Episode Guide
Episode 1 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 2 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 3 – | Review Score – 3/5 Episode 4 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 5 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 6 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 7 – | Review Score – 3.5/5 Episode 8 – | Review Score – 2.5/5 Earlier this year, I was singing Sky Rojo’s praises as a slickly produced, fast-moving revenge thriller. Sure, it may have been a little controversial with its violence and themes but it always felt purposeful and driven to an end. The show juggled its characters well, balancing the point of view between the heroes and villains, while feeling like it was leading up to a purposeful conclusion. Given the first season ended on a cliffhanger, the foundations were laid for a pacey and epic conclusion to follow. After watching all 8 episodes and having some time to stew over the plot, one can’t help but feel this second season drops the ball in a big way. Now, as a straightforward watch in the moment, Sky Rojo is absolutely an enjoyable follow-up. There’s lots of twists and turns, plenty of cliffhanger endings and a good dollop of violent action to boot. However, when you stop to think about the plot you come to realize how directionless a lot of this feels. Ultimately, this follow-up loses the same tightness that made the first 8 episodes so enthralling. The story this time is basically a spinning wheel of similar themes and ideas. Wendy, Gina and Coral are all on the run and trying to evade Romeo. Moises and Christian are in pursuit too, chasing the girls like before, while the cat and mouse antics continue through a number of increasingly contrived scenarios. Now, to be fair the first season had this too but the pace and flair of the show did help to brush over some of the shortfalls with this. Season 2 doesn’t have that same luxury. In fact, the show’s pacing is all over the place this time, regularly switching from slow, reflective chapters to frantic and rushed chapters – all of which sticking to the 24-30 minute run-time. The problem with this is that audiences will have much more time to process what’s happening and reflect on the numerous careless mistakes and issues the girls cause across their journey. Dead bodies are never dealt with, drug-taking is prevalent and ultimately leads to carelessness, while the open ending resolves absolutely nothing by the end. Yes, the dreaded Netflix cliffhanger is here again but this time there’s not a definitive release date for season 3. This is a real problem because the story meanders through a number of different subplots this time that feel half-baked and give the impression of busywork next to the main plot. It’s not all bad though and the same style and violence from the first season is here too. There’s some pretty gnarly injuries in this, and some of the set pieces are actually pretty well shot. There are several car chases that work pretty well, while the club scenes juxtapose all this, oozing a familiar neon-lit aesthetic. Despite some good character work and stylish cinematography though, Sky Rojo season 2 falters where it really matters – the story. This second season loses a lot of what made the first so endearing, meandering through similar waters but feeling directionless this time; flailing about before grabbing the proverbial life-raft labeled “to be continued.” Compared to the first, Sky Rojo fails to paint the town rojo.
