HBO hasn’t given us positive signals on a second Mare Of Easttown season yet, but to be fair, HBO is soon giving us Kate Winslet in The Regime instead. If, however, you are jonesing for another murder mystery set in Pennsylvania with a complicated cop on the case, then American Rust does have you covered. The series, which initially developed at USA Network but debuted on Showtime, will now be popping over to Amazon for its second round.
In the series’ first outing, chameleon-esque Dumb and Dumber star Jeff Daniels leaned into his dramatic side to unravel a homicide in a Rust Belt town. The mystery happened to overlap with his personal life, too, given that the primary suspect happened to be the daughter of his lady love. He struggled to make the right call and could accurately be described as “compromised,” yet he was also surrounded by an entire town full of moral ambiguity. Let’s get down to business about what is on tap for the show’s sophomore effort:
Plot
American Rust, by its very title, suggests the decayed state of the American Dream (as set in a steel town) as it’s bogged down by the past. The story was originally written by author Phillipp Meyers in the acclaimed same-named novel. Daniels stepped up as Del Harris, the local police chief, whose day-to-day lawman grind is anything but peaceful. The second season is expected to move past the subject matter of the book into uncharted territory.
As viewers remember, the first season did not end with a tidy resolution. Del had been investigating the death of an ultra-corrupt cop, and in the process, he ended up committing a triple homicide of his own in the season finale. (Well, that took a turn…)
Before this happened, Del’s love interest’s son, Billy, was revealed to be innocent of killing drug-dealing cop Steve Novick, with the real killer being Isaac English. Throughout the season, however, Del had found himself torn between his presumed duty and his interests within his personal life, and the situation spiraled with Del ended up taking out Steve’s two drug-dealing partners and an innocent bystander. Not only will this mess probably resurface in the second season, but he also found himself quizzed about his old partner’s demise. Although Del really had nothing to do with that death, he is aware of what happened. Oh, and Billy’s life hangs on the brink after a prison beatdown, which only adds to the tragedy of the entire unjust situation.
Let’s just say that Del will begin the second season awash in the flotsam of his actions and his own collapsed sense of morality, and Billy’s situation will only complicate matters more for Del and Grace.
Cast
In addition to Daniels as Del, the returning ensemble cast should please the existing audience. Maura Tierney will pick back up as Grace Poe, mother to Billy and labor organizer. The rest of the ensemble cast includes Alex Neustaedter as Billy Poe, Mark Pellegrino as Virgil Poe, David Alvarez as Isaac English, Bill Camp as Henry English, Julia Mayorga as Lee English, and Rob Yang as Deputy Steve Park.
Release Date
Amazon is keeping the precise date under wraps, but we do know that 2024 is happening, and the show is expected to surface again on Amazon’s Freevee service.
Trailer
Viewers still await an updated trailer, but if you’ve been on the fence about starting this series, let this gripping teaser entice you.