Vince Vaughn returns as Andrew Yancy on December 2, with a mob boss, a mysterious rash and John Malkovich in the mix. Here's the lay of the swamp.
Andrew Yancy has watched a man die, and in Florida that is only the opening act. The trailer for Bad Monkey season two is out, and it sets Vince Vaughn’s rumpled detective loose in a fresh case that arrives on Apple TV on Wednesday, December 2.
The murder victim is described as Florida’s finest fixer, which tells you something about the local job market. Yancy saw it happen, and an ambitious state attorney responds by pairing him with a strait-laced forensic accountant to crack the case. If you can’t picture that buddy dynamic yet, think of one man who improvises everything and another who reads the footnotes. It’s a tidy engine for a comedy.
A turf war with excellent manners
From there, Yancy lands in the middle of a turf war between rival criminal organizations. Apple’s description of the people he meets along the way is the sort of thing Carl Hiaasen fans will recognize on sight. There’s an erudite mob boss, his unhinged son, and a hard-edged young woman who needs Yancy’s protection. Florida oddballs, in other words, and a generous helping of them.
The show comes from Bill Lawrence, the award-winning storyteller behind a long list of beloved comedies, and it’s based on Hiaasen’s New York Times bestselling novel, a cult favorite that has lasted. Season two doesn’t retread the book, though. It’s built on an entirely new storyline, so even devoted readers will be guessing.
The side plots are the point
Yancy has plenty else going on. His aging father is part of the picture. So is the unresolved romantic tension with Dr. Rosa Campesino, played by Natalie Martinez, who has her own project this season: she launches an investigation into a mysterious rash. Yes, a rash. It’s the kind of small, itchy, deeply Floridian mystery that tends to turn out to be connected to something bigger.
Then there’s the animal relocation specialist, described as bombastic, whose business threatens the local environment. Given the show’s title, wildlife was always going to get a say.
Who’s checking in
The returning core is Vaughn, Martinez, Charlotte Lawrence and John Ortiz. New to the cast are John Malkovich, Yvonne Strahovski and Zavior Phillips. Their roles aren’t spelled out, so we’ll leave you to speculate about whether that erudite mob boss has Malkovich’s name on it.
The guest list is long and fun to scan: Nate Jackson, Sofia Boutella, Brent Morin, Joey Avery, Dax Shepard, Sam Jaeger, Margarita Levieva, Peter Billingsley and June Diane Raphael. That’s a lot of familiar faces for a show set in a humid, slightly unhinged corner of the Sunshine State.
Behind the camera, Lawrence serves as showrunner and executive producer through his Doozer Productions, which has an overall deal with Warner Bros. Television, the studio producing the series. Vaughn is also an executive producer, alongside Jeff Ingold, Matt Tarses, Liza Katzer, Adam Sztykiel, Chris Downey and Hiaasen himself. Having the author on the producing roster is a nice touch for a story built on his voice.
How to pace your viewing
The sophomore season runs ten episodes. The first lands December 2, then a new one arrives every Wednesday until February 3, 2027. That means a weekly drip through the holidays, with episodes on December 23 and 30, so Yancy is booked as your post-dinner companion. If you’d like a refresher first, or you’re new to the series, season one is streaming now on Apple TV. It has been lauded as “smartly written,” with “standout performances.”
Apple TV costs $14.99 per month, and new subscribers get a seven-day free trial. For a limited time, anyone who buys and activates a new iPhone, iPad, Apple TV 4K or Mac gets three months free.
The trailer promises a sequel with a bigger cast, a messier crime scene and a protagonist who is, as ever, in over his head. Florida noir has never looked so sunburned.
Via Apple TV Press
