I really enjoyed Netflix season 2, with the exception of The Day Time Ended, which just felt slow and lethargic. Even the riffing couldn't save it. But otherwise I find myself wanting to rewatch these episodes more than I do with season 1 (or season 11 I guess is more accurate). I think the new cast has finally come into their own and established good pacing and chemistry. Some of these episodes are instant classics and I'd rank them up with the best of classic MST3k.
I think Lords of the Deep and Mac & Me are the standouts of this season, although Atlantic Rim is also pretty hilarious. I don't know, hard to pick a favorite because I also really loved Killer Fish, particularly toward the third act. Interesting to see how they adapt their riffing style to the faster pacing of Atlantic Rim. It reminds me of rifftrax's riffs on more recent blockbusters and mockbusters. The riffing on the male lead in Lords of the Deep was a constant source of amusement. Also the villain with his overly melodramatic performance, who was even an amusement without the riffing taken into consideration.
Initially I was upset this season would only feature 6 movies, but I think overall that worked out better. Emphasis on quality vs quantity. I also hope it means less time between new season release dates. Overall, this a leaner season. Far less emphasis on stuff like celebrity cameos in the host segments, which just felt pointless and gimmicky to me in the last season, and it crowded out the series regulars, whereas with season 2 I felt the main cast were able to just focus on being themselves and establishing a nice chemistry/dynamic. The one major 'celebrity' cameo this time was just an old cast member, which added to this series feeling more like a continuation or soft reboot than a remake or "hard reboot" of the original mst3k. I do hope other old cast members will be appearing in future seasons. I'd like to see Dr Forrester and TV's Frank make appearances. Also would be cool to see Joel and Mike show up appearing as their characters from the old series.
I had not seen Mac & Me since childhood, so at first I was skeptical and thought "why are they doing well known films like this". However, I didn't realize what a terrible film it really is (childhood nostalgia goggles I guess), so it was a great fit for the show. It really is pretty stupid, like how do the aliens get sucked into that satellite? Are they shrunken? how the hell do they all fit? How does what appears to be a fairly primitive race living in a rock world with no apparent structures or technology happen to have straw technology for drinking liquid from under the planet's surface? How was it that a film backed by a major studio and made in an age when prosthetics and practical effects were at their zenith featured such poorly made alien costumes and makeup?