I enjoy this season, but this has been bugging me. S1 blended atmospheric cinematography, a brooding soundtrack, existential dread, and complex characters to create a dark tone.

This season tries to establish a dark tone with grumpy and short-tempered characters which come off as one dimensional. Without depth or nuance, there is no relatability or complexity. We don’t get to see their motivations or backgrounds. I think we will see more of this in time, but we’ve already had two hours with these characters. Everyone just comes off as pissy.

I think it’s important to balance and vary character emotions to show a more authentic atmosphere, and so we see that the darkness stems from a deeper exploration of themes, rather than just surface-level anger.