When Chance Perdomo died last year, Gen V lost its most promising young performer. But season two has avoided recasting the character or introducing a prominent new student to take his place, instead focusing on a smaller group and developing the people we already know: Marie, Emma, Jordan, Cate, and Sam. That shift is working pretty well for me overall, even if this season feels slightly less novel than the first.

It feels right that season two is kicking into gear as we reach the midpoint. “Bags” starts to really peel back the curtain on what this story is about, digging into Project Odessa and the true nature of the villainous new dean. Cipher is a huge presence here, lingering in the air even when he doesn’t appear in a scene, and Hamish Linklater is really selling the character’s c

See Full Page