The Tourist, season 2, begins with Elliot (Jamie Dornan) and Helen (Danielle Macdonald) roaming the world madly in love. They’re free, they’re happy. Well, except that Helen is incapable of letting go of an unanswered question. She keeps hinting that they should go to Ireland and see what they can learn about Elliot.
So off they go.
The Tourist remains a good title for this series, because Elliot still remembers nothing and he’s like a tourist in his own home country. The minute they arrive they are beset with guys with guns.
Here’s a boiled down summary of the plot. Elliot’s birth name is Eugene Cassidy. His mother, Niamh Cassidy (Olwen Fouéré) is head of the Cassidy clan. The Cassidy clan hates the McDonnell clan and the feud has been ongoing for decades.
Frank McDonnell (Francis Magee) is the patriarch of his family. He and Niamh are about the same age. Frank’s son is Donal McDonnell (Diarmaid Murtagh). He has excellent reasons to hate Elliot. Then there’s young Fergal McDonnell (Mark McKenna) who might be an ally to Elliot.
There are murders, kidnappings, threatening waving of guns, DNA clues, long buried secrets and many problems to solve as the two clans fight and work out what to do now that Elliot is back.
Helen gets in trouble with Detective Ruairi Slater (Conor MacNeill). Poor fellow. Not because of Helen, no. He has his own issues. Helen’s jerk of an ex, Ethan (Greg Larsen), shows up to provide comic relief.
Elliot never regains his memory. In spite of the clear evidence that he’s a good guy now, Helen doesn’t completely trust him because of his long forgotten history. This causes problems for the two lovers, who have plenty of other issues to deal with besides their romance. As in season 1, the episodes frequently end with cliffhangers. There are twists and surprises throughout.
I thought season 2 was as much fun as season 1. The overall idea of revealing a person’s history and story in this way is a well used plot, but not always as well done as this one. With 2 seasons and 12 episodes, there is room to stretch out the relationships and the drama of discovery for Elliot. Jamie Dornan and Danielle Macdonald were excellent. I enjoyed the sights in Australia in season 1 and the green of Ireland in the second season.
Season 2 had women directors. Lisa Mulcahy and Kate Dolan each directed 2 episodes. You can see both seasons on Netflix.
this was a fun series. engaging characters, interesting plot, solid writing
Yes it was!