From A Peabody To Nude Bodies The Bridge Gets A New Architect

• FX
• Demian Bichir on The Bridge

When a show comes back for a second season, sometimes it’s a triumphant return. Other times a sophomore outing is just plain sophomoric. Unfortunately, that’s the case for FX’s The Bridge. Coshowrunner Meredith Stiehm left to work on Homeland again, prompting former producing partner Elwood Reid to ditch the serial killer angle (which he deemed a “sugar rush”) and, in his words to TVGuide.com, to “[try] to tell a bigger story.” And with that move to a wider shot, the show loses its focus.

Initially, the episode seems par for the course. The dichotomies established by the odd-couple pairings are still front and center: method versus madness (Sonya and Marco), excess versus restraint (Daniel and Adriana), and law versus disorder (Hank and those Chihuahua cops). This system of counterparts mirrored the producing team behind the scenes—Reid’s energetic but scattershot approach (seen in his Hawaii Five-0 remake) was centered by TV veteran Stiehm, who’s spent over 20 years as a writer-producer.