The InBESTigators (season 2)
The second season of the Australian Children's mockumentary comedy drama television series The InBESTigators aired on ABC Me between 11 and 30 November 2019, being released on Netflix worldwide on 10 January 2020, and consists of 20 episodes. The season was produced by Gristmill Productions with Screen Australia in association with Film Victoria and Australian Children's Television Foundation (ACTF). The series follows a group of Grade 5 kids which form a Detective Agency named The Inbestigators to solve crimes in school or neighborhood.
| The InBESTigators | |
|---|---|
| Season 2 | |
 Digital Purchase Cover | |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| No. of episodes | 20 |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC Me Netflix |
| Original release | 11 November – 30 November 2019 |
| Season chronology | |
Season 2 is written by Robyn Butler, Wayne Hope, Molly Daniels, Lisa Marie Corso, Maddy Butler, Jayden Masciulli, Bob Franklin, and directed by Wayne Hope, Robyn Butler, Ian Reiser, Tim Bartley and Nina Buxton. Executive Producers are Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope, alongside Greg Sitch and Bernadette O’Mahoney.[1] Filming began in July 2018 at Moorabbin Primary School in Moorabbin, Victoria, and ended in November 2018.
The season features guest appearances from Sam Hamilton, Zac Hamilton, Bob Franklin, Laura Dunemann, Eloise Isaac, Zuleika Khan, Sasha Turinui, Dylan Murphy, Diana Lin, Firdi Billimoria, Jess Perkins, Finn Scicluna-O'Prey, Ashton Smith, Shayarna Ellis-Dowler, Sam Winspear-Schillings, Jessica Faulkner, Zenya Carmellotti, Owen Wahrenberger, Julia Grace, Dave Lawson, Syd Brisbane, Amberly Cull, Isabella Dymalovski, Oscar Lidgerwood, Jessica Redmayne, Patrick Harvey, Lily Hall, Roy Marshall and Frances Wang. The season also marks the first appearances of Monty Henderson as Toby and Zac Mineo as James, which made cameo appearances in season 1.
Plot
The Inbestigators are back with more crimes to solve and continue to report their adventures at school and in the neighbourhood, which they post in their blog and became together biggest friends. One of these new crimes includes persons being accused of crimes they did not commit. Then, Maudie, Ezra, Ava and Kyle tracks the real culprit for these crimes and the motive for realizing that. Also, one of The Inbestigators continues to being victim of these type of crimes.
In the season finale, Ezra announces that the group will make a commercial, but then, they got interrupted when Ezra's goldfish seems to be missing, and then, they get interrupted for more two mysteries to solve: Sarah Banks, Ezra's mum, lost her ruby earring and a red bucket. Then, it was revealed that Poppy, Amelia and Ezra's dad did accidentally: Poppy painted with some equipments from Ezra and painted with Michelle's paws, Ezra's dad vacuumed Sarah's ruby earring and Amelia put Neil in the bathroom to leave him with more space. After that, they finished their commercial and watch it.
Cast & Characters
Main
- Abby Bergman as Ava Andrikides
- Anna Cooke as Maudie Miller
- Aston Droomer as Ezra Banks
- Jamil Smyth-Secka as Kyle Klimson
Supporting
- James Saunders as Mr Henry McGillick
- Maria Angelico as Miss Tan
- Hannah Johnston as Amelia
- Clarke Richards as Mr Barker
- Madeleine Jevic as Miss Helen Parides
- Eliza Ong as Poppy Banks
- Soraya Briggs as Max
- Matilda Hardwick as Caitlin
- Sienna Foggie as Esther
- Ayiana Ncube as Ruby
- Marita Wilcox as Miss Maniaci
- Hannah Leigh Struckett as Pixie
- Milla Bishop as Miranda
- Zakariah Rahhali as Mario
- Ethan Pham as Diet
- Bailey McMillan-Power as Justin
- Monty Henderson as Toby
- Jack Goodsell as Archie
- Shayarna Ellis-Dowler as Charlotte
Production
Development and Broadcasting
Since the end of season 1, rumors for a second season began and everyone cheered for it, but nothing was officially confirmed. In extra videos from the series in ABC Me's official YouTube channel, showed some scenes from new episodes, but no one of the titles was officially confirmed until 20 October 2019, when the first trailer for the season was released, revealing the premiere scheduled for 11 November 2019. The season began with the episode "The Case of the Concert Catastrophe", which aired on 11 November 2019. The season officially ended with the episode "The Case of the Triple Inbestigation", which aired on 30 November 2019. Like the first season, new episodes aired all days. In December 2019, Netflix officially announced the release date for season 2. The trailer for the season was released on 31 December 2019, and was released worldwide on 10 January 2020 as one of the first Netflix releases in 2020.[2]
Casting
The season marks the returns of Abby Bergman as Ava Andrikides, Aston Droomer as Ezra Banks, Anna Cooke as Maudie Miller and Jamil Smyth-Secka as Kyle Klimson in the main cast. Also, in recurring roles, has Maria Angelico as Miss Tan, James Saunders as Mr. McGilick, Hannah Johnston as Amelia, Clarke Richards as Mr. Barker, Madeleine Jevic as Miss. Parides, Eliza Ong as Poppy Banks, Soraya Briggs as Max, Matilda Hardwick as Caitlin, Sienna Foggie as Esther, Ayiana Ncube as Ruby, Marita Wilcox as Miss Maniaci, Hannah Leigh Struckett as Pixie, Milla Bishop as Miranda, Zakariah Rahhali as Mario, Ethan Pham as Diet, Bailey McMilian-Power as Justin, Monty Henderson as Toby, which first appeared in this season after cameo appearances in season 1, Jack Goodsell as Archie and Zac Mineo as James.[3]
The season features guest appearances from Sam Hamilton, Zac Hamilton, Bob Franklin, Laura Dunemann, Eloise Isaac, Zuleika Khan, Sasha Turinui, Dylan Murphy, Diana Lin, Firdi Billimoria, Jess Perkins, Finn Scicluna-O'Prey, Ashton Smith, Shayarna Ellis-Dowler, Sam Winspear-Schillings, Jessica Faulkner, Zenya Carmellotti, Owen Wahrenberger, Julia Grace, Dave Lawson, Syd Brisbane, Amberly Cull, Isabella Dymalovski, Oscar Lidgerwood, Jessica Redmayne, Patrick Harvey, Lily Hall, Roy Marshall and Frances Wang.
Filming
The series was filmed beginning on 9 July 2018 at Moorabbin Primary School in Melbourne, Australia, which ended in November 2018. Bartley says after 20 weeks of filming, "It really feels like a little family here on set. It’s been a marathon effort, but the kids are just really great." In between takes, the crew voice words of encouragement – "good job", "great energy – that was awesome" and "you got this – good on you, mate". When a break is called, the cast and extras hop on the playground to chat about their holiday plans together. Other cast and crew members play footy together during lunch, and hacky sack in the shorter breaks.[4]
Episodes
| No. overall | No. in season | Title [5] | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [6] | Australia viewers (millions) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "The Case of the Concert Catastrophe" | Robyn Butler | Robyn Butler | 11 November 2019[7][8] | N/A | |
| Maudie is crushed when her tickets to a pop concert go missing, especially since it seems likely that she herself has misplaced them. | |||||||
| 22 | 2 | "The Case of the Soccer Saga" | Wayne Hope | Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope | 12 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Kyle asks Maudie and Ava to make a video of his soccer match but Maudie discovers something about the game is not quite right. | |||||||
| 23 | 3 | "The Case of the Puzzling Pet Day" | Ian Reiser | Robyn Butler and Lisa Marie Corso | 13 November 2019 | N/A | |
| When the Animal Shelter visits school to audition kids for a television commercial, Maudie suspects a crime is happening right under everyone's noses. | |||||||
| 24 | 4 | "The Case of the Copy Cat" | Nina Buxton | Robyn Butler | 14 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Ava is selected to deliver a speech at the town hall, but when she is accused of stealing it, Maudie must prove her innocence. | |||||||
| 25 | 5 | "The Case of the Rosemary Riddle" | Ian Reiser | Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope | 15 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Ezra is grumpy when his visiting Nanna interrupts his detective work until she unexpectedly gives the Inbestigators a case to crack. | |||||||
| 26 | 6 | "The Case of the Robot Robbery" | Robyn Butler | Robyn Butler | 16 November 2019 | N/A | |
| On Science and Technology dress-up day, Patrick is upset when his robot costume is stolen by an unidentified mad professor. | |||||||
| 27 | 7 | "The Case of the Vanishing Koalas" | Robyn Butler | Robyn Butler, Maddy Butler, Lisa Marie Corso and Molly Daniels | 17 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Kakow Koalas are the latest snack sensation sweeping the playground and Mario is hungry for justice when his are stolen. | |||||||
| 28 | 8 | "The Case of the Extremely Empty Freezer" | Wayne Hope | Maddy Butler and Lisa Marie Corso | 18 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Ava plans a birthday party to cheer up a lovesick Mr Barker, but things go wrong when his birthday cake goes missing during the celebrations. | |||||||
| 29 | 9 | "The Case of the Miraculous Mini Golfer" | Tim Bartley | Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope | 19 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Convinced a customer is cheating to claim a prize, Charlie hires the Inbestigators to help save his job at the Mini Golf Park. | |||||||
| 30 | 10 | "The Case of the Problematic Party" | Tim Bartley | Molly Daniels and Jayden Masciulli | 20 November 2019 | N/A | |
| The Inbestigators promise to help when Toby's birthday invitation to five friends is mysteriously copied and distributed to the entire class. | |||||||
| 31 | 11 | "The Case of the Lousy Lunch Orders" | Ian Reiser | Molly Daniels | 21 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Ezra is outraged when everyone's treat day lunch orders are replaced with healthy food and insists on tracking down the culprit. | |||||||
| 32 | 12 | "The Case of the Interrupting Intern" | Ian Reiser | Molly Daniels | 22 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Maudie is upset when Ezra, Ava and Kyle promote their new intern to an Inbestigator after he surprisingly solves a case before Maudie. | |||||||
| 33 | 13 | "The Case of the Freaky Frequency" | Ian Reiser | Bob Franklin, Molly Daniels and Robyn Butler | 23 November 2019 | N/A | |
| When the ice-cream shop loses business because customers can't lock their cars, the Inbestigators must uncover why all the car keys in the area have stopped working. | |||||||
| 34 | 14 | "The Case of the Tricky Trimathalon" | Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope | Maddy Butler and Jayden Masciulli | 24 November 2019 | N/A | |
| After he accidentally signs up for the Trimathlon, Kyle surprises everyone by doing well, until he mysteriously can't find his cheat sheet. | |||||||
| 35 | 15 | "The Case of the Burgled Bags" | Robyn Butler | Robyn Butler | 25 November 2019 | N/A | |
| When Gary, the school's lollipop man, is accused of stealing bags from parents' cars, Kyle is devastated and determined to clear his name. | |||||||
| 36 | 16 | "The Case of the Distracted Detective" | Tim Bartley | Robyn Butler and Maddy Butler | 26 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Ezra is nominated for the Young Small Business Awards but as the event draws near, Ezra is increasingly upset and Maudie must find out why. | |||||||
| 37 | 17 | "The Case of the Fishy Fundraiser" | Nina Buxton | Lisa Marie Corso and Molly Daniels | 27 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Amelia resents her fundraising cupcake stall being upstaged by a lemonade stall, so when things go sour, Amelia is accused of sabotage. | |||||||
| 38 | 18 | "The Case of the Incredible Fortune Teller" | Tim Bartley | Robyn Butler, Maddy Butler and Lisa Marie Corso | 28 November 2019 | N/A | |
| Ezra and Ava's friendship is tested when Ramona's fortune telling predictions come between them during the Coins for a Cure fundraiser. | |||||||
| 39 | 19 | "The Case of the Unhappy Camper" | Robyn Butler | Robyn Butler, Maddy Butler and Lisa Marie Corso | 29 November 2019 | N/A | |
| When Mr McGillick's phone goes missing at the Grade Five camp, Kyle is accused of hiding it as part of a prank. | |||||||
| 40 | 20 | "The Case of the Triple Inbestigation" | Wayne Hope | Robyn Butler | 30 November 2019 | N/A | |
| While on the hunt for Ezra's missing goldfish, Maudie uncovers two more puzzling mysteries to be solved. | |||||||
Reception
Critical response
Less than two weeks after Netflix’s Series 2 launch, fans have already made their way through the new mysteries on offer. UK Viewer Dave Holloway tweeted: "We’ve gone through season 2 twice already. It’s just a wonderful show for children and adults alike." US viewer Kevin Faris tweeted: "Kyle from #TheInbestigators on Netflix remains one of my favourite characters. S2 came out last week, be sure to watch it with your kids, or even by yourself!"[9]
Ratings
| No. in Series |
No. in Season |
Title | Original air date | Original Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 1 | "The Case of the Concert Catastrophe" | 11 November 2019 | ABC Me |
| 22 | 2 | "The Case of the Soccer Saga" | 12 November 2019 | |
| 23 | 3 | "The Case of the Puzzling Pet Day" | 13 November 2019 | |
| 24 | 4 | "The Case of the Copy Cat" | 14 November 2019 | |
| 25 | 5 | "The Case of the Rosemary Riddle" | 15 November 2019 | |
| 26 | 6 | "The Case of the Robot Robbery" | 16 November 2019 | |
| 27 | 7 | "The Case of the Vanishing Koalas" | 17 November 2019 | |
| 28 | 8 | "The Case of the Extremely Empty Freezer" | 18 November 2019 | |
| 29 | 9 | "The Case of the Miracolous Mini Golfer" | 19 November 2019 | |
| 30 | 10 | "The Case of the Problematic Party" | 20 November 2019 | |
| 31 | 11 | "The Case of the Lousy Lunch Orders" | 21 November 2019 | |
| 32 | 12 | "The Case of the Interrupting Intern" | 22 November 2019 | |
| 33 | 13 | "The Case of the Freaky Frequency" | 23 November 2019 | |
| 34 | 14 | "The Case of the Tricky Trimathlon" | 24 November 2019 | |
| 35 | 15 | "The Case of the Burgled Bags" | 25 November 2019 | |
| 36 | 16 | "The Case of the Distracted Detective" | 26 November 2019 | |
| 37 | 17 | "The Case of the Fishy Fundraiser" | 27 November 2019 | |
| 38 | 18 | "The Case of the Incridible Fortune Teller" | 28 November 2019 | |
| 39 | 19 | "The Case of the Unhappy Camper" | 29 November 2019 | |
| 40 | 20 | "The Case of the Triple Inbestigation" | 30 November 2019 |
Digital purchase release
The InBESTigators: Season 2, along with The Unlisted, was released on ACTF Shop on 28 November 2019.[10]
References
- "Cast announced for kid's series The InBESTigators". tvtonight.com.au. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- "New on Netflix: January Releases". Ajac Bojalad. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
- Knox, David (29 June 2018). "Cast announced for kid's series The InBESTigators". TV Tonight. Retrieved 14 December 2019.
- "Clue in to the Action on The Inbestigators' Set". Lily Pavlovic. Retrieved 26 November 2018.
- "The InBESTigators: ABC Iview".
- "The InBESTigators - Season 2 - IMDb".
- "'The Inbestigators' Season 2: Release date, plot, cast, trailer, and all you need to know about the comedy-drama". Retrieved 7 January 2020.
- "What's On TV? Monday 11 November – Sunday 17 November".
- "The Inbestigators S2 Drops on Netflix Worldwide". ACTF. 20 January 2020.
- "New to the ACTF Shop: The Unlisted and The Inbestigators S2".