Season 2 of "Tires" is more mature - and hilarious- in this second spin

“I thought it would last forever- but forever was just 2016.” 

The second season of “Tires” debuted on Netflix last week from “bro-comedy” icon, comedian, and podcaster Shane Gillis as well as his collaborator Steve Gerben and John McKeever and matures from the raunchy series of loosely connected vignettes that was Season 1 into something more akin to a late 2000’s indie comedy with its improved and surprisingly heartfelt sophomore outing. 

With Season 1 of “Tires”, we followed Will (Gerben) taking over as manager for his family’s struggling auto-repair chain, Valley Forge Auto with the harassment and camaraderie of his cousin, Shane (Gillis) along with the eclectic group of characters that surround them.

When it seemed like all hope was lost, the chain turned around, and was set up for a bright future. 

Now, in Season 2, Valley Forge is flying high as a successful chain until the arrival of Shane’s dad (an Emmy-lock Thomas Hayden Church) and the retirement of Will’s father throw a wrench in Will’s plans, causing a domino effect of hilarious - and touching - proportions. 

“Tires” Season 2 benefits from a heftier budget, allowing for more locations and of course a robust list of celebrity cameos including the aforementioned Church as well as legendary comedian Ron White, Vince Vaughn, Jon Lovitz, and several others. 

Despite the scope allowed with a bigger production, the most surprisingly thing about “Tires” is that rather than losing sight, it narrows it. 

A theme through the season is growth- or the lack of it. Shane, early on, is proposed with a position as manager should Valley Forget continue to expand, something he rejects outright because it would be less fun than just being a mechanic. 

A chance encounter puts Shane with a pretty caterer, a girl he entertains briefly before some work-program teens roast him for being “old” and not “locking anything down”, which gives him a subplot that echoes what, I assume, a good majority of the people that listen to Gillis’ podcast and follow his career are facing: the fear of being in their 30s. 

The terror of thinking- is this it? 

The subplot about Shane’s quarter-life crisis is hit home by a late-season episode featuring Ron White as an aged and washed up Nascar driver who reflects on his boozing and lady-chasing with rose-tinted glasses, thinking it would always be fun…until it ended, leaving him with nothing. 

Likewise, Gerben also has to grapple with what the actual cost of taking chances can be, putting his character in a funny- and relatable- trial and error of trying to be more assertive, putting a fledgling friendship he has with a tire salesman in jeopardy. 

To go into too much detail would rob this 10-episode season of its quality, so do yourself a favor and watch Season 2 of “Tires”, now streaming on Netflix.