Nathan Fielder takes on aviation safety in the second season of his curious docu-comedy The Rehearsal. This season sets up a very different thesis than its predecessor. As Fielder goes through the history of commercial airline disasters, he begins to notice a pattern. In almost all cases, the crash was caused by miscommunication between the captain and their first officer. Although they’re (briefly) trained to do so, the first officers feel uncomfortable speaking up when their captain makes a mistake. If they do, the captain will usually ignore them or even put them down.

And so begins Fielder’s next elaborate roleplaying experiment. Using mock-ups of cockpits and airport terminals, he hopes to figure out a teachable technique to improve the communication between pilots and co-pilots. Like season 1, it also delves into some subplots along the way. Fielder wages war against Paramount+ and reflects on the social impact of The Rehearsal itself, particularly among neurodivergent viewers.

Fielder’s latest cinematic thought experiment explores all kinds of fascinating concepts. The season as a whole digs into interpersonal dynamics in a professional setting and power imbalances in the workplace. But it sinks its teeth into other themes, too. It explores nature versus nurture through the life of a cloned pet. It explores the difference between anxiety the emotion and anxiety the disorder. It explores the line between real intimacy and fake on-screen intimacy, as Fielder casts fake couples to mirror a real couple and the actors’ real significant others are brought in to watch them get intimate.

The Rehearsal’s set designers outdo themselves in season 2. In season 1, they painstakingly recreated a Brooklyn bar and a Raising Cane's restaurant. But in season 2, their sets have gotten even grander. They recreate a hearing room in the U.S. House of Representatives and an entire Houston airport terminal, down to the Panda Express. They build five exact copies of the same studio apartment and line them up side-by-side.

Fielder Finds Another Batch Of Intriguing Characters

The Rehearsal Season 2 Is Full Of Engrossing Human Subjects

A common thread throughout Fielder’s work is that he’s been able to find really interesting, eccentric characters in all walks of life, from private investigator Brian Wolfe to Bill Gates impersonator Bill Heath to Jesus-loving, Scion tC-crashing Robbin Stone. The Rehearsal season 2 continues in that tradition with another batch of endlessly engrossing human subjects.

This season introduces us to Moody, an insecure pilot in a long-distance relationship; Colin, a lonely pilot looking for love; and Jeff, a misogynistic pilot who asks his female co-workers deeply personal questions about their romantic lives and manages to get himself banned from every dating app on the market. Jeff is completely lacking in self-awareness — he’s oblivious as to why he might make women uncomfortable — and it’s intriguing (and a little disturbing) to see that mental block in action.

The Rehearsal season 2 is scheduled to premiere on HBO on April 20, 2025.

Midway through the season, this round of The Rehearsal takes a really bizarre turn when Fielder decides to relive Sully Sullenberger’s childhood with oversized sets, mom-and-pop actors on stilts, and a little sister who looks like the Lady in the Radiator from Eraserhead. But it’s still a more interesting Sully biopic than the one with Tom Hanks, and it all has a point: he’s trying to get inside the mind of a pilot who avoided a devastating crash. Plus, it’s always funny, even if it’s funny in a “What am I watching!?” kind of way.

The Rehearsal Season 2 Is A More Cohesive Documentary Than Season 1

Season 1 Felt Very Scattershot, But Season 2 Is Singularly Focused On Its Thesis

Season 1 felt very scattershot, with several disconnected storylines. It tackled lying to friends, fighting over inheritance, pioneering an unconventional acting class, and raising a kid, with nothing holding it all together. Season 1’s disted nature can partly be blamed on the outbreak of COVID, but season 2 is much more cohesive. No matter how far season 2 strays from its original premise, it all ties back to that initial investigation. Whether he’s holding auditions for a fake singing competition show or trying to imprint a personality on a dog, Fielder is always focused on improving the communication between captains and first officers.

Whether it’s Remy’s attachment to his pretend daddy in The Rehearsal season 1 or Asher’s trip to the ceiling in The Curse or Bill Heath’s search for his high school sweetheart in Nathan for You, Fielder always delivers something unexpected in the final episodes of his projects — and The Rehearsal season 2 is no different. The finale reveals that Fielder has been playing a much bigger game all along, and it carries the season to a breathtaking climax.

The finale goes back and reveals that Fielder has been playing a much bigger game all along.

As a filmmaker, Fielder reminds me of Jackie Chan. In his work behind the camera, Chan demanded a lot of takes from his stunt team, but he was right there in front of the camera with them, tirelessly doing all the stunts over again. In that way, he demanded just as much of himself. Fielder asks his subjects to bare their souls, but he does the same thing. Whether he’s going through a medical test or simply being vulnerable, Fielder allows his camera crew to capture everything.

The first season of The Rehearsal was a truly unique television experiment, so it was always going to be a tough act to follow. But season 2 manages to be even more daring, profound, and subversively hilarious. No one thinks quite as far outside the box as Fielder.

The Rehearsal season 2 episodes air Sundays at 10:30pm ET on HBO and Max.