For a show with a Golden Globe for best TV comedy and the might of Amazon behind it, Mozart in the Jungle has yet to attract legions of devout viewers. That’s probably because a Jason Schwartzman-produced comedy about a New York symphony orchestra sounds awards-bait-y at best, and unwatchably pretentious at worst.
But, despite the snooty premise, it is exactly the kind of show that should be a favorite amongst lazy Sunday TV marathoners. Keeping the classical music inside jokes to a minimum (there might be more, but untrained ears won't hear them), Mozart in the Jungle is actually a hapless millennial sitcom in the vein of Master of None, it just happens to be set in a less conventional workplace. And therein lies its charm.
Mozart stars Lola Kirke (younger sister of Girls' Jemima Kirke) as Hailey Rutledge, a fledgling oboist finding her feet in the New York City music scene. At the same time, the classical musical world is getting a big shake-up of its own: esteemed conductor Thomas Pembridge (Malcolm McDowell) is being replaced by the extravagantly eccentric Rodrigo de Souza, a musical prodigy played with healthy doses of humor and charm by Gael García Bernal (Y Tu Mamá También).
Without giving too much away, Rodrigo ends up giving Hailey her big break, which amounts to throwing her unceremoniously into the lion's den of New York's classical music elite---an unapologetically neurotic, temperamental, bed-hopping, pill-popping, shade-throwing bunch. The off-beat escapades that follow are sort of like a high-rent mashup of The Office, Girls, and The Devil Wears Prada, but with more cellos. This guide will get you through their professional and personal misadventures in record time.
Number of Seasons: 2 (20 episodes)
Time Requirements: This one goes quickly. The episodes are usually a little less than 30 minutes long, so even if you’re conservative with your binge-watching schedule, you’ll likely finish up in less than a week.
Where to Get Your Fix: Amazon Prime
Best Character to Follow: Rodrigo, easily. Hailey is our lens, but there’s a reason that the Sherlock Holmes stories aren’t called The Diaries of Dr. John H. Watson. Rodrigo’s sparklingly over-the-top antics steal every scene he's in, and Bernal’s Golden Globe-winning performance takes what could have easily been a one-joke character (“This genius guy sure is kooky!”) and imbues the high-maintenance maestro with boatloads of nuance and charm. Seriously, the man makes brewing tea seem fascinating.
Seasons/Episodes You Can Skip:
*Mozart in the Jungle * is a show that is clearly made to be binged---episodes often just flow directly into one another. But there are a few weaker spots (mostly, episodes that focus on lackluster B-plots) that you can definitely skip over.
Season 1: Episode 7, “You Go to My Head” Everyone goes to a fundraising event. The very perfunctory businessman villain---who is out to destroy Rodrigo, because money---gets a lot of screen time, as does Hailey's manic pixie-ish roommate. Skip away.
Season 2: Episode 4, “Touché Maestro, Touché” Mozart in the Jungle doesn’t often fall too far down the classical-music-reference rabbit hole, but when it does, boy does it fall headlong. Hailey hangs out with a guest cellist who takes her to an arcade where everyone is a bad actor. You are supposed to be delighted by these random, game-playing strangers because it turns out they are actually famous musicians. Chances are, you will just be confused. Even Rodrigo and Thomas tripping out in a blanket fort isn’t fun enough to rescue this one.
Season 2: Episode 7, “Can You Marry a Moon?” The biggest flaw in the writing of this show is that its scribes think we care about union negotiations and the state of the symphony’s finances. This episode is a particularly lawyer-heavy offender, and while the rest of it isn't boring so much as it strains credulity (for example, the supposedly cash-strapped symphony is making a very janky-looking VR experience), it all feels pretty skippable.
Seasons/Episodes You Can’t Skip:
Season 1: Episode 1, “Pilot” You can't skip this one for obvious reasons, but you also wouldn't want to. In addition to the usual pilot's-worth of exposition, there's a classical music drinking game (and a metronome with a joint attached to it), a pervy 12-year-old oboe student, and the debut of Rodrigo's over-the-top conductor hair.
Season 1: Episode 4, “You Have Insulted Tchaikovsky” This is the best episode in the whole series. Rodrigo goes AWOL before an important fundraising event, and it's Hailey's job to rein him in. What ensues is a day full of hallucinations of great composers, elderly people throwing tantrums, and a impromptu party for one of Rodrigo's biggest fans---the sister of their limo driver. (One of the weirdest things about the show initially is that everyone is super into classic music all the time. Just roll with it.) It's also the moment that most of the key characters come into their own as three-dimensional people, and Rodrigo and Thomas mercifully ditch their Mozart-Salieri dynamic.
Season 1: Episode 9-10, “Now, Fortissimo!” and “Opening Night” This pair of episodes is the ramp-up to the symphony's opening night, and the stakes are high for everyone. The highlight, though, comes when Rodrigo and Hailey rent a car and drive upstate to a toxic waste dump in search of Anna Maria (Nora Arnezeder), Rodrigo's wildly beautiful, talented, and volatile wife, who is a violinist/performance artist/environmental activist. She does stuff like shoot guns at sheet music and scream "Fuck the system" while playing the violin with one boob hanging out of her ballgown. Just watch it.
Season 2: Episode 5-6, “Regresso del Rey” and “How to Make God Laugh” Season 2 is not without its rocky sections (the aforementioned financial drama and general soapy-ness, mostly), but the episodes where the orchestra is on tour through Latin America are great. Hailey struggles to transcend the role of maestro's assistant, we get our biggest glimpse of Rodrigo's storied origins, and, more importantly, there's a hair-raising chase through the underworld of Mexico City. Added bonuses include an adorable orchestra of small Mexican children and a very angry, fortune-telling grandma.
Why You Should Binge:
If you've been ignoring this one, it’s probably because you took a look at the promo images and thought, Ugh, "high culture." Or just, What is happening here? And we acknowledge your concerns. But rather than feeling niche-y, Mozart in the Jungle actually gives some cred to the idea that the particular can hold universal appeal. Ultimately, the orchestra is just a great framing device for a workplace/coming-of-age story, and the show consistently delivers on humor and gold old-fashioned charm.
Best Scene---The Limo Sequence:
There are so many fantastic Rodrigo moments, but the limo scene from "You Have Insulted Tchaikovsky" is a real standout. In the space of just a few minutes, we see the full range of Rodrigo's character: He's both a genius who can bring out the music in the sounds of traffic, and a lovable goof who swaps sex jokes with the car's driver. It's refreshing to watch someone display incredible talent and without displaying massively compromised social skills, and it's a testament to Bernal's performance that be pulls off both with ease.
The Takeaway:
You don't have to play perfectly if you play with blood. (Also, that that phrasing presumably comes across less ghoulish in Spanish.)
If You Liked Mozart in the Jungle You’ll Love: Any of the wacky workplace comedies, like The Office and its progeny (30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, etc.). For more funny millennials flailing their way through NYC, you can’t go wrong with Master of None or Broad City.
