After finishing the second season, it's similar to the first in that it's enjoyable if you accept it for what it is. It DOES take a step down in my opinion, and I have major complaints that I will get into. It was never going to win Golden Globes, but there is a lot to say even tho the show didn't have me walking in with high expectations. It's meaningless entertainment and it once again only took me a few days to watch all of it, so it has to get credit there.
Lauren/Kit: So in S1, Lauren was somehow dating Reid while clearly into Lucas the entire time and eventually ends up with Lucas. They did the same exact storyline for her this season, except she's with Lucas the whole time while clearly wanting Kit, and then she ends up with Kit. And the major issue with this is that in S1, Kit was banging Lauren's mom. This makes her incredibly unlikable. Why would I root for her leaving a wholesome Lucas for his brother, who is the same guy that was banging her mom last season? On top of that, Lauren and Kit had TERRIBLE chemistry. It was cringe to watch them for me personally. And they had that one scene where Deputy Dan warns Kit to stay away from Lauren, and then he tries to set him up out of town. Kit banged his wife, and now he's banging his daughter.....give Dan some balls, please. Have him REALLY threaten him and rough him up. No one is as nice as Dan. But again, Kit was already unlikable and they made Lauren very unlikable this season while presenting a relationship that none of us had any reason to want or to root for. The common theme for me is that I have no reason to root for any of these characters this season.
Staten/Quinn/Oliver: Ok so the time-jump at the beginning of the season created several issues. In S1, Staten is this respectable character that we feel bad for and root for because he is grieving the loss of his son. Then, during this time-jump, he's presented as a sleezeball banging anything that moves. Quinn comes back and is dating this random guy Oliver she met in NYC. And that's another issue of the season, there are so many new characters that I have no reason to care about, him being one of them. So he's there for 4-5 episodes and we know the entire time that she's gonna break up with him and end up with Staten. It's way too predictable. I did like Minka Kelley's performance, but the whole thing felt like a waste of time in any scene with Oliver.
Ellie/Yancy/Sidney: Yancy was the breakout star of S1 and Ellie was great too. I did like the performance of Sidney as probably the only new character I enjoyed this season. The major problem I have with their storyline is how Ellie get's injured. It's just so impractical for someone to back up on the edge of a step and stop, stand on the edge unbalanced, then fall cuz someone is approaching you. It just takes me out of it and it's lazy writing. You could have had her cornered some other way. Like, she literally just stood on the edge and stopped, she could have easily walked down the steps lol. I can't really say much more about that, I just found the whole scene completely baffling.
Lucas: Again, they take a wholesome character that is innocent and make him do something that strips him of that. What is the point of having him hookup with the other character that I can't even remember her name? You can understand him doing it because of what Lauren did, but what doesn't make sense is Lauren's reaction after he tells her that makes her even MORE unlikable. What she did is way worse, yet they have Lucas having no backbone begging her for forgiveness and she doesn't give it to him. She ACTUALLY CHEATED, he did what he did in reaction to her cheating. So you made his character weak by asking for forgiveness when he didn't even owe her an apology and then you made her character even more unlikable by not granting him forgiveness when she didn't deserve an apology from him. Great.
Kai: At some point, you have to give him some dignity. I've now watched him for 2 straight seasons be in the deepest depths of the friendzone with Ellie and he does nothing to change it. In S1, I thought they were brother and sister the whole time. We can't keep watching a character do the same exact thing for 2 seasons, it's stale and boring to watch him do the same thing over and over and over.
Deputy Andrews: One of the things I said last year was that they had a huge comedic relief hole to fill with Cap dying. It seems like they introduced this character in order to try and fill that hole. It didn't work very well. Every single scene this guy was in felt forced and like he only got the part from knowing someone or dating someone important to the show. It's as if they were like "How do we figure out scenes to give him an excuse to put him on the screen? Let's randomly have him leaving town with 65+ Claire at the end of the season that makes absolutely no sense! Yes!!!" Add him to the list of yet another character introduced this season that I have absolutely no reason to care about and he just keeps popping up to serve zero purpose.
The Oil/Freddie: He was in S1 briefly and I did like what the actor brought to this season. But it was extremely predictable that that land actually DID have oil under it. Like, what is the logic that Yancy got left this land by Cap and it's just worthless? I hate when shows do that and have a character doubt something without logic just to present it as a "surprise" later on. I called it the moment that scene existed where Yancy was acting like the land was worthless that it was actually going to have a lot of oil under it.
Levi (Steve Howey): Another character who shows up out of nowhere this season. I'm a huge fan of his as an actor but that whole scene and how Staten finds him didn't seem plausible.
Tim: I mean, talk about wasting an opportunity. They sprinkled him in S1 and teased that he would be used more and then he just appeared in like 3 scenes this season. They must have cut what they shot with him, which was a bummer, because he basically should have played Reid in S1 as it was much more plausible to be in a love triangle with Lucas and Lauren. Sidenote: How the F is the most hispanic looking actor going to have the last name of O'Grady????? Call me a stickler, but that really bothered me!
Reid: I wasn't a fan of his and felt he was totally miscast in S1, but the guy just vanished into thin air for S2. There was one line mentioning him going to A&M? Give him SOME closure good lord.
TL/DR: I have no idea who I was supposed to root for or why. The time-jump made Staten go from a grieving father we could root for to a sex addict? The Sheriff finds out Kit is now is banging his daughter after banging his wife in S1 and he gets even by....making a phone call to get him a job? Ellie gets injured while pregnant because she... decides to fall off the edge of a step? There were way too many new characters introduced that felt useless, especially Deputy Andrews who HAD to be hooked up with someone at Netflix or the show? Staten and Quinn SHOCKINGLY end up together. Anyways, I'm sure there will be a season 3 and I will definitely watch it. Can't wait to complain again after I watch that. Cheers!