Last season, I reviewed X Company on a weekly basis, commenting on the characters, story structure, etc. It was a lot of fun, and satisfied the part of me that loves history. I decided that, for Season 2, I’d step back a bit and wait before writing anything about it. The reason? I wanted to let X Company wash over me and percolate before I wrote anything resembling a review. Now, after four weeks of episodes, I’m ready to write something.
X Company @#$%ing rocks.
Season 2 is tighter, packing drama, danger, emotion and levity into every 42-ish minute episode. There’s action at every turn, consequences to every decision and an understanding of what every character is going through regardless of what side of the Second World War they’re on.
The Allied group, headed by Aurora, is a much tougher and cohesive team. Alfred, has quickly evolved from a man struggling to control his warring senses into one willing to die to save both his team or those in need. I said, “What is he doing?!” to myself when Alfred ran out to replace the fallen POW in Wednesday’s latest episode. He quickly assessed the Allies needed someone on the inside to figure out how to bust five men out and decided the best way to do it was from inside the prison. Aurora has evolved too. Yes, her emotions are still very close to the surface, but she can make sacrifices to keep “the good guys” safe. She proved that last week when she killed René to keep him from spilling more secrets to the Nazis.
Speaking of the Nazis, I’ve been silently cheering for Franz Faber and his wife, Sabine. The pair made the awful decision to kill their developmentally disabled son, Ulli, rather than send him off to be murdered by strangers. Now the repercussions of that decision, including Faber eliminating that jerk Forst, are beginning to close in. Seeing Faber and Sabine struggle puts a human face to the side of the Second World War the Allies viewed as evil. But, of course, they’re people just like us, regardless of who or what they were fighting for.
Heading into Season 2, Dustin Milligan told TV, Eh? “the shit has hit the fan” for the team. He wasn’t lying. Time is running out for Aurora et al. to get organized in time for the invasion at Dieppe, while the mysterious scuba man has arrived in Whitby, Ont., intent on targeting Duncan Sinclair. The Second World War has arrived on Canadian soil, and I’m not sure what will happen next.
I can’t wait to find out.
X Company airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
