newspaper. Mangan noted that while she likely lost her mind, she had to admit the current season is superior to the last and, much to her horror, she found herself enjoying it.
Enjoying it thoroughly, to be precise. To be clear, "All's Fair" is neither "The Sopranos" nor "The Wire", nor even "Dallas" or "Dynasty". Yet, it lacks any grand pretensions and stands unmatched in the realm of advanced campy television. While "Dynasty" offered lily-pond brawls with mud-soaked wigs, the season premiere of "All's Fair 2" plunges its heroines straight into a grand fountain at a lavish ball hosted by Allura Grant, played by Kim Kardashian, as an homage to Princess Grace Kelly's 40th birthday.
Star-Studded Cast and High Camp
The series features elite divorce lawyers with whimsical names like Emerald Green, played by Emmy winner Niecy Nash; Liberty Ronson, played by Oscar nominee Naomi Watts; Carrington Lane, played by Emmy and Tony winner Sarah Paulson; and Milan, played by Oscar nominee Teyana Taylor. One of their wealthy divorce clients is even named Aphrodite Loveson, perfectly setting the tone for the unapologetic absurdity of the show.
What "All's Fair" does with absolute seriousness is refuse to take itself seriously, earning a symbolic nod for its creator, Ryan Murphy. When Dindah Standish, played by eight-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close, warns her colleagues that "revenge is a dangerous game," it is hard not to chuckle, remembering Close boiling a pet rabbit in the iconic thriller "Fatal Attraction". Lane nicknames Dindah "Dindah-saur" and hurls colorful insults at her peers, while Allura jokingly invites Adele and Bruno Mars to perform at her party.
Over-the-Top Drama and Romance
Dindah's face reminds Carrington Lane of the Grand Canyon, and she smoothly promises to pull the plug on Dindah's life support just to charge her smartphone. Although Dindah was accused of murder at the end of the first season, the second season breezes past this minor detail, treating viewers to a romance between Dindah and a much younger man who claims to be attracted to her immense power.
Kardashian even pokes fun at herself through her character Allura, making a playful reference to her initial struggles with bar exams. While no high-art masterclass, the show embraces its identity as a lavish, meaningless soap bubble. As viewers know, a bit of high-end trash television never hurt anyone, and "All's Fair" delivers it with undeniable style.
