Season 1 |
Season 2 |
Episode Guide
Head On – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Kohima Calling – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Four Murders And A Funeral – | Review Score – 4/5
Missed Call – | Review Score – 4/5
Off Balance – | Review Score – 4/5
Of Mothers And Daughters – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Children Of Men – | Review Score – 4/5
The Good Samaritan – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Its been 5 years since the release of Paatal Lok and a lot has changed in that time. Not just for us, and the amount of different shows we’ve had over the years, but also for the characters in this world.
It’s always difficult to capture the same allure and magic that a great first season had and for the most part, Paatal Lok does a decent job in keeping that same gritty, unrelenting feel of the world. The story progresses well and the mystery is woven nicely across the 8 episodes. It helps that there are some strong themes in here about justice, strength and corruption, which help tie everything together with a thematic bow.
The story brings a brand new mystery to the fold, and a return of our key players from season 1. The series opens with an eerie and gruesome scene. Room service enter a hotel room and discover a decapitated head. The victim is Jonathan Thom, a Naga Leader who was actually in Delhi for an important Naga Business Summit.
There are rumblings that this could be politically motivated, and as a result, Ansari is called onto the case. You see, in the time that we’ve left these characters, Ansari has managed to leapfrog Hathi Ram Chaudhary and is now the one in the driver’s seat. This sets up a deliciously tense atmosphere between them to begin with, before they inevitably cross paths and find themselves working together.
As for Chaudhary, he’s still as compassionate and flawed as ever and takes pity on a distraught woman who arrives at the police station, desperate to try and find her husband. He’s just up and vanished, which is completely out of character, and it soon becomes clear that this case has a connection to Ansari’s.
The series does well to progress the mystery slowly, with some great twists along the way. What’s particularly great with this one is the way seemingly innocuous conversations can actually be massive clues, which are circled back to later on in the season. It’s these little touches that help set the mystery apart and prevent this from Feeling too predictable or obvious.
Don’t count your chickens that everyone will make it out in one piece either. Paatal Lok is not afraid to kill big players and that makes every single action sequence that much more nail-biting. You genuinely go into this not knowing if characters will survive or not, and that touch of realism helps to elevate this Indian crime drama.
As for the case itself, there are some startling revelations as I mentioned before, but the show doesn’t always know what to do with every puzzle piece in this mystery. I won’t spoil anything here but suffice to say the resolution to the migrant worker isn’t handled all that elegantly and the final scenes of the show feel a bit rushed too.
The themes in this series mostly tackle corruption, politics and greed, although there’s also a ripple of family and loyalty too. Alongside the crime drama, we also get a subplot involving Chaudhary’s wife, Renu. She’s exasperated with her husband’s work and is desperate to try and make more of her life. When she’s thrown into babysitting duties, and is unwittingly thrust into the heart of Chaudhary’s work, it threatens to tear their marriage apart.
This helps to give an extra dimension to Chaudhary’s character, and you can see that confliction across the 8 episodes. This is a man who makes mistakes and certainly isn’t perfect. In fact, you could say the same for every character in this show, and the acting across the board is great in capturing this.
Aesthetically, Paatal Lok does a decent job too, in capturing a cinematic feel to everything, with smooth camera work and a pulsating soundtrack.
Ultimately, Paatal Lok is a compelling and well written crime drama. It is a bit slow in parts and not all the characters get a resolute ending, but on the whole, this follow-up is just as good as the first season. There are a lot of twists and turns along the way, and Chaudhary’s character certainly goes on one heck of a journey. If you were a fan of season 1, this one’s a no-brainer. You should absolutely add this to your watch-list.
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Verdict - 7.5/10
7.5/10