If you haven’t set time aside to watch Outer Range Season 2 this week, you might want to change your plans.
On a recent press day celebrating the series, we had the chance to talk with executive producer and star Josh Brolin and executive producer and showrunner Charles Murray independently.
They offer a unique look at the upcoming season and what to expect. We assure you that you will not want to be spoiled before the show airs.
No worries here, though.
Although we did sneak in some questions to run after you’ve had a chance to watch, what we’re sharing now will only whet your appetite to press play and disappear for seven hours or so.
In our first conversation, Murray discusses how the show changes and refocuses under his guidance.
While Season 1 focused almost singularly on a man, Royal Abbott, who had held his deep secrets close to the vest for decades, Outer Range Season 2 will find Royal helping others understand what he was going through.
Tonally, the show remains true to the first season with the truth of Autumn’s identity and how she butts heads with Royal driving the mystery.
But at the season’s core will be how holding truth back from those you love can damage relationships.
This will be explored through the Abbott family as well as the Tillersons, who are facing another crisis after Billy was shot in Season 1.
The families’ histories are interwoven, which will be explored further during the season.
Wayne Tillerson has lost one child, and another is gravely injured, and he’s beginning to believe he doesn’t have much left to lose.
Murray also tells us how he views faith and the metaphysical within the Outer Range Story and what role science plays in the central mystery of time and what’s flowing beneath the land.
You can see the first part of our discussion here.
In our second conversation, Brolin shared that upon learning they had a second season, he was interested in figuring out exactly what the hole was and where it went.
He’s wholly engaged in the scientific aspects of what the hole represents and how it instigates in people some wild behavior and reactions.
The unpredictable nature of exploring such a mystery presents an inherent danger he finds fascinating.
They even had an actual astrophysicist in the writers’ room, and they set about creating rules and boundaries for how the hole functions.
Brolin indicates that while we’ll get more understanding of it, they also wanted to leave some of the wonder and absurdity up to the audience to decide for themselves what it means to them personally.
We also discussed how Royal’s search for grace in Season 1 led him to abandon caution in the finale and bring Cecilia into 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 that’s revealed.
Season 2 will explore how people react when they have the opportunity to travel through time to right wrongs.
What’s your relationship with your past, and how do you reconcile it?
You can see the first part of our conversation here.
Be sure to check out our other Outer Range interviews and to come by TV Fanatic tomorrow for reviews of the whole season as it unfolds.
We recommend you don’t read those until you’ve had a chance to watch.
The season raises the bar on every level, and you’ll want to experience it firsthand.
Carissa Pavlica is the managing editor and a staff writer and critic for TV Fanatic. She’s 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 X and email her here at TV Fanatic.