SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Red Eye Season 2.

When the ITV drama Red Eye came to Hulu, it had a game cast but the writing left the series struggling to keep its head above water. Season 2 has the same issue: now it’s Martin Compston’s turn to lead the group instead of Richard Armitage, but the six-part series is never as clever as it thinks it is. The big vision on the page doesn’t make it onto the screen.

Creator-writer Peter A. Dowling clearly wants to create a sprawling conspiracy thriller that he can build into a franchise. The hero is still police officer Hana Li (portrayed with borderline cocky confidence by Jing Lusi), but Season 2’s story is new—sort of. There’s another international crisis with massive implications, except now it’s America instead of China involved. There’s another airplane, just as a secondary location instead of the primary one. Dowling has turned the picture just enough to make Red Eye Season 2 seem fresh, yet he’s continuing to hit the same well-worn thriller beats.

Richard Armitage drove Season 1 with his intense, sometimes desperate portrayal of the wrongly accused Dr. Matthew Nolan. The exact same thing happens in Season 2. The best reason to watch Red Eye is Martin Compston as Clay Brody, the head of security for the U.S. Embassy, tightly coiled and just waiting for his moments to explode. Like Armitage, Compston is an old hand in this genre and Brody isn’t much of a stretch for him to play. Dowling tries to add drama involving Brody’s backstory, both with Hana and otherwise, but neither helps much—the big plot twist for his character is one of the misses, narrative-wise. What does help is Compston’s ability to bring depth in scenes where it may not be explicitly scripted (his reaction shots say a lot) and his knowing when to unleash those bursts of energy.

The rest of the cast, however, doesn’t reach that same level so the thriller rarely feels like it’s alive. Again, most of the guest characters are checking expected boxes, such as the boorish American. Even Lusi has a harder time out this go-around. Hana knowing Brody from the police academy is supposed to provide dramatic tension, but it just comes out as petty squabbling that goes on longer than necessary. It’s okay that the protagonists don’t start out on the same side, but there’s only so long they can bicker before it gets tiresome. And while Hana and Brody do eventually help each other, they never entirely gel together. There’s one great emotional moment between the two characters, but it comes so late that one wonders what else could have been done.

That inherently remains Red Eye‘s problem. Dowling is more focused on the twists and turns of the conspiracy than his characters, and so when the plot twists don’t work, the show falls apart. Numerous times across the six episodes, there are head-scratching moments that take viewers out of the story, some of them bigger than others. Why are characters walking out of a room when they’ve just been told there’s something important to see at a crime scene? Shouldn’t they have a greater sense of urgency? Why, as Brody points out, did the two people standing next to a body not call for medical help to at least ensure there was nothing to be done? That’s before the show gets to its bigger reveals, which have varying degrees of success. Suspension of disbelief is inherent to a thriller in the early going, but Red Eye asks viewers to forgive too much.

One of the things that does work incredibly well is a callback to the first season. To say specifically what would ruin the fun, but Dowling’s best idea is to close the loop on Season 1’s story in that way. It’s a nice treat for viewers who have seen both seasons, and adds more punch to the show. That being said, it’s not strictly necessary to have seen Season 1 in order to enjoy Red Eye Season 2; anything viewers need to know gets explained quick, and while that one plot point may be less of an “aha” to a new viewer, it’s still a great twist even without the backstory.

Dowling’s intent to create a bigger franchise is never clearer than it is at the end—but it also prompts the discussion of whether or not Red Eye needed to continue at all. The show may have been better off as a one-shot, six-episode thriller; there’s no shame in that. Compston’s arrival is indeed a massive bonus; there’s also no doubt he’s one of the best actors working in the UK today. And his work as Brody feels like a nice placeholder until the recently announced return of Line of Duty. But even more than Armitage in Season 1, he’s the spark plug keeping the viewer engaged. Red Eye Season 2 is worth watching for Compston fans or those looking for a quick New Year’s binge, but it’s still treading water when it comes to genuine thrills.

Red Eye season 2 is now streaming on Hulu. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Hulu.

Article content is (c)2020-2026 Brittany Frederick and may not be excerpted or reproduced without express written permission by the author. Follow me on Twitter at @BFTVTwtr and on Instagram at @BFTVGram. For story pitches, contact me at tvbrittanyf@yahoo.com.