The streaming space is full of surprises. You watch a show, like—or dislike—it, and then months later (it actually feels like years later), you suddenly find that the show you liked—or disliked—has been renewed and that its next season is dropping in a few days or weeks. Off the top of my head, I recall my surprised reaction to the news about the second and third seasons of Fisk. And more recently (just two days ago, to be precise), I had a similar reaction to the news of the renewal of Deadloch, whose second season drops on Prime Video on March 20. I remember reviewing the first three episodes of Season 1 when they arrived in June 2023. They didn’t work that well for me at first. But I stuck with the show—I watched it weekly—and ended up loving it. If I had watched all eight episodes instead of just three, the review would have been positive.
This is why I am somewhat glad that I was able to watch all six episodes of Season 2 before writing the review this time. One of my complaints about Season 1 was that its humor came fast and furious. Every second, a gag was thrown onto the screen, making the experience overwhelming (I got over this issue eventually). The second season is comparatively calmer in that regard, as the jokes here are allowed to register and breathe. We get the chance to appreciate visual gags like a cap with the words "Fuck off, I'm fishing" and a whiteboard where a victim's body parts are pinned onto a line sketch of a human body. Creators Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan definitely have the sense of humor I like. I chuckled when a two-minute silent mourning was interrupted by the notification sound of a file-sharing request, and it's nice to see the lightness with which the show acknowledges Dulcie's (Kate Box) height by having her head hit against a shed, a dream catcher, and a bucket. I won't spoil other jokes, but, as vaguely as possible, I would like to draw attention to a tiny text message detail where the sender mentions their name after two urgent texts. I found it both relatable and hilarious.
Which is why it almost pains me to say that the second season of Deadloch is...just mild. One of the strengths of Season 1 was how it made the whole sleepy town of Deadloch feel alive. You got the sense that the people on the screen had known each other for a long time, which is why their conversations didn’t merely feel "quirky." Cath (Alicia Gardiner), after all, used to enter the police station unannounced and casually. Barra Creek, on the other hand, feels like a set populated by colorful characters and busy activity. The tourists mainly come for crocodiles, and these semiaquatic reptiles are dying—not naturally, of course. They are being killed, but they are not the only victims. It's up to Dulcie and Eddie (Madeleine Sami) to find and catch the culprit(s). The hot, dusty, waterlogged landscape never draws you in. You might laugh at, say, a bar singer who dedicates all her songs to her ex-lover or an eccentric family that's in the crocodile tourism business and that decides to ram their rival's boat near the beginning of the first episode. But as mentioned, these are just colorful characters. They either act as comic relief, red herrings, or expository devices. Season 2's basic TV structure doesn't do itself any favors—it only emphasizes the overall monotony. I understand that the backstory of a character like Eddie cannot be told conventionally. It needs to be—like her—a little offbeat. And while it offers a twist on the familiar trope of a stranger who gets the mother pregnant and leaves, and also explains why Eddie is so vociferous, Sami's loudness eventually results in a mostly one-note performance that becomes repetitive. There is a scene where she spies on someone with a hint of love, with a gentle smile, and when she's caught, she immediately reverts to her usual self to mask her true feelings. I would have loved to see more such awkward shades of Eddie rather than the person I had already met in the first season.
What further plagues Season 2 is the absence of both memorable moments and style. Remember how the villain in Season 1 was revealed? We first see women in a prison singing, and then we cut to the face of the murderer singing the same lyrics. What happens here isn't as effective, even though a croc-y comeuppance seems logically right. One might, then, say that there is a gap between the images and the script. The latter sounds clever and promising, but it loses its potency when translated to the screen. And that's because the visuals are simply used to channel the written words instead of infusing them with drama—embellishing and energizing them with a distinct aesthetic. Deadloch might have made an impact when it premiered back in 2023 (it, among other prestigious wins and nominations in various categories, was nominated for an International Emmy), but the new season is largely uninteresting. It has its moments of laugh-out-loud comedy, but overall, it leaves you underwhelmed and unsatisfied.
Final Score- [4.5/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times
Note: All 6 episodes are screened for this review.
Premiere Date: March 20, 2026, on Prime Video