In this Season 1, Episode 2 review of Netflix’s holiday series, Dash & Lily, I talk about how Lily clearly has mob ties and “family” all around the city. Good luck Dash. Uncle Sal knows what you look like now.
What's in this review
Dash & Lily: Season 1, Episode 2 recap
After enduring the first episode where we learn about twenty-something “teen” Dash, episode 2 explores more of Lily. And, well, we learn she normally has a lot of Christmas spirit. More importantly, we learn she is connected to some mob family in New York City
We find out she refers to the book shop prick from episode one as “Cousin.” She also refers to the Macy’s Santa as “Uncle.”
Conclusion: Mob ties, hands down.
Uncle Sal, the Macy’s Santa, will definitely make Dash’s “disappearance” look convincing. I don’t even know if Dash actually has to hurt Lily. I’m pretty sure he’s just going to quietly whack him.
Well, shit, I haven’t really discussed the plot yet at all in the recap section.
Episode 2 basically shows Lily’s side of episode 1. Besides learning she has deep mafia ties, we also learn:
- Her brother is sassy and one of the best parts of the episode, oh, he also came up with the Notebook Games
- Her parents also suck, possibly worse than Dash’s parents, because they left her on one of her most favorite holidays
- Lily also feels isolated and alone this Christmas
- Lily normally loves Christmas, like most Hallmark channel heroines , but this year, she struggles because her parents left her alone with her “preoccupied” brother
- Lily’s brother and his boyfriend had a helping hand in encouraging Lily to do the scavenger hunt book thing.
- Dash’s best friend secretly helped Lily.
The episode ends with us now knowing more about the origin of these Notebook Games and more about perky and nerdy Lily. It oozes cheesiness, but everyone seems to positively review the series so far.
Dash & Lily: Episode 2, Season 1
Overall
-
Plot
(4)
-
Characters
(3.5)
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Watchability
(3)
User Review
( votes)Husbands Take
Episode 2 is what happens when Netflix breaks a book into a series rather than a single, made for streaming movie. The second installment of Dash & Lily more or less shows episode 1’s events from Lily’s perspective and adds just a bit more details to the plot and about Lily.
Unlike in episode 1, where I spent much of the show befuddled at the choice of actor to play a teen, I could actually believe Lily may be a 16 year old. Also, I took better note of Dash’s friend and he also looks like a teen. It’s amazing.
Episode 2 introduces us to Netflix’s version of Daniel Levy. Sadly, Troy Iwata just does not play a sassy, gay older brother as well as Levy could have. If season 2 happens, I want to see Paul Rudd as the new Dash and Levy as the new older brother. Let’s make that happen Netflix.
Instead, for episode 2, I found myself wondering about Uncle Sal’s (aka Macy’s Santa) mob connections. Frankly, I’m worried about Lily and her family’s ties to the mob. She’s got a “cousin” working at the bookstore and an “uncle” working as a seasonal Santa. Both are portrayed as surly, and, in the case of Santa at least, hostile people.
Uncle Sal reminds me of the Santa from Will Ferrell’s Elf. If it’s been awhile since you saw that, Buddy (Ferrell) described Gimbel’s Santa as a fake. And he accuses him of smelling like beef and cheese, not like Santa.
I image Uncle Sal would smell overwhelmingly of cheap cologne and booze. He too would likely not smell like Santa, though this is 2020 so maybe that’s exactly how Santa would smell.
As a different perspective recap of episode 1, episode 2 of Dash & Lily wasn’t terrible. Wasn’t great. But at least I didn’t feel myself slowly going comatose as the episode wore on. The short run length may have helped with that though.
Of course Lily is the one who loves Christmas. Someone had to. She’s also the one with the positive vibes of the budding relationship, while Dash may be one drink away from being an alcoholic.
It’s not really a shock that Lily’s parents also left her alone for the holidays. She needed a reason to be unhappy about Christmas so she could invent this twisted game with her brother. What normal person would leave a notebook for some random person to find at a bookstore?
But hey she found a depressed soul who decided to play along with her messed games. So yay!? At least they are starting to ask some hard hitting questions, like what do you want for Christmas? And what does she say? I don’ t know, she doesn’t answer.
Well, the episode ends with both Dash and Lily singing the same Christmas song at their homes at the same time. To some, I’m sure that was amazing. For some. I’m not some.
Most of the episode was a bit too cliché, cheesy, and predictable. Except for surly, drunk Santa. His presence provided some amusement for me.
So what will happen next on Dash & Lily? I guess I’ll have to wait 24 hours to find out the answer.
I’m not that excited.
Pros
Its only about 20 minutes long.
We learn more about Lily (that was really important to me)
The Santa threatening Dash reminded me of the Santa from Elf
Cons
Lily’s brother really needs to be Daniel Levy for the proper level of sass.
Still not fully drawn into the story.
Lily’s kind of annoying.
Questions you may have about the series
Who doesn’t like a bunch of random questions and answers about Dash & Lily? I know I love them! Here are some common questions the Internet tells me you are dying to know more about! Enjoy!
Is the series based on a book?
Netflix’s Dash & Lily is based on Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares written by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Joe Tracz created the series, and 21 Laps Entertainment (the company that brought you Stranger Things) produced the series for Netflix. And you can stream it live there.
Where can I watch Netflix’s Dash & Lily?
This can’t be a serious question… Can it?
Netflix. Netflix’s Dash & Lily is available to stream on Netflix. They released it in November of 2020.
You can’t watch the series anywhere else at the moment, but it will eventually be available for wider distribution I’d imagine.
But you could purchase a digital copy of the book the show is based off of, Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares, on GooglePlay, Amazon, or other reading related apps if you want to see where it all began.
When does it come out on Netflix?
Dash & Lily came to Netflix in November of 2020. If you have a Netflix login, you can stream it now. Or you could bum an account login off of one of your friends or family if you are desperate to watch this series and don’t want to pay for a Netflix subscription. Go ahead, they won’t mind.
Will there be a Dash & Lily Season 2?
From what I understand, Netflix may release a second season. But, according to What’s On Netflix, the current status of a second season is still pending. But this makes sense. The show literally just came out. If it flops, Netflix won’t spend the time and money on a second season.
Check out my review of Dash & Lily: Season 1, Episode 1 here.
