Rob Lowe thinks John Owen Lowe’s appearance in ‘Unstable’ season 2 is reminiscent of his character from ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’

Netflix’s favorite father-son comedy, Unstableis back for a new season! Created by John Owen Lowe, Rob Lowe and Victor Fresco, the series follows eccentric biotech genius/billionaire Ellis Dragon (Rob Lowe) who finds himself in a downward spiral after the death of his beloved wife and can no longer work. His troubled CFO and girlfriend Anna (Flea bag(Sian Clifford) lures his blasé but brilliant son Jackson (John Owen Lowe) back to the West Coast to join his father’s company and repair their relationship.

In Season 2, Jackson struggles to find his place and voice in his father’s world. Jackson changes his look and goes to work at a biotech start-up run by the charismatic Peter (New girl‘s Lamorne Morris). “There were different inspirations” for Jackson’s longer hair and earrings, says John Owen. “I wanted to show Jackson was in a different state of mind.” Father Rob thinks Jackson’s new style is reminiscent of his iconic St. Elmo’s fire character. “A Lowe with long hair and an earring? I wonder where…” Rob said with a grin.

In addition to engaging in a brutal tennis match — which John Owen enjoyed — the father and son get a chance to explore the alternate personas of their characters — fake real estate agents Ron Tabasco and Jason Dargon — in one of the duo’s favorite episodes on the show. “It’s an instant classic,” Rob raved. John Owen agreed, adding, “It was fun for me personally and selfishly to play a version of myself that was exaggerated and a little bit more heated with Mr. Tabasco.”

DECIDER spoke briefly with Lowe’s about Jackson’s earrings, John Owen’s dominance on the tennis court, and why their show is one of the “few comedies that are actually comedies” on TV right now.

DECIDER: John Owen, I want to talk about Jackson’s new look in season 2. I saw the longer hair and the earrings. I absolutely love it!

ROB LOWE: I just have to say… the long hair, the earring, he doesn’t look like me at all St. Elmo’s fire.

JOHN OWEN LOWE: You’re so…

RL: You’re talking about a Lowe with long hair and an earring? I wonder where… I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt!

It’s great! John Owen, how did you develop Jackson’s physical transformation in Season 2?

JOL: Well, I think you just heard a little bit of it (laughs). There were different inspirations. (To Rob) I think I hear a new one from you every day. You told me I look like the lead singer of what band…?

RL: Recently? Lover Boy. That’s when you wear the headbands.

JOL: George Michael too. I also often hear that I (gestures to Rob) stole his look from St. Elmo’s firea movie I’ve never seen, so that can’t possibly be true (laughs). Thanks for pointing that out. I wanted to do something different and show Jackson in a different frame of mind. And I had, selfishly, changed my look a little bit.

That looks good!

JOL: I’ll say, anecdotally, I got a phone call from my mom yesterday and she said… (To Rob) You know this?

RL: No.

JOL: She called me and said, “I think you should take the earring out for the press tomorrow.” And I was like, “What? Why?”

RL: (Laughs) What was her…?

JOL: So, if anyone’s worried that I’m being over-educated… things are going really well here.

I get it. You two get to do a lot of wild stuff together in season 2. What was more fun: playing tennis against each other or role-playing at the real estate convention?

JOL: For me, always tennis. Really anything that’s competitive and that I can beat him at, which is most things now. That’s very healing for me.

RL: Yeah, he’s very, very excited about the fact that a 28-year-old in the prime of his life can physically beat a 60-year-old man. He takes that and runs with it (laughs). A win is a win. When we get to play versions of each other in an alternate universe, when we’re taking each other on as realtors, that’s one of my favorite things about the show.

Ron Tabasco is perhaps one of the greatest fake personas in recent pop culture history. Can we talk about the origins of the character?

RL: I mean, when Johnny, Andrew Gurland, and the whole writing team presented me with the idea of ​​Ellis being a fake real estate agent, I was like, “Excuse me, but what am I going to do?” And then Johnny said, “Yeah, you’re going to be Ron Tabasco.” And I was like, “Oh, you had me at Ron Tabasco.” Any time I can play a character named Ron Tabasco, I’m in.

JOL: It’s a spicy name.

RL: It’s a spicy name. It’s an instant classic. What do you think of it?

JOL: That was definitely our favorite script in the writers room. Ron Tabasco and the unforgettable Jason Dargon.

RL: Jason Dargon. Worst name ever.

It was fun to watch Jason Dargon take on Ron Tabasco.

JOL: That was fun. It was fun for me personally and egotistically to play a version of myself that was exaggerated and a little bit more heated towards Mr. Tabasco.

RL: For me, that episode is the heart of the season. This show is silly, absurd, subversive and hopefully smart. There are very few comedies on TV right now that are actually comedies. The episode “Rob Tabasco” is a really good example of what our show is about.

All 8 episodes of Unstable are now available to stream on Netflix.