In the opening moments of Hulu's Deli Boys Season 2, the Dar brothers—Raj (Saagar Shaikh) and Mir (Asif Ali)—are back where it all started: their family's Pakistani bodega, ABC Deli. But this time, they're not just stocking shelves. Armed robbers in Benjamin Franklin masks (which the brothers hilariously mistake for 'White Madea') storm in, and Lucky Auntie (Poorna Jagannathan) screams at them to hide the dirty cash. The Dars have graduated to 'Porsche money in the laddus' territory, a laugh-out-loud testament to their gloriously shoddy organized crime operation. This season, the nepo babies inherited an empire, but running it? That's a whole other disaster.
The six-episode sophomore season, titled 'Wealthy Boys,' wastes no time establishing its rhythm. After last year's one-disaster-after-another setup, Season 2 lets the Dars swing wildly and hope something lands. The shorter episode count—just six half-hour installments—feels compressed for a world this rich, but the trade-off is a tight, sharply paced binge that keeps its best instincts intact: sharp jokes, stellar performances, and a specific cultural heartbeat beneath all the criminal shenanigans.
Drowning in Dirty Money
While most crime shows glamorize money laundering, Deli Boys plays the opposite angle. Mir, Raj, and Lucky now have too much dirty cash and nowhere to clean it. In just one year, DarCo has become Philly's top coke distributor—which sounds powerful until every sketchy criminal in the city starts jacking their product. To keep the empire moving, the Dars turn to Max Sugar (Fred Armisen), a casino mogul and money launderer whose connection with Lucky quickly gets complicated.
Creator Abdullah Saeed, along with executive producers Jenni Konner and Michelle Nader, piles on the headaches with charm. Raj is consumed by revenge against Ahmad Uncle (Brian George), Mir obsesses over pushing DarCo into respectable territory via a golf course deal, and Lucky manages the push-and-pull between the boys and her growing dynamic with Max. Meanwhile, Philly D.A. Andrew Chadwater (Andrew Rannells) sees the Dars as his ticket to winning the mayoral election, turning their coke business into a political target.
What keeps this shorter season so engaging is how personal it all feels. The boys still mistake impulse for strategy—a rookie move for two guys trying to figure out their place in this world. With Max becoming another partner in DarCo and Chadwater weaponizing their drug business, Season 2 keeps finding new ways to make success feel like its own punishment.
A Stellar Cast and Dangerous New Energy
The cast never plays their roles too broadly, even when the situations become absurd. Jagannathan, Ali, and Shaikh make the comedy hit hard while keeping scenes emotionally real. Jagannathan remains the show's biggest weapon—a queen who balances different tones at once, letting Lucky's reactions do the work with a glare, a deadpan pause, or sheer exhaustion in her voice. Ali gives Mir an anxious ambition that feels one bad decision from collapse, while Shaikh's Raj leans into emotional volatility and wounded pride. Their brotherly chemistry gives the show a fun, charming buddy crime comedy vibe.
Fred Armisen joins as Max Sugar, and he's weirdly unsettling in the best way—calm, soft-spoken, and hilarious without chasing the joke. His chemistry with Jagannathan is one of the season's greatest surprises. The supporting cast also shines, including Rannells, who is just as delightfully smarmy as ever.
If you're looking for a crime comedy that balances absurdity with heart, Deli Boys Season 2 is your next binge. For more underrated streaming gems, check out our review of Peacock's spy comedy 'Intelligence'. And if you're in the mood for a darker crime saga, Denzel Washington's 'The Equalizer' trilogy hits Netflix in May 2026.
