Season 2 of FX Network’s slow burn crime thriller is not to be missed.
The Bridge is an intriguing crime thriller starring Diane Kruger, Demian Bichir, Matthew Lillard, Emily Rios, Franka Potente, Thomas M. Wright, and Lyle Lovett. The Bridge is an American drama television series developed by Meredith Stiehm and Elwood Reid, airing on the FX network, and based on the Danish/Swedish series Broen/Bron/The Bridge.
The titular bridge is the small International “Bridge of the Americas” over the Rio Grande (Rio Bravo) between the increasingly violent, cartel-targeted boarder towns El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. When the body of a cartel member is found on U.S. soil, strong willed, socially inept homicide detective Sonya Cross (Kruger) from El Paso PD and her Mexican counterpart, Chihuahua State Police and no nonsense cartel inside man Mario Cruz (Bichir), must work together to solve the case.
Marco, still reeling from the death of his son, continues to deal with police corruption and the demands of the cartel. Sonya meets an unexpected man with connections to her past who threatens to come between her and her boss, Lt. Hank Wade (Levine). This case quickly pulls all involved into the complex web of money laundering, corruption, and the Juarez drug wars raging and infiltrating the suburban streets of El Paso.
El Paso Times reporters, arrogant addict in recovery Daniel Frye (Lilliard) and smart diligent cub reporter Adriana Mendez (Rios), continue to follow the Mille Quintana Money House, where millions in dollars and euros of the cartel’s money were intercepted, the case they feel will make them. It’s a path that will eventually cross that of Marco and Sonya. Charlotte Millwright (Sons Of Anarchy’s new sheriff Annbeth Gish) will have to make the impossible choice between two worlds that have a grasp on her: the US government and the Mexican Cartel. Meanwhile, Steven Linder (Wright) tries to do right by his Mexican immigrant love and ends up seeking justice the only way how.
This is a well written and expertly delivered though brutally violent show. The episodes I previewed literally took my breath away. There is a scene of Lyle Lovett as Charlotte Millwright’s sleazy and unscrupulous lawyer gingerly stepping through pools of blood and random body parts in a cartel safe house as lilting country tunes play, underscoring the gruesome event was chilling. Eleanor Nacht (a surprisingly dark and complex turn for Franka Potente, Lola of Run Lola Run) is a quirky, polite but mercilessly ruthless employee of the cartel. She’s a shunned Mennonite and her arc for the first episode, “Yankee,” was brilliant. The Bridge earns its TV MA rating and then some in the explosive season two premier July 9th only on FX.
—all art~FX Network