Looking for Alaska episode 2 review: Pranks and punishments
By Meg Dowell
Miles is in hot water after a series of pranks on campus gets the unwanted attention of Culver Creek’s dean — aka The Eagle.
This review contains spoilers from episode 2 of Looking For Alaska — come back after you’ve watched the episode if you don’t want to know what happens!
Here’s the thing about Hulu’s Looking for Alaska: When you watch more than one episode in a row (as I’m doing now), it all starts to feel like one giant movie. You start to forget where one episode ends and the next one begins.
This is wonderful. But also, where am I? Who am I? Is it 2019 or 2005? Who knows?
The war between Miles & Co. and the Weekday Warriors has escalated. But only so many pranks can ensue before someone gets caught.
The second episode of the eight-episode series moves on from the pilot’s heavy exposition and leans in on solidifying the relationships between each character. It does this, of course, through a seemingly endless series of pranks that eventually land Miles in big trouble.
Or what would have been big trouble, if his friends hadn’t swooped in to save him.
Because The Eagle found Miles’ keys — previously thought lost — he is the only suspect The Eagle can nail down and blame for the pranks students have been pulling on each other throughout the episode. If Miles tells him who else has been involved, however, he is all but guaranteed a lighter punishment than he will receive claiming to have acted alone.
He chooses not to rat out his friends, of course — or even his enemies for that matter. Which lands him in front of a jury made up of students who are said to care deeply about the school’s strict rules.
Little does Miles know that each of his friends has made some kind of agreement with each juror in exchange for a much lighter sentence than may have otherwise been given. Alaska, in true Alaska fashion, agreed to set Lara (juror No. 7) up on a date with him.
Miles gets off with two weeks of kitchen cleanup and an even more troubled relationship with the dean. And, maybe, a girlfriend.
By the end of the episode, everyone agrees to cool down on the pranks — for now — if only to save themselves from having to stand in front of a jury like Miles.
According to Alaska, the Weekday Warriors lost. For now. But nobody really wins, since both Miles and Alaska are on The Eagle’s bad side. Which is, I can pretty much guarantee you, going to come back to haunt them later on.
The show has now set up the budding relationship (it would be iffy to call it a romance at this point) between Miles and Lara. Alaska is now also aware that a certain someone may or may not have feelings for her.
But of course she has a boyfriend! Who she totally loves! Right? Right?
It also looks like things between The Colonel and Sara are going better than expected. This is an interesting twist on the “enemies to lovers” trope since they were already dating even though they couldn’t stand each other, but are now starting to, at the very least, enjoy each others’ company.
Next up: Miles and Lara’s likely to be awkward date (facilitated by Alaska, of course) and the bonds between other characters growing stronger, probably thanks to the Smoking Hole and everyone banding together to avoid The Eagle’s watchful eye.
Please don’t break our hearts yet. We’re not ready.
Next. John Green loves Hulu’s Looking for Alaska. dark