Hulu’s 9-Part Laugh-Out-Loud Comedy Is Even Better When It Breaks Its Own Formula

3 hours ago 12

Published Aug 3, 2026, 2:56 PM EDT

Giovana Gelhoren is a High-Trending Topics Writer at Collider, covering the most-talked-about stars, movies, and TV shows. Before joining Collider, she was a Digital News Writer at People Magazine and served as Associate Editor at SheKnows, where she honed her expertise in celebrity coverage and entertainment journalism.

A proud Latina from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Giovana graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Journalism and International Studies. She has interviewed countless celebrities, including Anne Hathaway, Halle Berry, Pamela Anderson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Brenda Song, and is known for her encyclopedic knowledge of film, TV, and pop culture.

In the past couple of years, coming-of-age TV shows have been all the rage. From Overcompensating to Mindy Kaling's latest series Not Suitable for Work, these are shows that follow young adults as they navigate the ups and downs of friendships, relationships, entering the workforce, discovering their sexuality, and much more. Among the most charming new titles in the genre has been Adults, an FX and Hulu series that has Nick Kroll as an executive producer and first premiered on May 28, 2025.

Ahead of the series' second season, which premieres on August 27, Adults surprised its fans and released a 20-minute prequel episode on July 31. The episode, titled "Marathon Day," serves as the origin story for the friend group when its last member, Paul Baker (Jack Innanen), joined the fold. “We’re so excited for the opportunity to show fans how this friend group came to be,” series creators Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw said in a press release to Variety. “We love a good origin story, and we can’t wait for you to see where the radioactive spider bit Paul Baker.” The episode, which inherently flips the script and shows how the series can succeed with one-off story arcs, is also certainly getting fans excited for Season 2.

What Happens in the Prequel Episode 'Marathon Day'?

While "Marathon Day" is a one-off prequel episode, it has a similar format to the series' first season: following the main friend group as they deal with a growing issue/mission/idea from one of them. "Marathon Day" starts off with Anton (Owen Thiele) getting caught in a lie with his coworkers. After struggling to answer a fun fact about himself at work, he lied and said he was a runner. The lie continued for months and now his coworkers are holding up banners at the New York City Marathon waiting for him. Instead of coming clean, however, Anton quickly doubles down and partners up with Samir (Malik Elassal), Issa (Amita Rao), and Billie (Lucy Freyer) to keep the lie going, and fake having completed the marathon.

Along the way, Issa and Samir stop at a coffee shop together and Samir scolds Issa for always going after the wrong men, aka "strays" that always seem to disappoint her. While she's promising not to fall for the same trap again, Paul Baker, after completing the marathon himself, walks in and passes out right in front of them. While the chaos of the marathon lie continues, Paul is secretly on the top floor of Samir's house, where Anton finds him and proceeds to try to steal his foil blanket. In the second-to-last scene of the episode, Paul joins in on the lie, and officially joins the friend group.

'Marathon Day' Proves 'Adults' Has Found Its Comedic Sweet Spot

By changing up the timeline of Adults, and releasing a prequel episode instead, the series proved that it can temporarily break the show’s established timeline without sacrificing its humor, tone or emotional depth. After all, while Season 2 will likely see the main characters of the series as they explore new chapters of their love lives, careers and more, the prequel episode paused all of that and gave a glimpse into one of their member's origin stories instead. And, as viewers who tuned in to the series know, the episode endeared viewers more to Paul Baker, while delivering a series of funny moments and one laugh-out-loud line from Paul Baker at the end. By doing so, the episode continued to highlight the group’s chaotic chemistry while doing what it does best: character development.

Most importantly, the creators of the series were smart in focusing on Paul Baker. While Innanen is relatively new to the acting world, his easy-going, naive character was immediately a fan-favorite after Season 1's release, and the prequel episode capitalized on that. "While it may take a while to find its audience, Adults will teach you something about a new generation and make you fond of Paul Baker," wrote one Season 1 review on Rotten Tomatoes. "In Innanen’s hands, he’s the everyman you didn’t realize you needed." Therefore, while "Marathon Day" proved Adults can expertly pull off one-off episodes, focusing on Paul Baker was a strategic move that put the show's not-so-secret weapon on center stage.

All that said, while fans of Adults continue to wait for the series' Season 2 on August 27, the prequel episode "Marathon Day" gave viewers exactly what they were looking for. With funny moments, a hard-to-believe storyline and a look into the show's most beloved characters, Adults not only proved it can propel the series forward with one-off episodes, but it should be doing so more often.