Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Season 2 - Review

Streaming some more Tombs.

I'm not surprised that the 2nd season of Netflix's animated Tomb Raider series is also its last. I enjoyed the 1st season of the show and found it a pleasant watch but the overall reception to it was lukewarm. Not terrible by any means but not particularly great either. The announcement of this 2nd season was thus a bit of a surprise to many, but not to me. Netflix made a 2-season order after all, so they are just following up on what was contracted.

A follow-up that look quite promising. For one, I like the concept of magical masks as this season’s focus and two, Sam finally makes a proper return to the series. She was such a big focal point of the first game in the Survivor Trilogy, the plot revolved around her in a way, that I always found it so weird she never appeared again. Very interested to see what they do with her here.

So, without further ado, let's talk about the last season of this animated Tomb Raider show and see if it bows out on something of a high note.

After receiving a distressing call from her old friend Sam, Lara ends up in the Caucasus mountains, where she rescues Sam from the smugglers she was trying to expose. Lara is unexpectedly aided in her effort by a mysterious woman named Fig. She brings the two to her boss Mila, a billionaire philanthropist out to better the world. Feeling guilty that the Orisha Mask, which Mila request from Lara to give back to its rightful owners was acquired by her father through by illegal means, she gives Mila the mask. Of course, Mila uses the Mask and the powerful magic turns out to hold to massacre an entire village. Horrified by the destruction and wrecked by guilt, Lara aims to stop whatever nefarious plan Mila has cooked up by finding the other Orisha Masks before she does.

As someone who grew up on Bionicle the entire treasure hunt this season, all about magical masks, appeals to me quite a bit. It’s a story I know and like. Once again, the writers take existing legends and mythology to base the mystery around. Of course, they veer it off in an entirely fictitious direction but it is still a neat way to introduce audiences to another culture and its mythology, African in this case.

It's sad that this season turned out to be no better than the first, but also not any worse. It's just different. It fixes some issues I had with that first outing but also introduces flaws of its own. The best way to review this season is to break those flaws down, I find.

I’ll tackle the most egregious of these issues first: Lara's own role in the season. By the end of the 8-episode run, Lara has become a side character in her own show. The first and second episode are pretty Lara focused with her screwing up in helping Mila. She takes action and we see a much more grounded and confident Lara.

In episode 3, the third wheel to this world-traveling duo is introduced: Eshu. Eshu is a great character. He's equal parts entertaining, endearing and an emotional core. I became really interested in him, his past and his journey, more so than Lara. However, this show is called 'The Legend of Lara Croft', not 'The Legend of Eshu'.

Our main Trio o this season: Sam, Lara & Eshu.

As much as I enjoyed watching him this show is not about him. I didn't click play on this show because I wanted to see Eshu - I wanted to see Lara Croft. The writers seem to have forgotten this as with each episode, Eshu’s role rises into prominence until he is the central star. The one that gets the big heroic moment at the end. One that could’ve been given to Lara; they planted the seeds for it, but don’t go into that direction for some reason.

Because of this misplaced focus, Lara felt like a side character in her own show by the finale. Yes, she is partially responsible for the revelation Eshu gets that brings us to the final, by recognizing he is dealing with his trauma the same unhealthy way as she was back in season 1. An appreciated ‘full circle moment’, but all of this is hardly worth sidelining Lara for.

Lara gets to mostly do two things: be the cool action heroine and ‘grow’ from the Survivor Trilogy Lara into the Classic Lara. Lara wields her dual pistols now (no bow and arrow anywhere), Sam braids her hair in the classic style, and she buys herself a leather jacket and those round sunglasses from the original games. All done to make her resemble the 1996 Lara Croft which, per the showrunner’s own words, is very intentional. Neat I guess but doing those things does not make for an interesting watch. Does not give Lara the depth I want out of her even if ‘cool and confident’ Lara is, well, cool to watch too.

I haven’t spoken of the last member of the ‘main trio’ yet: Sam. I am glad to see her back, but she gets sidelined even harder than Lara. Skipping over the entire 'two estranged friends start of fighting but slowy grow close again’ was a smart move. That has been done so many times and by not going in this direction, the opportunity arose to do something more with her character. They didn’t do that and instead slotted her into the same role Jonah had in season 1.

The friend who goes on this dangerous journey with Lara, being the more level headed and social one. Lara just doesn’t push her away as she did with Jonah. Quite the opposite, actually. This season is one more mark in the 'the creators trying to pair up Sam and Lara romantically but not getting to actually do so' box. There are hints here, from Sam’s side especially, that there are deeper feelings at play here. That’s all they are, though: hints. Hints that don’t go anywhere. While it was nice to have Sam around this season, the truth is that anyone could’ve filled the role she had and that is disappointing.

I've criticized this season a lot up until now, and rightfully so I feel, but this season is not all bad of course. There are plenty of things to like about it and I want to start with some improvements over the 1st season.

Season 1, I felt, suffered from a lot of stop-and-go and episodes not flowing well into each other. I encountered no such problems in season 2 and even had to be reminded of this flaw. Even the heist homage that is episode 5, which, with its style and music homages classic heist movies, has a different style because of it, doesn't feel out of place. Now that I have mentioned that episode. It's also just a very fun episode, if you like heist movies, and my favourite one in the entire season.

The overall story is also much better, more interesting, than the one from the 1st season. It's still a scavenger hunt over magic McGuffins but it's more interesting here because the magic masks are tied to actual people. They are not just lying around waiting to be found but they have someone tied to them that Lara and Co. have to deal with. People who bring a story with them. That makes for more interesting and diverse storytelling if you ask me.

Lara protecting one of the Orisha Masks. 

The villain, Mila, isn't much to write home about like her predecessor, but her appearances are limited. One dimensional that she is, thanks to her sparring use, she doesn't overstay her welcome, unlike Charles Deveraux.

The action sequences are still pretty good, too. Nothing has changed when it comes to how they are handled, nor how the show is animated. The animation is smooth in both action and the stiller, just talking moments. No ‘characters just stiffly standing around while their lips flap’ here. The action is very enjoyable thanks to the animation. They are creative, reserved when they need to be, showy when they need to be and brutal when they need to be.

I especially like the action sequences involving the 'Orisha of death'. It cleverly uses elements of death that I wouldn't strictly think of to create some horrifying sequences full of both action and emotion. 

Conclusion

Like its 1st season, Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft season 2 is a well-made and enjoyable 8 episodes of animation that just can’t live up to the Tomb Raider series. It, amongst other flaws, commits the cardinal sin of sidelining its titular protagonist in the back half of the season which, no matter how interesting Eshu is as a character, is just is a poor decision that undermines not just Lara but the show itself.

I enjoyed watching the season and very much don’t regret the time spent with it. I also understand why this marks the end for this show as it's just isn’t that strong of a show. I may eventually binge all 16 episodes together to get the full, ‘continuous’ experience, but beyond that, it’s unlikely I’ll revisit it. With two new games now on the horizon, there are brighter things on Tomb Raider’s horizon.