We loved the first season of Jury Duty. The way that it basically found a way to turn its one non-actor into a hero. Now the people behind that series are back again with a new show subtitled “Company Retreat” and the question once again is presented, “Will the random human being become the hero of the story” and how will they respond to the chaos they are thrust into.
As always, who break down our reviews into the categories of story, acting, and overall. So let’s jump on into it.
Story 8/10
This year on the show there is so much more story in comparison to the prior season of Jury Duty. All the characters this time around have connections, relationships, and backstories since they are representing themselves and a company that has been involved with each other for around 20 years, save for the prodigal son Doug Jr. who is coming back to take over the company.
In the first season of the show they had to change so much of their plans, due to the surprise of how good of a person they were and how much the main character cared about the world around them. So this season they pretty much intuitively were able to plan for the main character to make the right choice, but they are once again surprised by not only how easily the main character made the right choice, but how he was still also multiple beats ahead of them in their planning. Most of the cast kept being shocked as the target character would jump lines, if not pages, of the script to get to where they wanted him to be.
On top of that, a lot more of the events and actions were scripted, as in jury duty they had a pretty set schedule for the events of the day, with it being in trial. This season, they specifically had a lot more going on because they had to plan multiple experiences throughout the day to mimic an actual company retreat. In the process, they doubled the amount of cameras they had in the first season, and had an incredible amount of footage to work with to complete their story.
The story is so well crafted, and the target character did a great job in their role, so much so that it’s easy to forget that he’s not an actor and that this is a Truman Show-style experience.
Acting 8/10
Where do we start for Company Retreat, when it comes to acting. I will say, the only person that I saw having issues with the format unfortunately was Jerry Hauck, who I did notice flubbed a couple lines during the show, but like all the other actors, he gave it his all, and his kissing of Alex Bonifer on the lips as his father was… well a commitment.
Stand outs from the show are very clearly Jim Woods, who did an amazing job presenting an overreaching ally, Blair Beeken, who plays as Anthony’s ally helping him through the job of running the retreat, and Rachel Kaly, who was a fun wildcard in the mix.
Alex Bonifer clearly becomes Anthony’s main connection in the series, at least from the footage presented, as Anthony supports him, helps him through tough stories in the series, and helps keep his spirits up as the story presents his downfall within the series.
Anthony Norman, the non-actor from the series, also is honest, compassionate, and an incredible team player as he connects instantly with this wacky family of sorts within the series.
I will say, one thing that makes me sad is that the series seems to cut a lot of the interactions of Stephanie Hodge and Anthony. I love her character in the series, and have been a fan of hers since Unhappily Ever After, so I hope while they cut it, there might be some footage we can see later.
Overall 8/10
Company Retreat’s is a build up and a major glow up from the prior season that focused on Jury Duty. There’s so much more story, the characters act out additional content to fill the story for the viewer, and at the end of the day you feel like there’s a lot more going on than you ever did with Jury Duty. However the biggest selling point of the series is once again the hero character. Anthony will constantly make you impressed at humanity, and surprised by his personal decisions as he chooses to support his co-workers and genuinely and compassionately connects with the story as it is built to push him.
Conner’s Final Thoughts
I bet the producers of the show wish they had subtitled the first season of Jury Duty, and come up with a much more appropriate main title for the show. Forever now, because of the success of the first season, they’re going to be known as Jury Duty Presents “Blank” and I kind of think that’s hilarious.
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