SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for Anna Pigeon Season 1, Episode 2.

The second episode of Anna Pigeon makes an impression on USA viewers in a totally different way than the first. Where the series premiere was fun and dramatic, “Hide + Seek” is a more emotional story in which Anna turns out to be almost a secondary character. It proves that this show is going to try different things, while doing enough to hold onto the series’ significant debut audience.

There are some elements from Episode 1 that do return: Kim Coates pops up for two scenes to remind everyone to hate Jeremiah Paulson, and Molly Pigeon once again provides advice to her sister. It’s also interesting to note that not a lot of time appears to have lapsed since the premiere, since the opening scenes include Anna’s colleagues celebrating her decision to stay at Glacier National Park. If the rest of the season similarly happens within a compressed timeframe, Anna’s going to turn into the Jessica Fletcher of the National Park Service, constantly stumbling into trouble.

But “Hide + Seek” veers away from the action-packed murder whodunit and instead is a quieter story about a family that disappeared off the grid. Sure, there’s a moment of some serious action when Jake Davies firebombs the ranger station so that he can escape with his kids, but that’s the biggest “wow” scene. This is about Jake, his children Amanda and Austin, their late mother Sarah and Sarah’s mother Lori. Anna of course drives the story; she helps find Amanda at the beginning, and unravels that the family isn’t who they appear to be. Yet when it comes down to brass tacks, she’s more of a facilitator than anything. The focus of the script is rightfully on the family as they face their future. (Anyone who needs another reason to love Tracy Spiridakos only needs to watch her performance in the final fifteen minutes of this episode; she takes a step back to allow the guest actors to be the center of attention. She even gives them their flowers in the post-episode behind-the-scenes segment.)

It’s a brave thing, after the show hooked a sizeable audience with Anna’s heroics, to follow up with a story where she isn’t the star. It’s also a sign of Anna Pigeon‘s potential longevity. The best procedurals—whether they’re crime dramas or medical shows or anything else—ensure that their guest characters are fully developed and worthy of the audience’s attention. They aren’t just cases for the heroes to solve; their stories matter to viewers, so the impact they have on the main characters makes sense, and the whole world of the show comes alive. “Hide + Seek” proves Anna Pigeon can do that, including with the animals it features; those are real eagles. After all, it would be a bit hypocritical for this show to want fans to appreciate nature and then CGI nature.

The guest cast is wonderful all around, particularly Roger LeBlank as Jake Davies; he starts off seeming incredibly shifty, but by the end the audience can see and hear how much Jake loves his kids—which is critical because that’s Anna’s whole argument. If the viewer doesn’t believe Jake, or if Jake turns out to be a liar, then Anna’s optimism is misplaced and it’s a letdown for everyone. Lea Thompson shows off her directing talents again with how easily she can bring the pace of the entire show down and let everyone sit in these emotional moments, such as Austin and Amanda taking Lori to see Sarah’s gravesite. And this is a well thought-out script that leaves room for those moments, and doesn’t try to force more humor or potential romance just because the last episode had them. In fact, this episode’s jokes peter out early on (although Anna getting ambushed with a cake is hilarious).

There are still a few growing pains. Spiridakos’ narration as Anna is a far better way to end stories than the needle drops that have preceded it in both episodes. Many TV shows, not just this one, rely on pop music as a way to make a statement—but it’s not necessary here because of using Anna to create that framing device. Likewise, is the show going to utilize Anna’s nightmares as a way to drop hints about what happened to her late husband? If so, that’s going to get distracting very quickly. It’d be much more effective to just tell a straightforward story, because the payoff isn’t in guessing who killed Zach; it’s the emotional reward of Anna getting that closure.

But in general, “Hide + Seek” is a strong second episode. It shows viewers that Anna Pigeon can tell more than one kind of story, and that the writers are committed to building out the world around Anna, too. She’s a hero, but she doesn’t always have to be the hero. And this show, for all its great humor, can also break the audience’s heart.

Anna Pigeon airs Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on USA. Photo Credit: Michelle Faye/Courtesy of Versant Media.

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.