The first season of Amazon Prime’s Hanna was essentially a more grounded version of the same story told in Joe Wright’s 2011 film of the same name. It wasn’t until the final episodes that the series began to forge an identity of its own. In Season 2, Hanna has left the movie far behind, and it's all the better for it.
While it was Hanna (Esmé Creed-Miles) who had to learn how to navigate the world in Season 1, as Season 2 begins, she is the worldly elder to the naïve Clara (Yasmin Monet Prince), the only girl who agreed to flee with her from the Utrax facility. Now that she’s free, Clara wants to learn about who she is and where she came from. And more than anything, she wants to find her mother. It's a desire she pursues despite Hanna’s advice, and it quickly leads her into a Utrax trap.
That causes Hanna to team up with Marissa Wiegler (Mireille Enos), the CIA agent who became something of an ally at the end of Season 1. However, while Marissa wants to keep her safe, Hanna is determined to rescue Clara from Utrax once again. When she infiltrates the program’s new facility in a spectacular burst of action though, she finds things have changed. The girls who used to only be referred to by numbers have been given names as well as backstories that include families, friends and preferences. For young women who’ve never been permitted to have real personal connections, these stories are enticing, and even Clara eventually embraces the exercise in identity-building.
This is perhaps the most interesting part of the second season, as girls who are now known by names like Jules (Gianna Kiehl) and Sandy (Áine Rose Daly) take different approaches to deciding who they are, and the show delves into the many ways female identity can be experienced and performed. While it’s all manufactured, the emotions these assassins-in-training experience in response to the fake families they're given are real, opening up questions about the fluidity of identity, the desire to belong and the need for human connection.
In addition, the girls' attachment to the lives that have been constructed for them and the propaganda they’re exposed to about their purpose makes them unquestionably loyal. Even Jules, who comes across as a classic teenage rebel who challenges everything around her, including the heteronormativity of the identity she’s been given, is completely committed to Utrax. It’s a fascinating exploration of psychological manipulation.
At the same time, Hanna’s relationship with Marissa continues to deepen as Marissa somewhat takes on the role filled by Joel Kinnaman’s Erik Heller last season. Although she now seems to care for Hanna unconditionally, Marissa is as inscrutable as ever, and Enos betrays almost nothing as the character directs grins that don't reach her eyes towards the individuals she wants to ingratiate herself to. As a result, even though Marissa’s actions make her Hanna’s ally, it’s hard to completely trust or understand her motivations. There are also several points in the season when the character's continued presence in the series seems unnecessary. Plus, she takes so much physical punishment that it’s hard to understand how she’s still standing by the final episode anyway.
Hanna doesn’t overtly communicate much either, but Creed-Miles has a way of imbuing the character with understated emotion, which makes her come across as sympathetic. Hanna puts all her energy in the first part of the season into saving Clara from Utrax because she sees her as family, and with Erik gone, she clings to that connection almost desperately. At the same time, even though she never says anything about it, Creed-Miles conveys Hanna's quiet bereavement over the loss of her father figure.
Meanwhile, Utrax is now being led by John Carmichael (Dermot Mulroney), one of the few men in this show about female identity and power. Carmichael presents himself as a genial figure who’s far less sinister than his predecessor. Yet as the season goes on, it becomes clear that he’s more than willing to use the young women in his charge to fulfill his own agenda.
The season sags a bit in the middle, as Hanna makes multiple attempts to rescue Clara and Marissa makes multiple attempts to save Hanna. This part of the season becomes something of a struggle for Hanna’s soul with Marissa and Clara taking on the roles of the angel and devil, respectively, on Hanna’s shoulders. Yet, the redundancy of the show’s approach undercuts the power of the plotline and makes the series feel a bit like it’s treading water. In fact, the season as a whole is a bit uneven, as action, exposition or breadcrumbs of various mysteries are emphasized in different episodes.
Overall, however, Hanna has developed into a sharper, more satisfying series in its second season. By showing more of the world of Utrax and forcing Hanna to make tough choices as she confronts how she can impact the world, the series becomes more thoughtful and insightful, while also serving up all the butt-kicking action fans have come to expect. Of course, that doesn’t mean the series has revealed everything. The season ends with the introduction of a huge new mystery. For answers, we’ll have to wait for Season 3.
Created by David Farr, Hanna stars Esmé Creed-Miles, Mireille Enos, Dermot Mulroney, Yasmin Monet Prince, Anthony Welsh, Cherrelle Skeete, Áine Rose Daly and Gianna Kiehl. The first season is available now on Amazon Prime Video. Season 2 premieres on Friday, July 3.