A series for everyone, regardless of your interest in football: Last Chance U

Big fan of Last Chance U season 1 and greatly anticipated season 2 - finished the series (8 episodes) last night, and would say it's definitely worth watching as a follow-up to season 1 but do not skip the first season. Season 2 does not stand up well on its own. It's a little more diffuse than season 1, as it never quite gets a solid footing in its reportage on the athletes (series is about football players at E. Miss. Junior College, almost all of whom were kicked out of D1 programs for various misdemeanors or worse and are hoping for a 2nd chance, playing for a perennial powerhouse JC team), as the players never come into clear focus; we don't have the head-to-head competition among 2 QBs from season 1, and overall the key players are not quite as distinctive or articulate as those in season 1 - and far too many appear for only a few moments. That said, season 2 is more about the head coach, Buddy Stephens, and his staff, and of course about extremely likable and dedicated Brittany Wagner, the academic advisor for the players. The season kicks off w/ Buddy noting that he didn't like the image he saw of himself when he watched season 1 and he vowed to be a better person - not so vulgar, temperamental, bullying. I'll leave it to viewers to determine whether he reforms or not, but will say that the LCU team does a great job with a few vignettes that are revealing about the complexity of Buddy's character - tender at times w/ family, vicious when things go wrong on the field. Should he be renewed for a 10th season as coach? He seems to do what they want of him - win ballgames, at all cost. But what a cost! That becomes more clear in season 1 than ever before. Aside from Buddy, it seems at times as if all the staff plus Wagner are using the series as an opportunity to make the case to advance in their careers. How well they succeed at this - and it varies - is revealed in the final episode. I'll say for this documentary series - as I've also said about the great Friday Night Lights - that it's not about football per se - football is only the vehicle that carries a terrific examination of race, poverty, sports, celebrity, higher education, and human nature - a series for everyone, regardless of your knowledge about or interest in football.