When a show gets a second season, it can inspire excitement as well as cynicism as fans brace for what could be the shark-jumping moment. Sometimes, a second season can ruin the groundwork that the first laid — but it can be very impressive when a showrunner determines the best parts of their narrative and brings them out even better in a second season.

Raised by Wolves is created and often directed by Prisoners screenwriter Aaron Guzikowski, but the big name in the marketing is executive producer Ridley Scott. The sci-fi series was well-received throughout its first season in 2020, and has only received greater praise throughout its ongoing second season in 2022.

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For the uninitiated, Raised by Wolves is a genre-bending sci-fi series about a pair of androids, known as Mother and Father, who are tasked with raising human children on a newfound planet. The series takes place in the 22nd century after the Earth has been destroyed in a nuclear conflict between an extremist religious sect called the Mithraic, and a technocratic militant atheist army. The story takes place on Kepler-22b, which seems peaceful at first, but gradually reveals dangers beyond imagination and numerous mysterious phenomena. Mother and Father attempt to raise the infants to adulthood, only to be met with hostile wildlife, dangerous landscapes, and a troublesome plague. In short order, the Earthborn conflict follows Mother and Father to Kepler, and the planet becomes home to further violence. It turns out that Mother is a reprogrammed war machine, capable of vaporizing human beings with a thought. Now in charge of their own brood, along with a group of reclaimed enemy youths, Mother and Father do their best to raise a family.

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The series is cleverly crafted to ask difficult questions. It's nominally about space-horror, sci-fi combat, strange technology, and ongoing war. Moreover, it's about the humanity of artificial intelligence, the perils of belief, the difficulties of parenting, and the duality of human nature. It's the tale of two stories, and is heavily allegorical: every character is simultaneously an interesting personality, and a stand-in for an esoteric concept. As exciting as the series is to watch, a lot is going on behind the imagery and dialogue. Elements stand out as unusual, or even unexplained, but everything fits together for viewers who can follow the underlying messaging. The first season does an excellent job with this concept, but the second has managed to take the series to new heights.

Season two of Raised by Wolves moves the setting to the other side of the planet and widens the perspective. Most of the major characters make it back for the second season in radically different states than their introduction. Rather than surviving on their own in the wilds, Kepler-22b has become a new front for the religious war. Atheist forces have established a community on the beautiful tropical side of the planet, while the Mithraic has been reduced to a small resistance. Mother and Father arrive at this new society to raise their children and find their new home under the thumb of a powerful AI. The story sets itself up swiftly and has been moving at an excellent clip, with some of the most clever writing and effective sci-fi horror on TV.

While the early parts of season one feel homey and isolated, the second season is packed with interesting characters and complex interactions. Where season one was occasionally strange but typically explained itself, season two leans hard into weird digressions and boldly demands its audience to stick with it. It's like a strikingly charismatic orator with a long story to tell, holding up a single authoritative finger to demand the audience "bear with me." Episodes can open on hunting trips for giant serpents and close on Beyond Thunderdome-style android cage fights. There's a ton going on in every episode, and thus this show benefits more from multiple watches than the average feature film.

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The first season of the series was a solid, well-told story with powerful imagery and subtext. The second season is all of that with stronger horror elements, more interesting twists and turns, fascinating new characters, and an even stronger grasp on its message. Ridley Scott only directed the first two episodes of season one, but there are moments in season two that feel like the Alien sequel that fans have been waiting for. There are still flaws; for example, characters with plot armor, the occasional rushed character turn, or questionable CGI. However, these minor problems fade away under the unhinged willingness to experiment, clever storytelling, and strong character development across seasons.

Like a lot of modern serialized TV shows, full seasons are designed to work when watched weekly or when binged. Sitting down to all ten hours or so of season one would feel like an extremely long but very well-made feature film. While season two isn't finished premiering yet, it's likely that it will turn into an even better long movie when it's done. The show is available on HBO Max, and new episodes drop every Thursday.

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