In terms of the plot, however, things were a bit weaker. It feels as though a 10 episode format was simply too short to properly flesh out every storyline, even though the narrative structure itself seemed quite well-conceived. While having a larger cast with interconnected arcs is a great idea, the short season didn’t provide enough breathing room for the audience to form a truly solid emotional connection with the characters.

Kingsley’s story, despite a promising beginning and middle parts, lacked a proper conclusion. The ending we got felt somewhat forced, as if the writers weren’t sure how to tie his arc back to the rest of the cast once his role had been fulfilled. I have similar feelings regarding Roman’s storyline. Even though we got to know him best, his relationships with other characters, particularly Talia, felt disproportionately deep, given how few actual interactions we saw between them on screen. Because of this, the tearful farewell at the end felt a bit forced to me.

I enjoyed the storylines involving Talia and David the most. Though, as I mentioned, I wish they’d been given more time. They would have benefited from a longer format.

I didn’t care for the somewhat contrived callbacks to the first season. It felt like the creators wanted us to point at the screen, and go, “Look, look! I know that guy!”- like in that one meme. A reference to the Tanaka assassination would have been a sufficient nod to the previous season. Constantly bringing up Martinez serves no real purpose. I also have mixed feelings about yet another David dying in a massive clash with Arasaka, only for some symbolic part of him to reach for the stars or some shit. That felt kinda cheesy. Furthermore, Omi suddenly changing her tune – going from being firmly opposed to David’s lifestyle to “fuck yeah, I’ll be your driver” – felt like an odd choice that didn’t quite fit her character.