Hot take: season 2 was great TV.
Part of the mystique of season 1 was the occult references that maybe hinted at something more sinister. But in the end it was a human story about power and the abuse of it by people who think they can play with lives. There is no magic in the end, there are corrupt institutions and there are people who are stuck dealing with them.
Season 2 did mostly the same thing but in a different way. I think the main failure was the setting, Louisiana is a place that isn’t looked at often whereas California is the standard American film and TV setting. The story was complicated, but frankly that makes the case that it’s higher concept tv than most schlock that gets put out. You have to pay attention to more than the flair and the firefights. Season 2 of TD felt a lot like seasons 1–3 of Game of Thrones back when it was trying, it was as if a novel was playing out on TV and sometimes you might need to turn the page back to understand why something matters. Frankly, I enjoy media that doesn’t treat me like an idiot and tells me how to feel. Popular does not always mean high quality.
Mahershala Ali is an great actor and he’s got a sort of infectious happiness about him, but as always actors require a script to work with. I’m not worried about TD season 3, because I didn’t see much of an issue with season 2.
