India, April 25 -- Between an estranged filmmaker of a father and a stage actor of a sister, Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) barely gets a breather in this drama that unpacks historical trauma through art and memory. She's all about small movements and gestures; there's no time to perform grief like her sister and father. And she's the only one willing to look beyond the family betrayal and resentment. She's not loud - that's exactly why she stands out. Who doesn't love a hot baddie with a tail? Oona Chaplin, the human actor who plays the avenging leader of the Ash people, is not the tallest in the land. But she has a towering seductive presence that terrifies her own people and those in her way. She'll use psychedelic serum to get the truth out of other Na'vi, but really, she's hypnotic all by herself. It's not easy to cut through the deafening pitch and flashiness of Marty Supreme. But everything stops for Rachel (Odessa A'zion), Marty's childhood sweetheart and partner, who sees right through his b*llshit. Unlike Marty, who is bouncing off the walls with his ambition, Rachel goes from side character to power player in the game of fame. In her own way, she's just as driven as Marty. You went for Brad Pitt and stayed for Damson Idris's raging, almost unhinged Joshua. OK, he's almost one-dimensionally arrogant. But who's complaining? Joshua is more than a protege to Pitt's Sonny Hayes, he's a sly competitor. "You're making a mistake, thinking that I'm gonna be some grateful kid who'll bend a knee to an old-timer," says the Gen Z. That's how the canon is remade, son. The show knew what it was doing when it cast Parker Posey. The plot focuses on husband Timothy and the kids, and Chelsea and Rick. But mom Victoria might be the worst Ratliff in the wealthy family. Her ditzy delusion is meme-worthy. And she, reaching for the Lorazepam at the slightest inconvenience, is the centre of every universe. Victoria feels more real than all the posturing guests in that hotel. There's Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn in this movie. And yet, audiences come out with Chase Infiniti's Willa on their minds. There's no honeyed coming-of-age for the regular teenager with a paranoid dad. She is, instead, left to swim with the sharks and learn what inherited resistance means. She ends up interrogating her own father when he comes looking for her in the wild. It's a refreshing kind of fire. A neurodivergent character, played by the neurodivergent actor Taylor Dearden. Dr King is young, socially awkward, but endlessly empathetic in a sea of cruel-brilliant geniuses. Through much of S2, she's preparing for a deposition, and grappling with the fact that her adult autistic sister has a boyfriend and a sex life. Dearden leans into smaller gestures, movements and quirks, making her feel more flesh-and-bones than a caricature. Michael Holt has a sharp mind and Olympic-level athleticism. He's not even the main villain, but Edi Gathegi steals the show with his understated suaveness and dry humour in the face of heightened emotional registers of the superheroes surrounding him. He's not just tech support, he's the solutions guy in the battle against ambitious evil. Before Lois can ask a question, Holt has an answer - a clear one, no pomp and show. And he stands for good. How is that not terrific? Played by Miles Caton as the young Sammie (sole survivor of the racist vampire apocalypse) and Buddy Guy as the older one. This is no mere Blues singer, his music is a form of rebellion from his preacher father. It's his playing that lures the vampires to the new club. And yet, he's the one who leaves the scene unscathed, chilling with his vampire cousin even in his old age. If that's not coolth, we don't know what is. On paper, the forward for the Montreal Voyageurs and hockey-camp coach is a peripheral character. But in a story pinned on repression, who can resist a man who's a looker and emotionally literate? Major props to Callan Potter for playing Hayden as so charming, he's like a cooling agent in the sizzle between Shane and Ilya. In a world full of emotionally stunted men, our boy is a communicative and loving king. He's what Shane aspires to be. A green flag if there ever was one....