SPOILER ALERT: The following contains spoilers for The Rainmaker Season 2, Episode 2.
Episode 2 of The Rainmaker Season 2 primarily serves as a massive source of information about the USA show’s new plotlines. Fittingly titled “Cards Up,” the script written by co-creator Jason Richman reveals the next layers in each story. But amongst all the important facts, there are still some good character beats.
The main storyline progresses as Rudy Baylor attempts to get Dot Black appointed as Victor Suffredes’ guardian ad litem—only to see the motion contested by Victor’s atrocious stepfather Chuck Lawson, with Sarah Plankmore acting as his attorney. Rudy loses the motion hearing, but then wins a subsequent reconsideration hearing when he and Deck uncover that Chuck has been misrepresenting himself to the court. The scene in which they search the house for evidence is reminiscent of when they broke into Melvin Pritcher’s hotel room during Season 1, except for the fact that they don’t have to physically break in this time. The double act between actors Milo Callaghan and P.J. Byrne has easily become one of the backbones of The Rainmaker, plus a scene where Deck doesn’t back down from a threat is a great piece of acting from Byrne, showing that his character is more than the funny one.
Now that Rudy fully understands what’s happening to Victor, the audience gets to see more of idealistic, indignant Rudy, which is Callaghan at his best. He’s incredibly convincing when he gets to unleash Rudy—and there will be a lot more of that coming as Richman eventually establishes this season’s overarching conspiracy. It involves a company named Harrowsgate Systems, which privately owns over a dozen juvenile correctional facilities, putting who knows how many children at risk. And sadly, it’s not beyond the realm of plausibility: TV fans should check out the American Greed Season 8 episode “Kids for Cash,” which detailed the 2009 “Kids for Cash scandal.” There’s plenty here for Rudy to sink his teeth into, which is what viewers want to see.
It’s also easy for them to deduce the extent to which Sarah is being manipulated, so it’s great that “Cards Up” has her recognize that as well and use her own initiative to come to the same conclusion Rudy does. For viewers to take Sarah seriously, she can’t be naive like she was in Season 1. She now knows better, and this episode demonstrates that. What the show doesn’t do (yet) is reveal where Sarah is headed. Especially now that she has an idea of what she’s into, how can The Rainmaker successfully explain why she aligns herself with “unscrupulous” individuals a second time? Will it just be that large check she has in hand? That feels like it would be too simple of a motivation. Madison Iseman has the best line in the episode when Sarah tells Megan that “you’re all sociopaths,” which is true but also means Sarah has no excuses this time.
Elsewhere, Bruiser’s storyline plays out largely as The Rainmaker viewers will have predicted. Her ex-husband Tom is in far deeper than he told her; he’s in debt to the Dixie Mafia. Anyone who also watched Justified is familiar with the organization, but Bruiser is stuck representing her ex because the mobster he owes doesn’t want Tom becoming a loose end. With as tough as Bruiser is, there needs to be a good explanation for her continuing to put up with Tom’s nonsense, and being threatened is a pretty good one. Plus, the introduction of Liam O’Halloran as Tom’s star player Boone is a brand-new source of comic relief. O’Halloran has the “aw shucks” character type down pat as Boone faces a grand jury while completely ignorant.
If the Rainmaker Season 2 premiere had a lot of familiar elements, Episode 2 has far fewer of them. It’s Rudy and Deck snooping around for evidence, it’s a reference to Bruiser’s father, it’s Sarah getting another speech from her boss. Richman is still playing well within the structure the show has already built. But “Cards Up” spells out everything that’s going to come in all three of the season’s storylines, and makes a convincing argument for why viewers should care about each of them. Things like Rudy’s continuing friendship with Dot and Rudy once again confronting the facility manager are more examples of The Rainmaker‘s scrappy charm. This episode is laying the groundwork for the greater things that are just around the corner.
The Rainmaker airs Fridays at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on USA. Photo Credit: 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.
