A fascinating mind at work in 2nd season of Goldblum show
Very few celebrities can combine their public persona with their craft in a way that makes for genuinely interesting art. Of course, there is no one on this planet quite like Jeff Goldblum.
At this point, it doesn’t really matter if the man we all perceive the actor to be is really him or a carefully cultivated bit. The version of the “Jurassic Park” and “Independence Day” star we’ve gotten over the last decade-plus is a guy people seem genuinely fascinated by regardless of what he’s doing. That’s no easy feat in our oversaturated media environment, but Goldblum manages to pull it off.
It’s the only way to explain why “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” exists and why Disney+ and National Geographic opted to make a second season of it, which is now streaming. The show’s whole premise is Goldblum exploring the things he wants to learn more about in the most Goldblum ways possible. It runs on his sheer force of personality and endless curiosity about everyone and everything.
Disney+ provided the first five episodes of the second season. Each delves into a specific subject that Goldblum picks apart to determine what about it makes humans care so much. Unsurprisingly, your enjoyment of “The World According to Jeff Goldblum” will correlate directly to how much unfiltered Goldblum you can take.
Last season took on such disparate topics as sneakers, tattoos, gaming, coffees and
pools. He starts off season two with five equally random subjects: dogs, dance, magic, monsters and fireworks. Some are more entertaining than others, but all succeed at being quintessentially Goldblum endeavors, which is probably what most viewers will be tuning in for anyway.
Most of the action involves Goldblum finding experts to discuss these subjects and demonstrating some of his own theories on why people are so into them. The experts generally seem to be based in either Atlanta or California, which could be the result of pandemic-related travel restraints. Either way, the locations don’t seem to be quite as diverse as last season’s, at least not yet.
That doesn’t mean the show is skimping on fun guests or production values, though. Each episode contains an animated sequence or two that Goldblum narrates to explain how he and most other people view each topic. They’re all as zany and weirdly informative as he is.
The main draw here is Goldblum, who is decked out in wild outfits that don’t always fit the situation but certainly add a layer of whimsy to even the heavier themes. Goldblum’s eyes are always wide and, even when he is skeptical, he mostly manages to maintain a “wow, isn’t this neat” demeanor.
There’s also a bit of his personal life sprinkled in — occasional photos and videos of a young Goldblum, his siblings and his parents. We also get to see newer members of his family up close via short interactions with his wife, Emilie, their two sons and their dog, Woody.
Again, how much you enjoy the show depends fully on how much you want to see what else Goldblum has up his immaculately decorated sleeve. If his wealth of charisma and, well, Goldblumness is your thing, there is a lot to engage with — and maybe learn from — in “The World According to Jeff Goldblum.”