If you haven’t scheduled time to watch Outer Range season 2 this week, you may want to change your plans.
At a recent press day celebrating the series, we had the chance to speak independently with executive producer and star Josh Brolin and executive producer and showrunner Charles Murray.
They offer a unique look at the upcoming season and what to expect. We assure you that you won’t want to be spoiled before the show airs.
But no worries here.
While we’ve introduced some questions to ask after you’ve had a chance to watch, what we’re sharing now will only whet your appetite to press play and disappear for about seven hours.
In our first conversation, Murray explains how the series is changing and refocusing under his leadership.
While season 1 focused almost solely on one man, Royal Abbott, who kept his deep secrets close to his vest for decades, season 2 of Outer Range will see Royal help others understand what he was going through.
Tonally, the series stays true to the first season with the truth of Autumn’s identity and how she clashes with Royal driving the mystery.
But at the heart of the season will be how hiding the truth from those you love can damage relationships.
This will be explored through the Abbott family as well as the Tillersons, who face another crisis after Billy was shot in season 1.
The families’ stories are intertwined and will be explored in more detail throughout the season.
Wayne Tillerson has lost a child and another is seriously injured, and he’s beginning to believe he has little left to lose.
Murray also tells us how he views faith and metaphysics in Outer Range history and what role science plays in the central mystery of time and what flows beneath the earth.
You can see the first part of our discussion here.
During our second conversation, Brolin shared that after learning they had a second season, he wanted to know exactly what the hole was and where it was going.
He is fully engaged in the scientific aspects of what the hole represents and how it elicits wild behaviors and reactions in people.
The unpredictable nature of exploring such a mystery presents an inherent danger that he finds fascinating.
They even had an actual astrophysicist in the writers room and they started creating rules and boundaries for how the hole worked.
Brolin says that while we’ll understand more, they also wanted to leave some of the wonder and absurdity for the audience to decide for themselves what it means to them personally.
We also discussed how Royal’s search for mercy in Season 1 led him to throw caution to the wind in the finale and put Cecilia in the loop.
After 30 years, Cecilia will discover that the man she thought she knew wasn’t that man at all, and they will recalibrate their relationship with each revelation revealed.
Season 2 will explore how people react when given the opportunity to travel back in time to right wrongs.
What is your relationship with your past and how to reconcile it?
You can see the first part of our conversation here.
Be sure to check out our other Outer Range interviews and come over to TV Fanatic tomorrow for reviews of the entire season as it unfolds.
We recommend that you do not read them until you have had a chance to watch them.
The season raises the bar on every level and you’ll want to experience it for yourself.
Carissa Pavlica is an editor, editor and critic for TV Fanatic. She is a member of the Critic’s Choice Association, enjoys mentoring writers, conversing with cats, and passionately discussing the nuances of television and film with anyone who will listen. Follow her on and email him here at TV Fanatic.
