Prime Video Comedy 'The Outlaws' Goes to a Much Darker Place in Season 2

The first season of Prime Video's misfit comedy The Outlaws was one of the more unexpected television delights of 2022, a charmingly offbeat crime caper about found family and second chances centered around a pack of hilariously bizarre central characters. Season 2, which arrives on our screens just four months after its first, subsequently feels more like an extension than a sequel and takes the story to the next level, with darker themes, more complex choices, and smarter twists.

In many ways, The Outlaws Season 2 is even better than its inaugural outing: The narrative is tighter and more cohesive, the relationships between various pairs within the larger group are stronger and more complicated, and the story's twists are bolder. If the show is less overtly comedic than before, that shift seems like a natural outcome of the story, which involves much darker themes and sees its characters cross much more uncomfortable lines, morally speaking. So much so that its occasional return to cringe humor (mostly involving Stephen Merchant's Greg or Jessica Gunnings' Diana) feels increasingly out of place as the season continues.

However, the show's dedication to the character at its center continues to pay dividends. Each of the titular Outlaws gets fleshed out in new ways this season, with subplots illuminating how they've been changed by their experiences together. (Not always for the better.) Darren Boyd's John and Claire Perkins Myrna are allowed to become three-dimensional people rather than stand-ins for liberal or conservative ideology; Eleanor Tomlinson's Lady Gabby slowly grows into something more than a shallow social media influencer. But it's Rhianne Barreto who steals the show as Rani who forges herself into the leader the group needs — even if it's not the person she always thought she'd (or wanted to) become.