“Eventually you gotta grow up and become an adult, right?” Cassie asks a stranger in the first episode of the second season of HBO Max’s The Flight Attendant. Kaley Cuoco’s titular flight attendant made a personal breakthrough at the end of the series’ sensational first season, but now the work truly begins. You can’t just admit to being an alcoholic and expect the work to be done. With femme fatale doubles, new part-time CIA gigs, and a sunnier location, The Flight Attendant returns with a vengeance for an all new mystery.
If you are a recovering alcoholic, you probably shouldn’t surround yourself with triggers, but Cuoco’s Cassie Bowden soon realizes how prominent alcohol is in her every day life. Cassie is enjoying a new life in Los Angeles–she has a new house, new beau, and a new outlook on life. Cassie also has a side hustle working as a civilian informant for the CIA, and it seems like the perfect mixture of her old life and a new, thrilling way to pass the time–who knew that was part of the 12-step program!
Cassie does, however, have a habit of doing her job a little too thoroughly, and she keeps having to pull away from bars and the ever-present sight of a cocktail. When her mark in Berlin dies in an sudden explosion, Cassie begins to unravel at the sight of a woman posing to be her. Is someone trying to frame the flight attendant? The first season of reveled in its Hitchcockian love of a mysterious blonde, and creator Steve Yockey shifts that homage into overdrive for the sophomore effort.
Audiences will, no doubt, be wondering how The Flight Attendant can continue after such a tidy season, but Yockey has shifted the perspective to the next step of Cassie’s recovery. In other stories of addiction or recovery, the story ends with a character swearing off booze or drugs and we get a happy, little epilogue. For this second season, the show embraces Cassie’s insecurity over her own sobriety. Cuoco is jittery, jumpy, and, ultimately, she ultimately wonders if she can overcome her questionable past. Cassie begins to wonder if she is worthy of being sober.
This is Cuoco’s best performance to date. Because the emotional stakes are raised for Cassie, we want her to succeed, and she is allowed to incorporate subtle physical comedy in this second season. Instead of giving her a bloody Alex Sokolov to subconsciously talk to, Cassie is now visited by visions of herself trapped in a stylish apartment. The way Cuoco is able to calibrate her performance to perform with herself is nothing short of amazing. Party Girl Cassie tempts her with alcohol while Put Together Cassie tries to keep her on the straight and narrow. Cuoco is allowed to perform in her own twisted, AA version of Sybil. She is truly a marvel.
Zosia Mamet returns in a larger part this season when her Annie and Deniz Akdeniz’s Max come to visit Cassie in LA and get embroiled in her emotional and physical drama. There are some new face this time around, including Shohreh Agdashloo as Cassie’s sponsor, Brenda. Mae Martin is a new flight attendant and Cheryl Hines pops up as CIA director. The production design remains some of the best on television. Your house or apartment will look like a hovel compared to these stunning set pieces.
Season two ramps up the action and emotional baggage in a natural way. It could’ve gone off the rails just to be bigger, but the writing and direction ground the story to honor Cassie’s sobriety journey. And, you know, the political intrigue. The Flight Attendant remains one of the sexiest and most stylish shows on television.
The Flight Attendant drops two episodes a week for the first two weeks. Starting May 5, one episode will be released a week.
