Clone High Review: The Clones Are Back For A Smart And Funny Second Season

"Clone High" was a clever, silly animated show about genetic clones of famous historical figures — like Abe Lincoln, George Washington, and Marie Curie — getting sent to high school for an experiment. It served as a parody of high school dramas of the early 2000s like "Dawson's Creek" and "The O.C." And yet, the show quickly built an entertaining high school story of its own that was just as compelling, with the high concept shenanigans also letting the interpersonal romances breathe and shine.

The show was unceremoniously canceled by MTV due to both low ratings and protests about the portrayal of Gandhi in the series. Since then, creators Bill Lawrence, Phil Lord, and Chris Miller have all gone on to do rather impressive things. Lawrence co-created "Ted Lasso," and Lord and Miller helped revolutionize American animation with "Into the Spider-Verse."

But now, the clones are finally thawed, and "Clone High" is back, baby! The revival — from Lawrence, Lord and Miller, and co-showrunners Erik Durbin and Erica Rivinoja — now airing on another dying platform — HBO Max — feels both like the same show from the '00s, and also a fresh look that mixes the old show with everything that has changed in animation and pop culture, as well as everything Lord and Miller have learned in their live action and animation career. The result is one of the best shows of the year, regardless of medium.

We pick up literally where we left off, with the clones frozen at prom. They get thawed by a shadowy organization hoping to groom them into leading the world, because our current leaders are less than ideal. The problem is that the high school didn't exactly stop in 2003. It carried on, with new young clones.

We find Lincoln (Will Forte), Joan of Arc (Nicole Sullivan), JFK (Chris Miller), and Cleopatra (Mitra Jouhari) having to coexist with the new kids and discovering that popularity has changed in the past two decades. Like "21 Jump Street," the show mines a lot of fantastic jokes about the generational gap. The school is ruled by artist Frida Kahlo (Vicci Martinez), Harriet Tubman (Ayo Edebiri), who is anxious about the legacy she represents, would-be influencer Confucius (Kelvin Yu), and Topher Bus (Neil Casey), who hides the fact that he's the clone of Christopher Columbus.

The first two episodes hit the ground running by mostly carrying over the character arcs of the first season — specifically Abe trying to confess his love for Joan as she enters a relationship with JFK. Some of the plots here are reminiscent of the first season, like an episode about midterms bearing a resemblance to the SAT episode of season 1. This is not a detriment to "Clone High," because the show takes the opportunity given by the cyclical nature of school life to show new angles on previous ideas, making the 20-year room between seasons part of the joke.

For instance, the first episode is all about being canceled, as Lincoln realizes it's not okay to say certain things anymore, while JFK's sex craze is celebrated as sex positivism. The show is not preachy about the generational gap, but finds humor in the sudden clash of cultures, even in the character designs, with the new characters having modern looks and bright colors. There are even new pop culture references, like an exquisite joke that echoes "Malignant."

The visuals remain as sharp as ever, with the UPA-inspired art style serving as a fantastic counterpart to today's animation landscape. Indeed, the show keeps its angular style, with flat but very stylized character designs, only with more expression of movement thanks to advances in animation. The result is visually striking, with bold colors, distinctive backgrounds, and memorable character designs.

Just as "Clone High" found its way to all of Lord and Miller's projects as Easter eggs and references, the duo brings everything they've learned working on TV and film to this new season, making it a celebration of their work as a whole. "Clone High" is back and better than ever. 

The first two episodes of "Clone High" launch on Max on May 23, 2023 with two new episodes airing each Thursday after that.