Troppo season 2 review, we’re back with the heat, the crocs, and the snakes

Troppo, the Australian mystery series, maintained its high quality with an excellent season 2. Thomas Jane and Nicole Chamoun star in this steamy tropical tale of murder and redemption.

The crocodiles are eating good again this season in Troppo. The initial crime the P.I. team of Ted (Thomas Jane) and Amanda (Nicole Chamoun) are hired to solve involves the head of a family healing retreat. The police suspect the dead man’s son, Raph (Ethan Lwin). Raph’s girlfriend Tayla (Miah Madden) shows up in Amanda’s office/tattoo parlor and offers them a big wad of cash to prove Raph’s innocence.

The two P.I.s promised each other that when they do something crazy, they’ll do it together. They get into plenty of crazy situations looking for the killer. Several more people get killed along the way. There are drugs, land deals, banana crops, geese, snakes and crocs involved in the complex plot that develops.

Ted and Amanda also start looking at the charges against Ted back in Sydney. They manage to figure that problem out by the end of the season. Ted is inspired to look at his case again because his wife Kelly (Radha Mitchell) and daughter (Chloe Delle-Vedove) show up in Crimson Falls. Maybe they can be a family again if his case is solved.

The creepy snake guy, Twist (Simon Lyndon), from season 1 is still around, and still a problem. A journalist from Sydney, Colin (Brett Tucker), is in town writing about the murdered man, but he’s awfully interested in Ted and his family.

There’s a new cop in town on a temporary assignment. She’s Det. Pip Sweeney (Zindzi Okenyo). There’s a slow burn attraction between Pip and Amanda. Amanda doesn’t trust anyone and doesn’t like to be touched so it’s interesting to watch her lower her defenses enough to connect with the detective.

Amanda also makes gains against her fear of riding in cars in season 2. She’s hilarious when she has to ride with Ted on their crime solving ventures. She leaps from the car before it has even come to a stop like it was filled with a bunch of Twist’s snakes.

The only woman director in season 2 is Robyn Grace. Thomas Jane also directed a couple of episodes. By the end of season 2, most of the bad guys had been caught. The books by Candice Fox the series is based on are a trilogy, so there is more material about Ted and Amanda. Enough is open ended at the end of season 2 that a third season with a new crime for our two P.I.s makes sense. I hope it will happen.

If you’re into reading mysteries, Candice Fox has collaborated with James Patterson on several mystery novels. This series is based on her Crimson Lake stories.

Troppo is well written and beautifully atmospheric. The setting is a character with its rampant greenery, birds, snakes, and hungry crocodiles. It makes me sweat just looking at it.

Both seasons are available on Prime or Freevee.