season 2, episode 2, “The Magic Is Back”

Winning Time’s second episode of season two, “The Magic Is Back,” continues to explore that whole “teams vs. stars” thing as Magic Johnson returns to the court for the 1981 season following a knee injury. Last week, we saw how, when he was hurt and not out there racking up points and smiling a lot, Magic had been left utterly alone (at least in the world of this show—he definitely had the support of doctors and physical therapists, if not the support of his team, IRL). This week, we look at what the return of their star does to shift the Lakers’ dynamic and how allegiances are formed, tested, and broken within this structure. We also look, a little bit, at Jerry Buss’ love life/quest for a new mommy figure and Jeanie’s tennis team stuff. It’s that whole teams are families/families are teams theme this show has set up: Both can be messy and unreliable with an…