Nothing exemplifies adulting better than having a stronger sense of confidence and more assuredness about yourself. The amiable friend group from FX’s Adults—Samir (Malik Elassal), Billie (Lucy Freyer), Anton (Owen Thiele), Issa (Amita Rao), and Paul Baker (Jack Innanen)—may still operate off one shared brain cell and live rent‑free, but in their second season, the mid‑20‑something NYC‑based housemates find their confidence in identity in a funnier, unexpectedly mature fashion.

The last time we saw the “Kew Gardens gang,” Issa’s Canadian‑based boyfriend Paul Baker needed to get married to renew his visa. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do it because she was already in a marriage with their annoying old friend Zack-Carlos (Julian Manjerico) and never bothered to go through divorce. In her stead, her best friend Anton—with whom Paul Baker’s relationship was blossoming—saved the day by saying “I Do.” But in a squeal‑inducing cliffhanger moment, a triangle is teased when Issa tells the newlyweds to kiss, and they do so passionately.

Jumping into Season 2, only two months have passed, and not much has changed. Samir is proud of being in his first stable relationship with his girlfriend Carly (Rachel Marsh), Billie continues her job hunt, Issa is still Issa, and romantic tension lingers between Paul Baker and Anton.

The eight‑episode Season 2 (make it nine, counting the prequel Paul Baker origin story special released recently) presents new absurd situations that test the housemates’ dynamics and needle at their respective burgeoning insecurities while speaking to specific 20‑something plights. This time, they encounter challenges like the distinction between “elder Gen‑Z” and “younger Gen‑Z” when the user of Billie’s former fake ID is more cautious and sophisticated than she is; Anton’s struggle to admit to his friends how much he enjoys his dull office job; Samir’s anxiety when he lets his “supportive boyfriend” demeanor enable his unmelodious girlfriend to pursue a music career; and everyone’s shock when learning Paul Baker’s code‑switching ability when with his chaotically bro-y group of friends.

When the show debuted last year, I found the Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw‑created series very funny, though I couldn’t describe it beyond “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia but for Gen‑Z.” That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but its greatest strength was in its characters’ loving rapport rather than the recycled sitcom plots. Straying from the sophomore slump, the show breaks from its Always Sunny‑esque qualities and hones in on its strongest elements. It analyzes these characters and their relationships with clarified precision, demonstrating how one handles the other while tying it up with absurdist scenarios that feel justified or further their dynamics. How does it look when Samir helps Issa in her fertility process, or when Billie and Anton operate at a club together?

The show is still a hysterical romp. Funnier than the first season, each episode delivers great laugh‑a‑minute bits and plots that go so out there they’re an absolute riot. The writers have a blast disrupting the status quo and leading the housemates crew to new territories that pierce the heart for either rawness or humor. Elassal, Freyer, Thiele, Rao, and Innanen are all as vibrant and captivating as ever, and the group maintains their intense chemistry. They each demonstrate some solid dramatic abilities, capturing their characters’ raw vulnerability when they are at their most exposed.

One of my favorite aspects of the show is its natural unveiling of the ensemble’s queer identities. Anton is gay, and Paul Baker is fluid (Thiele’s “HE IS FLUID!” line read from Season 1 is a timeless gem). The first season’s finale even involved Billie unicorning a married couple. Though she had said she had hooked up with a couple from FEELD in the first season, season 2 reveals Issa’s queer sexuality.

Here’s where we get spoilery. Soon, Issa goes back on the market following a turning point in her relationship with Paul Baker. For the most overconfident character of the bunch, she has no rizz, hilariously struggling to flirt with men (a term called “weird little guy” is going to become part of my vocabulary). But like Billie at the end of Season 1, Season 2 sees Issa sharing a sweet, wholesome meet‑cute with an awkward librarian (Mia Fowler) who speaks in a dialect only Issa can understand: accents under pressure. It’s such a rarity these days for a comedy to be this inclusive while never sensationalizing anyone’s orientation.

Across the decades, buddy sitcoms with ensembles were exclusively straight—oftentimes the straightest dudes being played by gay men (Neil Patrick Harris in How I Met Your Mother, Jim Parsons in The Big Bang Theory). Or someone’s ambiguous queer identity was used as a punchline rather than being embraced until later in the run (Mac in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia didn’t come out until nearly a decade ago). God forbid there were any queer women characters. Dramas, fine but comedy sitcoms, they still had to break that glass ceiling.

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That’s not to discredit Ellen Degeneres (I know, taboo, but can’t erase her impact) as the first out lesbian on sitcom TV or Stephanie Beatriz’s Rosa Diaz in Brooklyn-Nine-Nine as a prominent bisexual character. What We Do in the Shadows was perhaps the queerest long-running sitcom, with everyone in the Staten Island-set castle being sexually fluid except Guillermo (Harvey Guillén), who was simply gay.

Now the hangout American sitcom has evolved, and the culture has shifted to be more inclusive with queer‑prominent ensembles. Adults, one of the few shows tailor-made for its zillennial demographic, brings nuance to representation not just in illustrating the nonchalance in confidence, but even down to handling the overarching season’s Issa, Paul Baker, and Anton love triangle.

Hell, I felt seen in the first validating “bickering Black queer sibling” representation in the episode “Talia” which establishes Raven‑Symoné as Anton’s older sister who he regresses to a hyperbolic spoiled child brat around. Much like her actress, Talia is funny and cool, and the sitcom legend’s entrance prompts a hysterical 4th wall break joke that perfectly honors her.

Overall, Adults sheds its prior familiarity for a second season that’s hilarious, more queer, more character‑driven, and surprisingly mature. It retains its signature absurdist appeal while deepening its ensemble into something genuinely worth investing in, cementing itself as one of the best shows for Gen‑Z 20‑something degenerates who are just trying to figure it all out, one messy decision at a time.