Adults Prequel Review: Paul Baker's Origin Story Is the Perfect Season 2 Appetizer

The Story of Paul Baker: Adults Prequel Episode

This articles contains spoilers.

Adults is back and better than ever. With Season 2 premiering in late August, Hulu dropped a surprise prequel episode to hold us over in the meantime. Telling the story of how the gang first met Paul Baker, the episode now serves as the show's official pilot, and it couldn't fit into the series more seamlessly.

While hanging out in the living room watching coverage of the New York City Marathon, the gang discovers that Anton lied to his coworkers and told them he was running the race. The episode follows their elaborate scheme to fake Anton's marathon experience and highlights just how far this group is willing to go for one another. While Anton isn't the only one caught in a web of lies, there's certainly no shortage of friends covering for each other.

Enter the long-awaited arrival of Paul Baker.

After swearing off helping men while talking to Samir, Issa's resolution lasts only moments before Paul Baker collapses right in front of her. How could she not jump into action to save the attractive marathon runner?

Watching Paul Baker slip into the group as though he'd always been there was one of my favorite parts of the episode. While we already knew Issa was the one who introduced him to everyone, I loved that he also got a memorable meet-cute with Anton. After the way Season 1 ended, it's clear that Anton and Paul Baker had chemistry from the very beginning of their relationship.

Adults is one of those shows that never fails to make me laugh. It does an excellent job of embracing the messiness of your early twenties without sugarcoating it. It even reminds us to laugh through the awkward moments in life. At its core, the series reminds us that if you have the right people around you, you can get through just about anything, even faking a marathon. 

Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw truly struck gold with this cast because they feel like a real group of friends. You completely believe they've known each other forever. What I appreciate most about the writing- and this episode in particular- is how naturally the conversations flow from one character to the next. While they constantly get on each other's nerves, there's an undeniable amount of love underneath all the teasing and sarcastic digs.

If this is what we're getting from a prequel episode, I have no doubt Season 2 is going to be even better than the first. With the episode titles and plot teases already released, it looks like we're in for plenty of laughs, memorable guest stars, and the kind of chaotic antics that always seem to land this group in trouble.

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