Survival of the Thickest, season 2, good jokes with sharp points

Survival of the Thickest, season 2, brings another 8 episodes celebrating plus sized beauty and sexiness, queer beauty and sexiness, the beauty of friendship, and the beauty of creativity. It does it all with pointed one-liners, clever barbs and infectious joy.

Survival of the Thickest, created by Michelle Buteau based on her book, features three key characters who support each other as friends no matter what. Mavis (Michelle Buteau) designs fashions for plus size women and worries about finding love and happiness. Her best friends are Khalil (Tone Bell), a talented artist, and Marley (Tasha Smith), a successful businesswoman.

Each of the three have individual plotlines, as well as how they interact within their friendship. Mavis is off again and on again and off again with her Italian fella Luca (Marouane Zotti). In between bouts with Luca she keeps busy with other men and with starting off a new business.

Khalil is feeling depressed and blocked in his art. He begins going to therapy. Another Black man is his therapist. I thought this was a particularly important subplot in the story because there’s a stigma against therapy in the Black community. If someone as cool as Khalil can do it, why not others?

Marley becomes a business partner for Mavis, who opens a boutique. She designs wedding dresses and other fashions for plus size women, her plethora of queer friends, and especially for the wedding of her friend Peppermint (who plays herself).

Marley finds a new relationship with Daphne (Jerrie Johnson), a woman with plans to run for the U.S. Senate. Daphne has the ability to make Marley cry with happiness. Yep, she cracks Marley’s tough shell a bit.

I really appreciate the diversity, equity, and inclusion in this series. Not just among the cast. I noticed E.R. Fightmaster was one of the writers. If there were other LGBTQ names among the writers, I didn’t recognize them. Having people like E.R. Fightmaster on board can only make the stories more authentic and real. Women directed every episode: Amy Aniobi, Thembi Banks, Kim Nguyen, and Tasha Smith.

This is a good series. Everything I said about it in my review of season 1 applies double.

The entire second season is streaming on Netflix now.