'The End of the F***ing World' Season 2: The psychotic storyline may have taken a backseat but the Netflix show maintains its dark, edgy vibe
When season one of 'The End of the F***ing World' ended, marking the gruesome death of James (Alex Lawther), we assumed Alyssa's (Jessica Barden) story could not continue without him.
Season two, which premieres on Tuesday, November 5, proves that this is the not the case at all. The British show has actually become popular as the story of a teenage psychopath who is tired of killing small animals and went to move on to humans.
The series had started off with James zeroing in on Alyssa as his target but quickly evolved into a road trip featuring two emotionally and mentally disturbed teens who ran away from home, before becoming a crime thriller featuring two runaways who kill a serial rapist.
Over the course of the first season, we see that James may have misdiagnosed himself and that he was never a psychopath because as a diagnosed psychopath on Quora points out, "That guy had what are known as thrill killing tendencies. To be honest his portrayal of what it is like to have thrill killing tendencies is bland and also inaccurate."
The viewer added how James felt "remorse, fear, and dare I say guilt after he killed the guy. A true psychopath (especially one with thrill killing tendencies) would not have freaked out as he did."
While the show is yet to address if he is really a psychopath or not, season two is primarily focused on Alyssa, with even the trailer majorly featuring her and a new main character, Bonnie (Naomi Ackie), who is introduced as well.
The latter is described as an "outsider with a troubled past and a mysterious connection to Alyssa."
Through these two women, we get to see the depiction of a wide range of mental health issues, starting with Alyssa's PTSD and depression induced by being a part of Dr. Koch's (Jonathan Aris) murder.
Bonnie comes with her own set of problems, which is best described in a quote from season two of 'The End of the F*****g World': "The problem with a person having a lack of love is that they don't know what it looks like. So it's easy for them to get tricked."
If you fell in love with the show because of how gruesome it is, don't worry about the lack of psychopathy, trust that there are still many events that will make you question the relative sanity of the human mind with its darkness. You can watch the new season on Netflix starting November 5.