Well, damn that was fast. And we certainly had our doubts. As we outlined in our review of the first season of "Luck," the HBO horse racing world drama starts off pretty slow, can be frustratingly obtuse at times and is stuffed to bursting with characters and subplots, but by the end of the season it firmly finds its footing and sets up the possibility of a fantastic second season. And now, we're gonna get one.
If you're just catching up, Dustin Hoffman leads the series as Chester "Ace" Bernstein, a "legitimate business man" just back from prison who has grand plans for a horse racing track, and along with his right hand man Gus (Dennis Farina), goes out to grab what's his. Among the players both on the track and off are the desperate horse jockey agent Joey (Richard Kind, who has perhaps the most fascinating arc), trainers Escalante (John Ortiz) and Walter (Nick Nolte), Jo the vet (Jill Hennessey), up-and-comer rider Rosie (Kerry Condon) and a quartet of racing junkies including Marcus (Kevin Dunn), Jerry (Jason Gedrick), Renzo (Ritchie Coster) and Lonnie (Ian Hart). (And that's not all.) The performances across the board are very strong (shout outs to Kind, Hoffman and Farina in particular), and the show is worth sticking with even if it you don't get into its rhythms right away.
With the premiere episode landing 3.3 million viewers, HBO have no problem flipping the switch to greenlight the second season. And we're glad the series will get a chance to work out the kinks and hopefully deliver on the promise it has shown. Production will get underway next month, with season two to premiere in January of 2013.