Rand Ravich (Creator)

CAST
Robert Kazinsky
Dilshad Vadsaria
Adhir Kalyan
Ciara Bravo
Vanessa Lengies
Tim DeKay

Review

This short-lived science-fiction crime drama is a series that I’ve re-watched a few times. It’s a clever modernization of Mary Shelly‘s Frankenstein which follows the story of Jimmy Pritchard, a 75-year-old former disgraced sheriff, played by Philip Baker Hall, who is murdered during a burglary. However, his story doesn’t end there since billionaire tech-genius Otto Goodwin (Adhir Kalyan), decides to use the biotechnology he’s developing to help his twin sister Mary Goodwin (Dilshad Vadsaria) to bring Pritchard back to life in a younger and genetically enhanced body, played by Rob Kazinsky.

The second chance aspect of the show revolves around Jimmy who wasn’t the best father to his children, or sheriff at his job. The Goodwin’s tech is an opportunity for Jimmy to right some wrongs both personally and professionally. His son Duval, played by Tim DeKay, is an FBI agent who is more by the book than his father ever was. Since Jimmy Pritchard’s murder is linked to one of his son’s cases reborn Jimmy, who is an officer of the law at heart can’t help but meddle.

Duval instantly sees a family connection that is how their tentative relationship begins. The cast is good, I love Kazinsky’s acting because he plays the old man in a younger body well. He sells it. I like how he leans into his old-school way of doing things during his cases while trying to be better. There are some fun moments in the show like when he forgets that he’s not as old as he used to be and talks like he’s older than he is. Jimmy and Duval’s relationship is one of the high points of this crime drama before the cases Jimmy involves himself in.

Besides redemption, the show is also about technology, which has an omnipresence in it. it’s pretty cool at first smoothing things out in cases but the series really gets into the ethics of it and the consequences of what Otto has created. If it had a longer run it could have gotten more complex and interesting but here it’s more often a tool.

If you’re a sci-fi fan looking for a quirky but interesting show about advanced technology, redemption, family, and crime Second Chance might be the show for you.

If you want to support this site, help by getting me a coffee from the link below: