Turns out first season wasn’t ‘The End of the F***ing World’; second season further explores depth of characters

The first season of Netflix’s “The End of the F***ing World” is  a pleasant surprise. It follows James (Alex Lawther) and Alyssa (Jessica Barden) on a roadtrip of crime, from dining and dashing to break-ins and murder in self-defense. 

The “Bonnie and Clyde” type story is a hilarious and heartwarming one. With an extremely satisfying and fittingly dark ending, the possibility of a second season seemed unlikely, but lo and behold, here we are.

While the first season focuses on James and his psychopathic tendencies, this second season focuses primarily on Alyssa and explores her relationship with her family along with  the PTSD she faces from the first season’s murder.

The season opens with the introduction of Bonnie (Naomi Ackie). Bonnie is a former student of the author that Alyssa and James kill in the first season. We quickly find out that Bonnie has an obsessive relationship with the author and, after finding out he was murdered, Bonnie starts plotting her revenge. 

She starts off by sending a bullet to the homes of James and Alyssa with their names carved on them. While James is clearly worried about this threat, Alyssa ignores it and throws the bullet out on account that her name was misspelled  (and it was sent to the wrong address).This sets up the arc of the second season in which a worried James goes looking for Alyssa to make sure she is safe.

The paths of Alyssa, James and Bonnie soon collide and hit the audience with a brick ton of anxiety. All the moments in which the trio interact are filled with tension and occasional laughter. 

The growth of characters portrayed  over the course of two seasons is something that many shows fail to do. 

While the second season of “The End of the F***ing World” is completely unnecessary considering  the first season ends perfectly, it does provide a welcome dose of dry and dark humor that the Netflix catalog severely lacks.

I found the second season a delight to watch. With all eight episodes clocking in at around 20 minutes, it was a breeze to binge, and the cliffhangers at the end of each episode left me playing one after the other. 

With outstanding performances from everyone in the show, this second season is a must watch for anyone that enjoyed the first. The second season of “The End of the F***ing World” gives audiences a heartwarming and bittersweet ending to this dark and comedic story.