i prefer this to season 1 by quite a lot (i might be biased bc i had a great experience watching this weekly that i didn't have with s1). i think it is more consistently great and i honestly preferred the pacing this season. i seen some people say stuff like it's too slow or we don't learn enough about lumon fast enough but i rlly disagree. i was hooked the whole way thru and looked forward to every new episode and that wouldn't be possible if i didn't think lumon's secrets weren't being revealed in the best way possible. we learn SO much this season. also, this season got better peaks than s1 imo, with Woe's Hollow, Chikhai Bardo and Cold Harbor all being pretty much perfect. character dynamics are a lot stronger in s2 too imo, especially between Helly and Mark, and the introductions of new characters or aspects to characters worked rlly well to build on where s1 left off. for example, dylan's conversations with gretchen and oIrving's conversations oBurt built on their characters perfectly. this show literally got no bland or boring characters, it's insane. every single one is given so much attention and detail, and they feel so realistic and interesting i love them all. there's a few 'flaws' in some episodes but nothing that really makes the season worse. overall, it's incredibly shot, got one of the most gripping plots i've ever seen, and is one of the best written shows i've seen in a while. there's definitely smth in this show and season for everyone so there's no reason not to watch it😭 strong 8/10