REVIEW: ‘The Flight Attendant’ Season 2, Episodes 3 & 4

The Flight Attendant is based on the novel by Christopher A. Bohjalian and developed for TV by Steve Yockey, the series follows the particularly messy life of a flight attendant called Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoco). A year on and Cassie is now sober, still working for the CIA, and she’s found some real balance in life. That is, until she witnessed someone trying to frame her in Episodes 1 & 2. As we dive into The Flight Attendant Episodes 3 & 4, things get particularly complicated when Cassie’s past friends begin to resurface.

After we discover Cassie is living a much-improved life, her world is rocked once more after her mark for the CIA is obliterated by a car bomb. Not only that, but someone is sending her evidence of a crime they committed while using Cassie’s identity and appearance. Things go from bad to worse when amidst all the danger and drama our lovable attempted heroine escapes to her mind palace only to be greeted by internal reflections of fragments of herself.

Now in Episodes 3 & 4, Cassie flies to Reykjavik, Iceland on a hunch that her old friend Megan (Rosie Perez) needs help. During season 1 revealed she was selling classified documents to North Korean spies and is now being hunted by Shane (Griffin Matthews), the other flight attendant moonlighting for the CIA. Meanwhile, Ani (Zosia Mamet) and Max (Deniz Akdeniz) receive unwelcomed house guests.

The current episodes document Cassie’s ability to spiral downwards even without the involvement of alcohol. The sheer stress of the predicament she finds herself in causes her mind to go into overdrive as it creates fragments of her personality as a coping strategy. Things get particularly wonky, however, when these variants find their way out of her mind palace, and appear in the physical world.

Watching Cuoco acting against herself is just fun especially as the episodes progress and more variants are introduced resulting in the mind palace starting to feel a little crowded. The actress does a wonderful job of showcasing how her talents, and honestly you can get the sense from how fervently she interprets each role that she’s just enjoying the direction of this show and getting the opportunity to wear multiple hats.

This was highlighted nicely in Episode 3 as Cassie revisits her past haunts in Iceland and relives the many drunken nights she had with Megan, in the hopes she might find her old friend and help her out.

Where these last two episodes stumbled for me, however, was in the pace of the episode when compared with the plot points. The show hinges on a messy and frantic tone, it’s something that keeps the tension bubbling and your heart rate moving. While this is true of Episodes 3 & 4, the plot didn’t marry up to the swiftness at all. I think my issue is attempting to force the world-building, and story setting of these episodes through a misshapen hole for it to fit the distressed mood.

It’s tough. While The Flight Attendant Episodes 3 & 4 aren’t as high in quality as with 1 & 2, it’s understandable you need time to layer in backstory to set up a gratifying payoff. However, it’s hard to get over that feeling that the general direction for me was hit-and-miss.

The Flight Attendant Episodes 3 & 4 are available now exclusively on HBO Max with two new episodes coming next week.