Created by David Macpherson, the six-part series explores the aftermath of the Kinlock Bravo rig being overrun by a gigantic tsunami, as seen in the season one finale.
While the crew are safely flown by helicopter to an offshore facility, called the Stac in the Arctic Circle, the danger is far from over. Shrouded in mystery, the crew must face both the supernatural threat known as the ancestor and a new human enemy, as the second season continues to explore whether humanity can peacefully co-exist with the environment.
Game of Thrones actor Iain Glen, who plays former leader of the Bravo, Magnus, told Tech Advisor and other outlets that no one emerges victorious in the tense battle this season.
“I don’t think a winner emerges, but a deeper understanding,” Glen said about where the crew’s relationship with the ancestor leads this season, “and it’s a very different type of cliffhanger we’re on.”
His co-star Emily Hampshire, who plays Rose, an oil rig representative and scientist who is newcomer to the crew in season one, added: “It’s not a competition anymore, it’s a collaboration.”
Glen responded: “Well, from our point of view, but there might be outside powers, that’s the cliffhanger, isn’t it? It feels like there are higher powers that are manoeuvring to see if they can be this can be taken advantage of. So it’s still all up in the air.”
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Compared to his star-studded crew – featuring Rochenda Sandall, Martin Compston, Owen Teale and Abraham Popoola – Glen as Magnus is more observant of Coake’s (Mark Addy) manipulative behaviour this season.
“Yeah, he’s just keeping an eye on it in a way,” Glen said, “he’s very wise to Coake now. I think he always knew [about Coake’s schemes], but the way cards played out and Coake’s total disregard for the devastation that had been caused by Pictor and that sense of corporate cover up, he’s very alert to. I think that starts to play out in this season.”
He added: “So although they’re in a very new and disorientating space, all the initial Bravo crew, it becomes clear we’re much more united as a group. So there’s much less infighting, and we have a shared enemy.”
The shared enemy being newcomer and CEO of Pictor, Lennox played by Star Trek legend Alice Krige.
“I think you [to Hampshire] have a, I don’t know, either a subliminal or a conscious desire for the relationship with this new CEO who you had a relationship in the past. You feel more defensive of her, don’t you?”
She nods as Glen concludes: “But we sense that there are ulterior motives being played out. So all that gets conjured up very nicely in the second season.”
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Author: Jess Bacon, Contributor, Tech Advisor
Jess Bacon is a freelance entertainment and culture critic whose work can be found in Stylist, Dazed, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast and more. She covers everything from sci-fi and fantasy to streaming and female-led cinema. She’s currently working on her first non-fiction book.
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