Remember Homecoming? That strange show that dealt with soldiers losing their memory and a creepy organization behind it all? Well, it’s back for a second season on Amazon Prime Video.
Homecoming’s second season premiered on May 22, 2020. This time around, Janelle Monáe takes the helm as Jackie/Alex. The series starts with her waking up in a rowboat that’s floating out in the middle of a lake. She has no memory of how she got there or who she is. The search for her identity will lead her character to The Geist Group, that evil corporation from the first season.
How do I know this? Well, I saw a couple of clues in the Homecoming season two trailer:
Okay. That didn’t really show enough of the Geist Group to answer anything. After suffering through the events of the first season, I can lend some explanation. Two scenes in that trailer briefly show actress Hong Chau. She played Audrey Temple, an employee of the Geist Group, in season one. If she’s back for season two, then the Geist Group is back. It’s as simple as that.
There’s another reason we know that Geist will play a big role in the episodes of Homecoming’s second season. Veteran actor Chris Cooper is cast in the role of Leonard Geist, owner of the Geist Group. For reference, he’s the old guy seen driving the tractor and eating the mysterious red berries from season one. So, there you have it; the mystery of The Geist Group’s Homecoming Initiative continues in the second season.
Speaking of things coming back from season one, Stephan James reprises his role as Walter Cruz. For those who didn’t see the first season, Cruz was a military veteran and client of Geist’s Homecoming facility. The program was supposed to help him transition back into civilian life. During the last scene of the last episode, it appears that Walter was able to find a peaceful life for himself.
So, why is he back in the second season?
And does his story somehow intertwine with that of Jackie/Alex?
I guess Mrs. Buckler and I will have to buckle down and watch Homecoming to find out. But will we? This show seems to thrive on mystery and unanswered questions. In short, it doesn’t seem to give the viewer any closure, which mirrors the lives of some of its characters. I think that might be the point.
Since I blogged about Homecoming’s first season, I’m going to watch its second. My hope is that my investment in the strange, almost Lynchian aspects of the first season will pay off. I don’t care if season two isn’t as tense or fast-paced as the first. I just hope it cleans up those loose ends and gives the characters – and viewers like me – some amount of closure after the mystery is fully solved.
