A trailer has arrived for the new season of “This Way Up,” the Hulu/Channel 4 dramedy about a woman rebuilding her life after a nervous breakdown. Last time we saw protagonist Aine (writer-creator-EP Aisling Bea), she was beginning therapy and on the precipice of a new relationship. In Season 2, she’s juggling a new job prospect, a complicated romance, and “so many secrets.” Her sister, Shona (Sharon Horgan, who also exec produces), is dealing with her own secrets, too.
Aine, who teaches ESL, is considering starting her own teaching org with her boss — but is keeping (mostly) quiet about it until they have a concrete plan. “Aine, this is huge,” Shona says in the spot, “it might be too big.”
Plus, Aine is officially seeing Richard (Tobias Menzies), the father of her student Etienne (Dorian Grover) — so she’s mixing the personal and the professional, which Shona is quick to point out is “not the best move.” Aine and Richard are mostly keeping their relationship to themselves, and are particularly hiding it from Etienne.
Meanwhile, Shona is planning her wedding to longtime boyfriend Vish (Aasif Mandvi) and simultaneously coming to terms with her attraction to her colleague Charlotte (Indira Varma).
It’s a lot, and it seems to be only a matter of time before tensions boil over. “We’re all just out here trying, aren’t we,” Aine observes in the trailer, “and sometimes what you want to do is scream.”
Bea won a BAFTA Television Craft Award for Breakthrough Talent for “This Way Up’s” debut season. “Quiz” and “Living with Yourself” are among her other credits. She and Horgan previously collaborated on “Dead Boss.”
Horgan’s more recent acting credits include “Military Wives,” “How to Build a Girl,” and “Disenchantment.” She has written for and created series including “Pulling,” “Women on the Verge,” “Divorce,” and “Catastrophe.” She scored an Emmy nod for her writing on the latter. Horgan directed an episode of “Modern Love,” the Amazon anthology based on the New York Times column of the same name. An American remake of her show “Motherland” is in the works at Lionsgate.
“This Way Up” returns to Hulu July 9.
