markwha

So yeah, there's no question that season 2 failed to live up to season 1. While those who played the game were likely expecting this and tempered expectations, those who didn't had a much further distance to fall on the rather big letdown.

I won't waste any time talking about the various controversies in casting choices, agendas and messages that many are busy arguing over in every corner of the internet. So with all that aside, this whole season felt like one big checklist of major plot points which simply weren't significant enough for me to remember or care about 2 years from now when we get the next 10ish episodes that have been teased a bit by the show runners. This season had its share of low points and cringe worthy moments which will be what stick around in my mind and I suspect the same will be for many others.

The really frustrating part is that the show still did have its moments of greatness pop up here and there. 2/7 episodes this season were up there with the prime quality of the first season but all in all, the squeeze isn't worth the juice we get from this kind of setup.

6/10 watchable and skip-able.

This episode had some excellent acting, very good character development and was one of the most beautifully shot episodes so far in the series towards the third act. Two big highlights for me here was Gail Lynden, the psychotherapist and the homophobe for the previous episodes (I can remember his name for the life of me).

Although they're both supporting characters, I really enjoyed both of their parts in this episode. I prefer to keep my reviews spoiler free so I won't dive into great detail, but the town hall scene had me nodding in satisfaction unlike any bit of drama has recently in the show.

I really wish I could remain supportive of Ellie's casting choice as I did in season 1 where I felt Bella Ransey worked reasonably well in the role, but as I suspected for season 2, it's sadly just not the case. In every scene that someone else was the focus, I felt like I was watching a top tier Post apocalyptic Sci-fi thriller. But every scene where Bella is the main centrepiece I just felt like I was watching a pg-13 Disney production science-fi with bad language. I'm sorry to say, she just sticks out like a sore thumb here and this is what keeps this review capped at a hard 8/10 for me, instead of a 9 or perfect 10.

In terms of pacing I felt like it was fittingly slow and very effective at building up suspense for what is to come. There may be those who complain about this, but in my opinion I think the weekly trickle is the cause for this complaint rather than poor pacing. It was done just right and would flow very well if someone were watching multiple episodes at once.

8/10, eagerly waiting for the rest of the story!