Unlike far too many series, The Last Thing He Told Me provided a satisfying ending when Season 1 wrapped. There was a bit of a tease in the final moments. At a gallery, Hannah Michaels (Jennifer Garner) encounters her supposedly disappeared husband, Owen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau), briefly and secretly. However, this was standard “and life keeps going on” bit of intrigue as opposed to a proper cliffhanger. And yet, here we are, kicking off The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2 with that same brief scene.

This critic is admittedly increasingly frustrated by literary adaptations that don’t know when to end. Too many could’ve wrapped satisfyingly in a season. Instead, they opt for cliffhangers to push for further seasons, overextending the source material. So, Last Thing doing this without even a cool cliffhanger already put it on the wrong foot. Then I looked back on my review for season 1. After reading it, I came away feeling as though I perhaps took it a bit easy on the show. So the deck was definitely stacked against this second go-round.

How strange it is to say, then, that this inessential season, based on Laura David’s just published last year sequel novel, is a step up.

For one, it does something I more or less demanded with my first review: let Garner get physical. Garner has proven time and again that she is a gifted physical actor. Yet, she increasingly ends up in projects where she plays “The Mom”. Granted, she tends to do quite well with those. Still, so many of them are in underwhelming films and series. They ignore a tremendous weapon in her acting repertoire and she deserves better. Kudos then that it only takes this show about 15 minutes before letting her demonstrate her talents.

Even better, it signals an overall change in Hannah, one that makes sense in context. Hannah changed because of the experiences of the first season. Now, five years later (in the show’s world), she’s built a life designed around the possibility of another such disruption. That includes training in fighting, actively carrying a weapon, burner cell phones, bank lockboxes full of untraceable cash, and secret storage units. While this whole season might have a bit of a “it’s happening AGAIN!” feel to it, the show has made an effort not to just rehash the previous effort. There has been real change in the characters and that translates to a story that cannot just be a Xerox of Season 1.

The logic of that, however, does not translate to every aspect of the series. For instance, the reason Hannah must go on the run with her stepdaughter Bailey (Angourie Rice). At the end of season 1, Hannah struck a deal with her husband’s late wife’s father—a mobbed lawyer played by David Morse. The terms ensured that she and Bailey would no longer be hunted by his clients, the Campanos, for Owen’s betrayal of them. In Season 2, that agreement is done! Because, plot!

There is a precipitating event for this, admittedly. Still, it asks for a big leap from the audience. For things to make sense, one must imagine a crime family so stung by a betrayal almost twenty years in the past that they’d jump at the first chance to kill someone. And not the person who betrayed them in the first place, that guy’s daughter. A daughter who was so young when he dad crossed them, she has no memories of that time of her life. Oh, and for good measure, the new wife too, a woman who didn’t even meet the “betrayer” until like a decade later. And please keep in mind, this comes after several Campanos got to know Bailey. I get revenge and its ideal serving temperature, but even by those standards? This feels dumb.

However, Dave and her collaborator, Josh Singer, have a stronger hold on how to build and release tension in The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2. As a result, the moments when the audience finds themselves thinking about logistics and motives are rare and quickly set aside by another pace-quickening set piece. In making Garner’s stepmom a more active protagonist, the show has given itself the green light for more—and more well-executed—action.

It helps that the series has also introduced a handful of ringers into the cast. While the first episode rather inelegantly dismisses Hannah’s best friend Jules (Aisha Tyler) as “being on an international assignment,” Last Thing does not leave the cupboards bare. John Noble brings an unnerving air to Frank, the head of the apparently wildly bloodthirsty and deeply illogical Campanos.

By contrast, Luke Kirby plays his son Teddy as hesitant and overwhelmed without revealing too much. In the early going, Kirby creates enough doubt that the audience isn’t sure what direction he’ll break. Is Luke on his niece’s side? Too gutless to oppose his father regardless of his feelings? Or perhaps playing at being the reasonable one to obscure his own sociopathy and ambitions?

Even more intriguing is Quinn (Judy Greer), the final Campanos sibling. Evidently, she was so unwilling to be part of the Campanos’ business that she changed her last name. Regardless of her distaste for her roots, her family’s taste for winning appears genetic, what with her achieving significant corporate success. Greer plays her with an edge that, even when she compliments her niece, one can feel a bit of the knife blade.

So, is there a “reason” for The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2? Probably not. Is it the most thoughtfully plotted story? Certainly not. Does it deliver strong performances, great tension, and, finally, a project that really “gets” how to use Garner? Absolutely. Take it from the guy who over-ranked the first season, this one is better by nearly every metric.

The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2 goes on the run on AppleTV+ starting February 20.

The Last Thing He Told Me Season 2 Trailer: