Why Women Kill – Season 2

Why I took it off the list:

Ater thoroughly enjoying the first season of Why Women Kill, and needing something to watch while I was confined to bed for a few days with a nasty flu, I decided to jump right in on season two -and was so engrossed I practically binged the whole 10 episodes in one go.

So, let’s dig in!

Review of Why Women Kill – Season 2 (2021)

The second, and sadly last, season of Why Women Kill ditches the central gimmick of season one – that of the three intertwining stories taking place across different decades in the same house.

Instead, it chooses to zero in on one time period, 1949 Los Angeles, and focuses on the story of Alma (Allison Tolman), a dowdy housewife who’s happily married to Dr. Bertram Fillcot (Nick Frost), but who feels unfulfilled in her life. Her husband, on the other hand, is a cheery and well-liked veterinarian, noted for his compassion and care when having to put animals to sleep.

When we first meet Alma, she’s staring longingly at a glamorous function attended by impeccably dressed society ladies, as the prescient narrator (Jack Davenport) informs us that “Years of neglect have taught her not to expect too much from life, that’s it’s best to wait. That one day ‘The meek shall inherit the earth.'” But that “one day, she got tired of waiting”.

The next morning, Alma collects the newspaper and is delighted to find that an elderly socialite has passed away. Bertram is puzzled as to why Alma is so happy about this news, until she explains it means that a membership spot has opened up in the exclusive Elysian Park Garden Club, ‘the finest in Los Angeles’.

Alma explains that “Normally I wouldn’t dare to dream, but we both know I’ve done wonders with my garden.” Bertam lets her down gently, saying “They are all rich society types. Their gardens are tended to by professionals.”

Somewhat dejected, Alma tells her daughter Dee (B.K. Cannon) about her ambitions, who encourages her to give it a shot. The problem is she has to be nominated by a current member.

As it happens, Alma has met the glamourous club president, Rita Castillo (Lana Parrilla) at her husband’s clinic, although she laments “I’ve introduced myself to her a few times, and she never seems to remember me. I guess I’m just not very memorable.”

Still, she gathers the courage to introduce herself to the club ladies while they’re at lunch, and to her surprise, Rita invites her to a fundraiser at her elegant mansion.

Determined to look her best and make an impression, Alma decides to make a bright fuschia dress, but the needle on her sewing machine breaks. She heads to the attic for another, but comes across a brooch with a name and a date on it: Enid Dolan, February 14th, 1945.

She wears the brooch to the fundraiser, where it catches the eye of club member Grace (Virginia Williams). She explains that her aunt Enid, who died four years previously on Valentine’s Day, had one just like it, and Alma, realizing it’s one and the same, gives it back to Grace.

Grace, touched by Alma’s act of kindness, decides to nominate her to join the club. Later, Alma makes her way back to the attic, where she comes across a secret stash of other items all tagged with a name and a date, and comes to the realization that Bertram has a disturbing ‘hobby’.

Meanwhile, it’s revealed that Rita has her own set of problems. She essentially married the elderly, abusive Carlo for his money and is eagerly awaiting his death so she can move her toyboy lover Scooter (Matthew Daddario) into the mansion.

So when her husband has a stroke that renders him unable to move or speak, she’s delighted. That is, until his stern estranged daughter Catherine (Veronica Falcón), who has never approved of her father’s ‘concubine’, shows up and begins to watch Rita like a hawk, anxious to catch her in an act of infidelity so she can kick her to the curb.

But Rita is preoccupied with her own concerns about infidelity: she suspects Scooter is having an affair and so hires private detective Vern Loomis (Jordane Christie) to tail him.

It turns out he’s sleeping with none other than Dee, Alma’s daughter. Once Rita puts the pieces together she makes it her mission to destroy the Fillcot family, including derailing Alma’s garden club ambitions. Which puts the two women on an inevitable collision course.

Tolman and Parrilla Make for Delicious Enemies

The second season of Why Women Kill is stronger than the first in many ways: for one, the mystery of who is going to end up dead and why isn’t initially clear, and so there’s a greater level of suspense.

One (accidental) death in particular near the beginning of the story, involving the victim skewered with garden shears after eavesdropping on her neighbour’s loud argument about murder, is particularly surprising and leads to a whole set of complications for the characters as the series progresses.

And the decision to focus on one set of characters means that the women at the heart of the story feel more fully realized than Beth Ann, Simone, and Taylor did in the first installment.

Indeed, both Alma and Rita go through fully-fleshed out arcs that take them in surprising directions. Parilla excels at playing a ruthless, arrogant queen bee while gradually revealing Rita’s insecurities and vulnerabilities.

But it’s arguably Alma who goes through the biggest transformation. Going from passive and downtrodden to revealing Alma is just as capable of being as ruthless as her nemesis once her dreams are threatened, Tolman is clearly having fun as a woman coming into her own, no matter who she has to take down on her way to the top.

Among the supporting cast, Frost is given a meaty role as a man whose well-meaning compassion has gotten way out of control. And both Cannon as the kindhearted Dee and Daddario, entertainingly adopting an ‘aw-shucks’ kind of persona, lend some heart to the escalating drama.

But perhaps the biggest scene-stealer, apart from Parrilla and Tolman, is Falcón, whose scheming Catherine gets some of the choicest dialogue in the show, which she delivers with relish. “You may have nicer legs..,”she says to Rita at one point, “but I have better lawyers.”

Final score: 8/10

Why Women Kill – Season 2: Worth Watching?

Yes, although its ambitions are considerably lower than the first, the second season of Why Women Kill benefits from a sharper focus, juicy performances, and a greater level of suspense involving its many surprising twists.