I assume the OP means shows where S2 sucks but rebounds from there… in which case I struggle to come up with a good example. My first instinct was Fear the Walking Dead, but that’s had a pretty steep downward decline after the first few episodes 
Westworld. It didn’t end brilliantly in S1 but at least it was novel but that wore off pretty quickly in S2 (don’t know if it picked up since or if I’d have to slog through S2 for the latter ones to make sense)
There was a writers strike going on, so those guys were not real writers.
IMHO there’s two different categories. Some are shows that run for only 2 seasons that should have stopped at 1. Twin Peaks (ignoring the recent season 3) is a good example. The main premise of the show, the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer, had been solved. Rather than calling it a day, the show went off the rails.
The others are shows that run 6, 7, or more seasons, where they were still getting their footing during season 2. Star Trek TNG and DS9 both fit the bill. Season 2 didn’t suck per se, but they weren’t as good as the later seasons.
I find that sitcoms and character-based dramas usually improve with the second season, because the writers are able to figure out what relationships work and what doesn’t. OTOH hand, plot-driven shows usually struggle because the writers came up with the entire first season plot before the show started, and then don’t know where to go from there. Heroes really is the perfect example because the first season was supposed to be standalone. It was going to be more of an anthology series focusing on a new group each season. But then everyone loved the characters so they had to switch tracks.
I would agree with this. Baa Baa Black Sheep was surprisingly solid having rewatched it a few years ago. Season 2 though decided to double down on the “Pilots chasing Nurses” plot lines which were always the weakest parts of the show. They introduced a bunch of female characters who’s sole job was to just to get hit on by the male pilots which now meant every single episode (instead of just occasionally in the first season) the entire plot has to slow down a few times an episode just so we can see the male pilots hit on the female nurses. From what I understand this was a studio mandate because the studio thought adding in female characters would bring in new female viewers but the female characters did literally nothing of note in the show.
I thought American Gods had a fantastic first season, it was true to the source material while taking some interesting liberties and fleshing out some neglected characters. And the performances were top notch, particularly Ian McShane.
Then Bryan Fuller was fired after the first season, and Gillian Anderson and Kristen Chenoweth departed the show. The second season was a dumpster fire. Season three was a bit better, but by that time the behind-the-scenes chaos had taken its toll and the show was canceled.
I loved that show (though I have no interest in football) and I agree with that. Season 2 featured the killing and hiding the body of an attempted rapist, which cast a pall over the entire season.
Came here to say the same thing. The series is amazing - as you say, it’s one of the best shows most underrated shows in recent memory. As such, I tell new viewers to just skip season 2. It offers absolutely nothing, and pushes viewers away.
Likewise with The 4400.
This is what I came into the thread to mention. Season 1 of Westworld is one of the best seasons of TV I’ve ever watched and I’ll put season 2 up there as one of the worst. It was the writers trying SO hard to play mind games that it got in the way of the story making any kind of sense.
Also, to answer your question, not only did they make a season 3, but season 4 is currently going on and ending this coming Sunday (the 14th).
How is season 3? Better than 2, but still nothing to really write home about. I would classify season 3 as just boring as opposed to a frigging mess. Season 4, however, is diet season 1. Much better than the last two but not quite as good as 1.
Lastly, it’s scheduled for a 5th season but who knows if HBO/Warner is keeping it
Thanks for that, I suspect you’ve just saved me a substantial investment in time.
I really wanted to like it but…well, you seem to know what the score is.
Around the same time, my wife and I watched the first series of “the handmaids tale”. Really good, really grim, and when we knew there was a series 2 we collectively decided “that’s enough”. It may be that it was excellent but we just didn’t have the stomach for it.
There’s a well-known effect in recording circles: the Sophomore Slump. A music guy explained to me, "A band finally puts out their first album. Which means they’ve had five, ten years to come up with material for it.
Suddenly, they get a hit and now the record company wants another album. And the band’s got a matter of months to try to come up with something as good as their debut. They rarely do."
Season 2 of Happy Days. They disappeared Chuck and put Fonzie in a leather jacket. What next? Ditch Bill Halley and the Comets?
Do you think season 2 of TNG was worse than season 1? Admittedly, I haven’t revisited the show in over a decade, but it was my recollection that season 1 was quite bad. I was thinking Tasha Yar died in season 2, but a quick google showed that she died in season 1. Even that bad episode could be hung around season 1’s neck.
Season 1 was definitely worse than season 2. IMHO the middle years, especially 4, 5, and 6, were the best ones.
It was pretty lame the whole time, but I could not believe how horrible it was later. It’s kind of stunning how bad the writing was. Stephen King continued to promote it on Twitter and, of course, I can now never trust a movie or show he promotes that is his own.
Season 2 is great. That show was solid for about 5(or so) seasons.
Shockingly, it’s still on. It’s final 8 episodes, which I will painfully will watch soon, are airing soon.
But wait! There’s more! After that, Daryll is getting his own who(uh, spoiler, he makes it?) and that will continue on from there.
It’s an old joke, but the show is the real “walking dead” and has been for over half its run. Pathetic.
The one they spent almost entirely at the barn and hardly anything happened?
Twin Peaks didn’t solve the murder in Season 1. The intention was to never solve the murder and just have it as the underlying premise and the show would be the soap opera about the townsfolk. The network insisted on the murder being solved so it was, about a third way through the second season. I will agree that it went off the rails and the second season was mostly terrible. Lynch and Frost were no longer really involved and it showed. It did come back near the end.
Yes, the murder was solved in season 2. Lynch did come back for the season 2 finale, which is amazing.
She’s not even technically dead now if you watch season 3. They prevented her murder…but at what cost?