It’s been over a year now since we last left Todd Margaret, the endearingly pathological energy-drink salesman who wreaked havoc on London in “The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret.”
The good news is that nothing has changed.
Season 2 of “Todd Margaret,” premiering Jan. 6 on IFC, picks up right where Season 1 left off, with Todd’s (David Cross) web of lies submerging him into even deeper hot water — with darkly comedic consequences.
In Season 1, Todd, a sad-sack office temp with no discernible talent — save for prevaricating — was sent to London by his foul-mouthed boss, Brent Wilts (Will Arnett), to sell Thunder Muscle, a slightly tainted energy drink that’s actually a front for a shadowy conspiracy run by Dave (Blake Harrison), Todd’s seemingly benign British assistant.
(Season 1 of “Todd Margaret” will be out on DVD Dec. 27 and explains it all.)
Cross, who’s appeared this season on ABC’s “Modern Family” — and is perhaps best-known as “never-nude” thespian Tobias Funke on “Arrested Development” — says “Todd Margaret” will definitely end its run in February with the conclusion of Season 2.
“I always said this show was going to be finite, with the story having a beginning, middle and end, and I’m very thankful we got to do that,” he says. “It’s particularly gratifying to talk to people who kind of stuck with [the show] and realized, ‘Oh, wait a second, there’s more going on here.’
“I don’t want to sound pretentious, but people kind of sussed out that we’re not a standard comedy show, where the characters go around and are goofy . . . There’s a story involved and a story that’s not open-ended — and will come together in late February.”
Part of Todd’s “charm,” to some, is his guileless, extremely un-PC-like behavior. Last season, he pretended he was deaf (complete with offensive sign language and a “deaf voice”) to infiltrate the House of Commons; this season, he unapologetically convinces an acclaimed chef that his “friend” — actually his unrequited love, Alice (Sharon Horgan) — is mentally challenged (though Todd doesn’t use those particular words).
“So many people have said that Todd is really unlikeable and hateable, but I don’t think he’s hateable,” Cross says.
“I don’t like him in the sense that he’d be infuriating — I wouldn’t spend more than five minutes with this guy — but I think, albeit often for selfish reasons, he’s well-meaning.
“He doesn’t want to see anyone get hurt. Yes, he’s deluded, but I guess the mitigating factor is that he means well.”