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Fergus O’Brien steps in as director (the primary season was directed by Chris Sweeney and Daniel Nettheim) however doesn’t twist the dial an excessive amount of. A deceptively gentle opening rapidly turns right into a sequence of twists and turns, transferring alongside at a cracking tempo, the flickering picture of an idyllic escape for Elliot and Helen changed rapidly with the sort of brutal punches that made the primary season so compelling.
The Vacationer additionally has an nearly Coen brothers sense of darkish humour woven via its tough layers; it has echoes of Noah Hawley’s Fargo, or Chris Chibnall’s Broadchurch, or Brad Ingelsby’s Mare of Easttown. It lives in distant and desolate areas the place the virtually unsettling quiet is damaged by the fast-strangling tendrils of big-ticket crime. The darkish tonal notes are deliberately small, however the stakes are very excessive. The mix of the 2 crackles with vitality.
The second season has a troublesome yardstick alongside it – the very compelling thriller of the primary season, which was the gritty outback equal of the important query on the coronary heart of Determined Housewives: “Oh, Mary Alice, what did you do?” Matching that’s unimaginable, even when a lot of Elliot Stanley’s former life nonetheless stays unknown.
And but, it doesn’t take lengthy earlier than Elliot and Helen are separated, with Elliot trapped in a despairing predicament and Helen on his path. The great thing about Harry and Jack Williams as storytellers is that getting from right here to the ultimate episode of the second season shall be something however standard.