Jennifer Garner’s Apple TV Thriller Fully Rewrites Itself

About half-hour into the Season 2 premiere of Apple TV’s most underrated slow-burn thriller, The Final Factor He Advised Me, Jennifer Garner’s watchful and pragmatic Hannah Corridor will get attacked in her own residence. At first, the chilling break-in finds her genuinely shaken, however within the moments that comply with, one thing shifts as she fights again. Stepping removed from the simmering tone of the streamer’s debut in 2023, the sequence is not flashy or stylized in a far more suited to Garner’s iconic Sydney Bristow in Alias. As a substitute, it provides the vibe of somebody who has spent 5 years ready for this very second.

This unsettling, edge-of-your-seat second serves because the meat of The Final Factor He Advised Me Season 2. Whereas the primary season was about Hannah being thrown into chaos, the present’s return is extra about what occurs once you’ve been dwelling with that underlying mess for therefore lengthy that it turns into a part of you. In what looks like a very (and tonally) completely different present, it’s virtually as if Reese Witherspoon’s Hi there Sunshine-produced collection, primarily based on the books by New York Instances bestselling creator Laura Daverepresents greater than a mere tweak or reset. The thriller framework continues to be intact throughout Season 2’s eight episodes, nevertheless it’s been constructed into one thing sharper and extra propulsive.

What Is ‘The Final Factor He Advised Me’ Season 2 About?

One of many smartest issues the Apple TV present has carried out is cease pretending that the thriller is the purpose of every little thing. Whereas Season 1 was about Owen’s (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) disappearance and his murky previous, Season 2 doesn’t waste time on setup. As a substitute, we see Owen has been dwelling off the grid for 5 years and dealing undercover for U.S. Marshal Grady (Augusto Aguilera), snapping photographs from rooftops and attempting to dismantle the highly effective and rich Campano household. He additionally sneaks a go to to see Hannah whereas in disguise, however none of it’s ever romanticized. If something, Owen is positioned as a wrecking ball to the steadiness that Hannah and his daughter, Bailey (Angourie Rice), have constructed of their new dwelling in Los Angeles.

Season 2 is mostly a story a few household reuniting underneath stressand Owen’s objective is easy on paper — end the job, get out clear, and return dwelling — however the present by no means pretends that the repair is straightforward. His years-long absence compounds all of the harm of being stored at the hours of darkness following his abrupt exit in Season 1. Hannah and Bailey have been doing effectively on their very own. Bailey is older, extra unbiased, in school, and has a boyfriend, however whereas Hannah maintains a standard life, she’s additionally quietly constructed methods that talk to her intuition for hazard. When she’s attacked early within the first episode, “Cape Cod,” and instinctively fights again, it’s equal elements scary and inevitable. It is a girl who has been creating contingency plans, securing emergency funds, and coaching for self-defense within the park together with her teacher for almost half a decade.

As issues start to get messy and a few mysterious males are in pursuit of the pair (together with two others trailing Hannah and Bailey), the stress isn’t nearly outdoors threats closing in, however quite the interior ones that depend on another person all the time controlling the narrative. With Bailey needing solutions about her mom, she will get combined up with a member of the Campano household, Quinn (Judy Greer), regardless of everybody warning her in opposition to it. Naturally, Hannah is caught within the center, attempting to guard her daughter whereas additionally determining what sort of life they will have with Owen, which is why Season 2 isn’t much less of a whodunit and extra of a pressure-cooker story about whether or not this trio can keep collectively as soon as the reality lastly stops being optionally available.

‘The Final Factor He Advised Me’s Solid Will get a Greater Playground for Season 2

Whereas Garner has all the time been the beating coronary heart of the Apple TV collection, Season 2 provides her much more momentum than Season 1. This is not to say she performs Hannah like an motion star; she additionally balances the character’s fatigue with a functionality that feels extra earned than something. Even when Hannah is calm or considering issues by, Garner provides her a relentless sense of hyper-awareness, like she’s mentally measuring exits and dangers. Quieter beats, particularly in scenes with Rice, are the place she barely has to talk to speak her fears, frustrations, or that type of parental exhaustion that comes from all the time being the accountable one. As a lot as Season 2 belongs to Garner, it’s additionally an enormous improve for Coster-Waldauwhose character was principally a ghost the primary time round and eventually will get to be an actual individual. Whereas a few of his decisions would possibly rile up Hannah and Bailey, there’s a quiet desperation to Coster-Waldau’s efficiency because the prodigal patriarchwho must be 10 steps forward, even in scenes that really feel extra private inside the household.

Whereas Rice isn’t as entrance and middle as final season, she does numerous emotional heavy lifting. Bailey spends time caught between a must go ahead, however can be unable to cease pulling on the previous, and Rice performs this rigidity flawlessly. She’s particularly good at letting Bailey’s craving present within the area between a beat that lingers too lengthy or a glance that turns from curiosity to harm in a break up second, notably in moments with Greer and an unrecognizable Rita Wilsonwho performs Hannah’s estranged and emotionally distant mom, Carole. Wilson refuses to melt her character for likability, which is strictly why she works within the small dose we get.

Greer is one in every of The Final Factor He Advised Me‘s most electrical additions this season. With an instantaneous edge to each scene she’s in, her character has a welcoming heat to her interactions with Bailey, and Greer performs pleasant risk with the correct quantity of management and depth. Her simple chemistry with Garner is a lot enjoyable to observe, and whereas diehard 13 Occurring 30 followers will love seeing them work together, that type of real-life friendship can run the chance of their scenes changing into one-note. That’s by no means the case right here. As a substitute, every second between them is outlined by a push-and-pull crammed with mistrust and recognition between two ladies who perceive one another greater than they wish to admit. Supporting Greer are unbelievable performances from Luke Kirby as her erratic and power-hungry little brother, Teddy Campano, and her chilly, watchful father, John Nobleas Frank Campano. The pair’s presence hangs over the collection, by no means as soon as feeling like cartoon crime bosses and making issues really feel rather a lot greater and extra harmful than ever.

‘The Final Factor He Advised Me’ Elevates Its Writing in Season 2

One of many largest enhancements in The Final Factor He Advised Me this time round is how the writing stops tiptoeing into a few of Season 1’s extra atmospheric, moody beats. In fact, the present had an efficient hook, nevertheless it usually felt prefer it was stretching itself to protect its total puzzle with out transferring the story ahead. Whereas Season 1 might have gotten away with being a film for Apple TV, Season 2 earns its standing as a collection. This time, the plots and characters transfer with extra route and goal. The pacing can be rather a lot tighterwith increased stakes that really feel earned as an alternative of rigorously plotted. Even when the season leans into extra motion or bigger set items like a battle scene or even a automobile chasethe writing by no means loses sight of the story’s emotional middle.

One other factor that viewers would possibly admire is how the season builds suspense not by a thriller, however by the characters’ decisions. The hazard isn’t nearly who’s following Hannah or Bailey, however in how they’re compelled to depend on folks they will’t actually belief. The present pulls at threads that additionally alter the story’s tone, making a sharp paranoia that offers the season a faint fringe of noir by morally murky situations, shadowy figures, and choices that all the time include a price.

Though The Final Factor He Advised Me Season 2 is knowledgeable by Dave’s novels, it’s clear the present has grown past the boundaries of the supply materials, together with taking some liberties in adapting the e-book for the small display. As this season deepens its conflicts and expands its world, nonetheless, there are some moments the place it depends too closely on explaining itself. A few of it’s needed readability, however this narrative housekeeping additionally interrupts the season’s momentum. Total, The Final Factor He Advised Me Season 2 is much more assured in taking dangersemphasizing the rarity of a follow-up that doesn’t simply proceed the story however energetically improves the complete present to this point.

The Final Factor He Advised Me Season 2 premieres February 20 on Apple TV.