Season 1
10 episodes Jun 26, 2023 9.6
Average Joe
“Blood is thicker than blood money.”
2023–2026
Returning Series • 2 Seasons • 20 Episodes
Overview
A clue that can save Joe’s family forces Joe and his friends to Africa. From the moment they land chaos erupts and loyalties crumble.
Seasons
2 listed- Status
- Returning Series
- Seasons
- 2 seasons
- Episodes
- 20 episodes
- First aired
- Jun 26, 2023
- Last aired
- Aug 19, 2026
- Networks
- BET+, Paramount+
Next episode: S2 E3 Dead Mobs and Hitmen (Aug 26, 2026)
Latest episode: S2 E2 The Sea Gave Up the Dead (Aug 19, 2026)
Season 2
10 episodes Aug 19, 2026After the explosive events of season one, Joe Washington is trying to move forward when a mysterious threat targeting his family sends him and the gang to Cape Town, South Africa. What begins as a search for answers quickly spirals into a dangerous adventure involving international criminals, powerful enemies and long-buried secrets. As Joe, Leon, Cathy and Touch find themselves hunted across the city, they'll dodge assassins, outrun bounty hunters and attempt to survive a series of increasingly impossible situations that only seem to get more chaotic by the day. Because for Joe Washington, nothing is ever average.
Cast
Reviews
5 min readThe Plumber Who Knew Too Much
I didn’t expect to care about a Pittsburgh plumber with a secret. That’s the kind of premise that usually slides into the background noise of a streaming queue—another darkly comic crime story where an everyman stumbles into danger, cracks a few jokes, and spends the rest of the runtime running from people with guns. But Average Joe lingers in a way those stories don’t.
It’s not just the violence, though there’s plenty of that (a man’s head gets crushed in a car door in the first episode, and the show never lets you forget it). It’s the way the series treats its protagonist’s ignorance not as a punchline, but as a kind of tragic flaw. Joe Washington doesn’t just not know where the money is—he doesn’t even know his father had a second life.
And by the time he figures it out, it’s too late to go back to fixing pipes.
The show’s greatest strength is its refusal to let Joe off the hook. Early on, he’s given a chance to walk away—just hand over the keys to his father’s storage unit and let the mob sort it out. But Joe, being Joe, can’t resist poking around.
It’s not greed that drives him; it’s the gnawing sense that his entire life has been a lie. That’s the kind of motivation that doesn’t fit neatly into a crime thriller’s usual beats. Most shows would make their protagonist a reluctant hero, forced into action by circumstance. Average Joe makes its hero a man who chooses to dig his own grave, not because he’s brave, but because he’s too stubborn to do otherwise.
It’s a small distinction, but it changes everything. When the violence escalates, it feels less like a plot device and more like the inevitable consequence of Joe’s refusal to look away.
Deon Cole sells this with a performance that’s quieter than you’d expect. He’s best known for his comedic timing—those rapid-fire one-liners on Black-ish that made him feel like the funniest guy in the room. Here, he’s often the most subdued presence on screen, his reactions measured, his voice low.
Audience Opinions
Audience 7.4/10
"A violent, twisty dark-comedy crime caper elevated by Deon Cole’s dramatic turn but undercut by some clumsy character writing and a divisive cliffhanger."
The show clicks for many as a tense, funny, bingeable story with an engaging crime setup, premium-feeling production, and a surprisingly layered performance from Deon Cole backed by a capable ensemble. Character-focused flashbacks, the mix of suspense and humor, and the overall atmosphere keep viewers hooked and eager for more seasons, though some find certain characters grating or inconsistently written and feel the finale leaves too much hanging. Opinions range from calling it a complete blockbuster and HBO-level to frustration with annoying side characters and disappointment at how abruptly the first season wraps up.
What viewers praise
- Deon Cole’s dramatic range Cole wins over skeptics by delivering a layered, convincing lead performance that goes far beyond his usual comedy persona.
- Engaging, twisty story The central crime plot and its escalating complications create genuine suspense and keep episodes feeling bingeable.
- Effective dark humor mix The blend of grisly stakes with sharp, offbeat comedy gives the series a distinctive tone that many find refreshing.
- Character-building flashbacks Episode-opening flashbacks add depth to the core cast and help flesh out motivations over time.
- High production value Atmosphere, pacing, and overall execution feel on par with prestige crime shows rather than a low-budget genre piece.
Common complaints
- Annoying side characters Key supporting figures like the best friend, husband, daughter, and a state detective come off as grating or over-the-top to the point of distraction.
- Inconsistent character logic Several viewers are pulled out of the story when Joe and others behave implausibly naive or foolish for the danger they are in.
- Frustrating cliffhanger ending The season closes with major plot threads unresolved, leaving some feeling shortchanged rather than excited for the next chapter.
- Uneven writing quality While the premise and structure land well, individual scenes and dialogue occasionally feel rough or undercooked compared with the show’s potential.
Recommended for
Dark crime dramedy fans Breaking Bad and Ozark lovers Character-driven crime thriller viewers Deon Cole followers Twisty ensemble caper fans Binge-watch crime series seekers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsThey put the plumber on Netflix so BET+ could keep him.
Average Joe never started as a Netflix original. Robb Cullen built the dark comedy for BET+. Deon Cole played Pittsburgh plumber Joe Washington. The first ten episodes landed June 26, 2023. Daniel Fienberg at The Hollywood Reporter compared the coverage gap to Ozark and put a blunt line on the review. The show had the potential to become BET+'s Ozark, he wrote, latestnetflix.com argues, if anyone outside the app even knew it existed. 
The Hill District setting and the $10 million plus a Lamborghini that Joe's dead father stole from a Russian kingpin were the pitch. Cullen has said the story is inspired by his own life. Cole, coming off Black-ish, played an everyman who gets less funny as the bodies pile up. Malcolm Barrett and Cynthia Kaye McWilliams were the ones Fienberg wanted more of. Season 1 still ended with Joe opening a door, yelling "Dear God, no!", and the screen cutting to black. Michael Trucco, who plays cop-with-a-habit Touch, told TVLine before the pickup that it was a show he wished more people had seen. Something, he hinted, was in the works that might fix the eyeballs problem. ,
BET+ renewed it on June 6, 2024, and immediately did a thing streamers almost never do with a living original. Season 1 went to Netflix that summer. Deadline's sources said the dump was marketing. Get eyes on Joe before season 2, which was already booked for South Africa. Cole's quote on the pickup was short. "Hold on tight, A LOT OF ACTION! This one will be crazy. Let's go!" 
Atlanta lost the set. Cape Town got the plot.
John Raulet had rented studio space to BET+ for the first season. He told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution he was disappointed to lose the show. Deb Evans, who runs physical production at DAE Light Media, said the move was creative, not a snub. "As part of the story, we planned to go international with the second season. South Africa presented the perfect opportunity."
What's on Netflix logged the ten-episode first season on the US service on August 15, 2024. Season 2 still belonged to BET+. Then BET+ itself shut down. Paramount bought out Tyler Perry's stake and folded the platform. Average Joe's second season, eight episodes, premiered globally on Paramount+ on August 19, 2026, two at launch, then weekly. Joe, Leon, Cathy, and Touch get hunted through Cape Town. Katlego Lebogang joins as Imani, a young woman tied to Joe's family. Hakeem Kae-Kazim plays crime boss Sipho. McG's Wonderland Sound and Vision is still on the call sheet. ,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWitM3oDDBI
The 2023 show Netflix still carries is a Pittsburgh plumber, a missing Lamborghini, and a BET+ thriller that had to leave home twice to stay on the air.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.