A little over a year ago, former “Big Bang Theory” actress Kaley Cuoko delivered the admittedly somewhat hysterical antidote to the rampant lockdown dreariness: fast-paced cuts, split-screens, a driving score, and an always-boozed protagonist who travels to some of the most exotic places in the world World jets to clear their name of a murderous conspiracy. “The Flight Attendant” sat between Hitchcock (that snazzy Saul Bass-esque intro) and ADHD travel guide, “Woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown” and “The Invisible Third Party”. And was perhaps one of the biggest surprises in the spring of 2021.
We are still a long way from the lockdown this year, but air travel (or the frequent lack of it) is again leading us to the brink of despair. Which is why The Flight Attendant season 2 comes at just the right time to channel our pent-up aggression and disappointment somewhere. Although flight attendant and part-time agent Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoko) has been sober for a year now and in a happy relationship, that doesn’t make her everyday life (or the staging style of the series) any less stressful. On the contrary: After she was able to show in the first season that she is more than just the pretty love interest of sitcom nerds, this time she is completely turning (and up). The reason for this lies not only in an attack in Berlin and the resulting realization that a doppelganger could murder her way through world history, but also in her struggles with inner demons. Because every time the stress gets out of hand again, your abstinence plan also falters. Regularly illustrated by surreal dialogues with their different personalities, which this time are allowed to take up almost more space than usual Lady in distress in the midst of a murderous conspiracy whose serial unfolding resembles a speed date with a hyperventilating chaos queen.
First of all, this is one thing above all: (Almost) just as entertaining as the first season, which is quickly staged and peppered with crisp dialogues. But also a good deal more stressful for the viewer. Because instead of trusting in the established mixture of espionage thriller, comedy and self-discovery drama, a decent shovel of madness is put on top here: more thrill, more conspiracy, more confusion and even more Cassie Bowden.
This is good for Cuoko fetishists, who will find their heroine in almost every one of the splintered frames, chopping up the image in the best “24” fashion. Not so good, but for those who want to take a breather over the course of an approximately 45-minute episode. Viewers need the calming drink faster than Cassie “Relapse” can even think …
From 29.07. on Amazon Prime Video.