Midway through Season Two, we will be exposed to some of Awesome Show’s most gruesome sights as well as hitherto unexplored depths of tenderness. Marrying the grotesque, the sentimental, and the downright delightfully weird, Episode Five, “Forest,” is like a hike through the woods--dangerous, sometimes uncomfortable, but ultimately, rewarding. Parenthood, as it has been pictured in Awesome Show, is usually explored through the lens of fatherhood.

Building on the madness of “Dolls,” Season Two, Episode Four’s “Coma” amps up the alienation, torment, and existential dread. With a little help from some unscrupulous products, Tim and Eric have to confront greater peril than ever before. Consumerism has long been a fascination with Awesome Show, and nowhere is it more apparent than in this episode

Do you want a danger with your surrealism? Don’t bother with Buñuel’s blasphemy or Dali’s Oedipal ticks. If it’s slow crawling sincere strangeness you want, look no further than the postmodern masterpiece Season Two, Episode Three “Dolls.”

Ahhh, fatherhood. A rite of passage, a state of guaranteed manhood, and source of endless, merciless mockery. Just as Episode One continued the love affair with all things fatherly that began with “Tom Goes to the Mayor,” Season Two, Episode Two, “Dad’s Off,” ups the ante by defining fatherhood in terms of another Awesome Show favorite: unstinting competition.

We’ve made it to Season Two, and I hate to do it, but I have to start things out on a somber note. This episode is dedicated to the memory of Casey Tatum, the 17-year-old star of “Uncle Muscles’ Hour.” There may be winners and losers in this strange, cruel world of ours, but there will never be another one like you, Casey.

It’s been a long, strange ride through Season 1, and we’ve reached the end. Who will win? Who will survive? And what’s going to happen to Casey?

Episode Nine, “Hamburger,” makes use of an extended guest appearance, introduces us to the future Winterman, and gives us an extended look at the barely contained chaos that constitutes the creative process behind an episode of Awesome Show. Awesome Show has looked at the “behind the scenes” ideas of creation, teamwork, and creativity in the past. In Episode Two, “Friends,” the boys experiment with writing a jingle, while in Episode 4, “Salame,” Eric has to take on the burden of “making” the Awesome Show himself.