NOS4A2 returns with the second season in just a few weeks. Ashleigh Cummings returns as Vic McQueen in this modern day vampire story. As seen in the trailers, Zachary Quinto returns as Charlie Manx and this time, he’s out for revenge.
Based on the novel NOS4A2 by Joe Hill, the story follows Vic, a young woman with a supernatural ability and Manx, an immortal being who feeds on the souls of children. At the end of season one, Vic defeated Manx by blowing up the Wraith and causing Manx to wither away. Lou Carmody (Jonathan Langdon), an innocent bystander, saves Vic from the explosion and takes her to the hospital, where she learns she’s pregnant.
Manx was also saved and taken to the hospital. At the beginning of season two, Manx is in a coma. His sidekick Bing Partridge (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) evades the police and assumes another identity. Maggie (Jahkara Smith) used her Scrabble tiles to find Bing, but his trail went cold. Before it’s all over, a mechanic gets his hands on the burnt up Wraith, bringing it to life, and putting a little life back into Manx as well. As for the magical motorcycle, Manx burned it so Vic wouldn’t be able to access her bridge.
RELATED: Read All NOS4A2 Season 1 Recaps Here
NOS4A2 season two picks up eight years later. The first half of the season is basically setting up round two of McQueen vs. Manx. We start with a catch up episode. Vic and Lou are in a relationship living in Colorado with Vic’s son, Bruce Wayne McQueen (Jason David), lovingly known as Bats. He prefers to be called Wayne. Although life seems good for Vic, she is still dealing with trauma from her first battle with Manx. Christmas time is especially bad.
Vic’s PTSD intensifies when the news reports that Manx is finally dead. Despite the report, Vic is the only person who believes Manx is still alive. She turns to Maggie who confirms that the Wraith is dead. Maggie is also living a good life. She is in a relationship with an FBI agent and she still works at the library. It turns out that using her tiles to find answers is more detrimental for Maggie these days. So she never found Bing. Bing is searching for the Wraith, knowing the car is a lifeline for Manx.
We also get a glimpse at what’s going on at Christmasland. With Manx indisposed, the children, led by Millie Manx (Mattea Conforti), are finding new ways to entertain themselves. While Millie is more concerned about her father. Obviously Manx wakes up and with Bing’s help, he returns to his youthful self. Manx has much to catch up on, but it takes no time at all for him to find out about Wayne McQueen.
This is where the story really takes off. Manx is dead set on hurting Vic. His revenge scheme is to take Wayne, the only person who Vic cares about. Throughout the first few episodes, Vic is struggling with her parenting skills. So is Wayne. Manx uses their strained relationship to try and drive a wedge between Vic and Wayne. But Wayne is more like his mother than you think.
NOS4A2 season two has some slow moments, but the fifth episode completely makes up for it. I found myself on the edge of my seat during episode five, anxious to see how it ends. I don’t feel like we got enough of Manx’s backstory in season one, so I’m looking forward to seeing more of that. The only thing I’m not too clear on is a mysterious man who appears to be on Team Manx. His name is Jonathan Beckett (Paul Schneider), but I don’t know how he fits into the story…yet. And he looks very similar to Charlie Manx. Hmmm…
As much as I liked NOS4A2 season one, season two is shaping up to be more intriguing. I have to admit that I have not read the book. So I don’t know what’s next for Vic and Manx. By the looks of the first half of the season, it looks like this will be a battle for the ages.
NOS4A2 returns on June 21 on AMC.
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