Previously on A Man on the Inside, a retired professor, Charles Nieuwendyk, answers a Craigslist ad from a PI. That PI, Julie Kovalenko (Lila Richcreek Estrada) tells him to infiltrate a retirement home to find a necklace. This season doesn’t leave that old place, Pacific View behind, especially branch manager Didi Santos Cordero (Stephanie Beatriz). Didi is still on Julie’s client list (surprising to both women) and Charles still invites her to parties. This season also fleshes out Julie more by capturing her life, especially her relationship with her mother Vanessa (Constance Marie). But back to Charles, his loneliness comes back as he and Julie get a new and juicy case. That cast involves a missing laptop and its owner Jack Beringer (Max Greenfield), the president of an arts college.

This is a charming, light show despite touching on themes like how its characters deal with their grief. One way of dealing with grief is to reach out with family, like Charles does with his daughter Emily Pinero. Mary Elizabeth Ellis plays Emily, who shows up to help Charles investigate the suspects in his case. Emily is going through a lot and thankfully her husband Joel (Eugene Cordero) is there to support her. Again, there’s a lot more of Julie this season, this time around revealing incredible moments from her back story. Charles get to meet Vanessa, and the writing ensures that characters like the latter reveal things about their emotions. There are also jokes here about Julie dumping Michael Phelps and commitment issues that stem from familial relationships. A Man on the Inside has its welcome share of jokes, even in a tense episode during Thanksgiving.

A Man on the Inside, through its mix of dramedy, shows its characters not treating their loved ones like one should. As a background, the person who steals Jack’s laptop is claiming that the laptop has sensitive information. That seems obvious enough, but the information specifically exposes Jack’s dealings with alum Brad Vinick. Gary Cole plays the man who becomes the subject of Charles and Julie’s investigation about the stolen laptop. As part of the investigation, Charles and Julie have to steal Brad’s phone and they need a pickpocket for that. As it turns out, Vanessa used to pickpocket people, a means of income that got her in jail, which Julie resented. During the season, Julie only contacts Vanessa when the former needs the latter, which can get pretty toxic.

Although the show depicts said toxic relationships, it balances that, as it should, with levity. There’s levity even as Charles investigates suspects like a cranky professor Dr. Cole (David Strathairn) and Mona Morgendorff (Danson’s wife Mary Steenburgen). Levity is necessary in depicting the lives of a protagonist in their 70s without making that life too sad. And yes, I say write this even while there are scenes when Charles opens up to being a lonely widower. Sometimes, one way to combat loneliness is to have something to do, like Charles working to solve his cases. One of the many plots the show juggles is Charles getting bored with adultery cases assigned to him. Despite that, he works them to complete enough hours to be a real private investigator under Julie. Jack’s case gives him the juice he needs – besides, who else can investigate a college aside from him?

A Man on the Inside is now streaming on Netflix.