Hanna Season 2 Review: A Solid, Twisty Return
After a wonderful film and a successful first season, Hanna has fairly lofty ideals to live up to going into its second season on Amazon Prime Video.
Where the first season has Hanna on a journey of self-discovery, the second season is much more interested in offering her possibility.
The chance to start over, or a chance to belong, are major stepping stones for Hanna to face, and Hanna the show faces them with an exciting season that has a surprising amount of heart for an espionage action thriller.
The story continues immediately from where the first season leaves off, with Hanna and Clara looking to build a new life while their old ones persist and haunt them. The school of young trainees plays a major role this time, with its class building toward becoming just like Hanna on a global scale.
Both stories intersect quickly and become the main thrust of the season, while Mireille Enos’ Marissa tries to do right by Hanna as she eases back into the fold, as well. She is joined by Dermot Mulroney’s Carmichael, an enigmatic figure that always appears to know more than the other person he’s sitting across from.
The season is snappy and driven by both emotion and a deep need to protect. There is a strong bond between Hanna and Clara, and though it’s tested in significant ways over the course of the season’s eight episodes, it becomes the shining force that makes the show work so well.
The offer of getting what you always wanted, a place to belong, is something that every character faces in some way, but especially so for the younger cast. So while some of their choices may feel out of touch or blatantly strange, it is backed up by the notion that they have finally found their home and a sense of belonging that has been absent for far too long.
The gaslighting to get some of them to that point is a little too rampant, proving rather frustrating even if it’s the point. There’s only so many times someone can be lied to before they should theoretically no longer believe anything, and Hanna threatens to reach that point a few times with its story.
The lies come across as too easy to pick apart, but there is an emotional, psychological aspect that allows the belief to be acceptable enough to not damage the show’s intentions. In these character’s eyes, some lies are worth accepting in order to get the thing they always wanted.
The second season is smartly bouncing its characters off one another, as personalities and temperaments clash. As the season goes along, those are used in clever ways, where character is the primary driving force for the need to cover up or to prove something.
The action is a dialed back a little in the process, but this is only so that it becomes like a great punctuation to an event rather than a catalyst to move the story forward. It’s still gripping and exciting when it happens, and uses its locations in fun ways that keep things interesting.
One thing the show plays with more than before is the threat level and sense of danger that comes at any point. This is used to great advantage, especially during the later hours, and helps make the scale of enemy territory feel like it’s increasingly dangerous no matter where they go.
Hanna’s role on the second season is more of an internal journey than before, while also allowing her to reach her full potential. Esmé Creed-Miles handles the double duty with great range, where she readily takes on imposing foes while still delivering on the emotion of her character.
Mireille Enos is a commanding presence and a major highlight this season as her character loses some of the mystery that left Marissa as somewhat difficult to read last time. It’s a more personal need that helps round out Marissa now, which allows Enos to have fun with the shifting allegiances and personal vendetta.
Yasmin Monet Prince also stands out as Clara, where so much of the show’s focus is placed. Her character is like a great chess piece for UTRAX (the outfit training the recruits) and Hanna, and her loyalties and what she wants out of life is played with deep emotion by Prince.
Despite some bumps with stretching characters perhaps a little too thin, Hanna manages to be a solid follow-up that builds on what’s come before and use that to tell a deeper, more investing story.
It’s as much Clara’s story as it is Hanna’s this time, and the show makes that work to its advantage by showing the life they lead through different eyes and different perspectives in the school. The last few episodes are especially well done and use the bumpy moments to really drive home its message of family and caring about one another.
It’s a worthy sequel season, and one that delivers some intriguing, exciting thriller fare.
Are you excited about the new season of Hanna? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Hanna arrives on Friday, July 3 on Amazon Prime Video.
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Kevin Lever
Kevin Lever has been following television closely for most of his life, but in starting to cover it, he has grown a further appreciation. He strives to give the blockbusters their due, and give the lesser known shows a spotlight to find more fans.