Season 2 of the superb Starz sci-fi spy drama Counterpart is set to premiere in just over a week’s time, and a new trailer shows the fallout from the events of the first season finale. 2018 has been a very good year for fans of spy craft, as television has offered not only season 1 of Counterpart, but also Killing Eve, the final season of The Americans, and, more recently, the phenomenally well made AMC limited series The Little Drummer Girl. But the year’s not over, and it’s not done giving apparently, as season 2 of Counterpart will arrive just before 2018 fades into memory.
The series is a smart take on the usual espionage thriller, but with a science fiction angle that sets it apart from everything else in the genre. Creator Justin Marks fashioned a contemporary Cold War thriller out an inter-dimensional plot device and in doing so has crafted a compelling story that’s as much about the dirty business of counter intelligence as it is concerned with questions of identity and existence. At times heady and thoughtful, the series is also a masterful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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Counterpart’s heart is in J.K. Simmons’ tremendous dual performance as Howard Silk and his inter-dimension counterpart (natch) referred to by viewers and the show’s writers as Howard Prime. The first is a mild-mannered office drone whose wife (Olivia Williams) was keeping a dark secret from for decades. The other is a pragmatic, cynical intelligence officer who will do just about anything to get the job done. And as the first season wrapped up, the two found themselves trapped in one another’s respective dimensions. Check out the trailer below:
That twist ostensibly sets up the second season’s story line, one that sees Howard Prime living the life of the other Howard, and leaving the other in a world he’s not equipped to handle. As series newcomer James Cromwell alludes in the new trailer, Howard Prime is erasing Howard from his “own existence.” That sets up a unique set of circumstances that all but guarantees season 2 won’t be more of the same (not that there’d be anything wrong with that).
Season 2 also introduces Get Out and Upgrade standout Betty Gabriel as Naya Temple, someone who is assigned to help deal with and mitigate the intelligence breach that was so devastating for one side of the inter-dimensional rift in season 1. All in all, it looks like one of the year’s best new shows is going to give viewers a second helping.
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Counterpart premieres Sunday, December 9 on Starz.
