The first season of The Last Thing He Told Me is an emotional thriller, as the series delves into the uncertain history of Owen Michaels and how his mysterious absence left the complicated dynamic between Hannah and her stepdaughter, Bailey, at the center of the show.
Hannah and Bailey were forced to rely only on each other in a dangerous world of hidden secrets and even more threatening people. The conclusion of season 1 is also a devastating tragedy, but one that helps sell the consequences of the story.
A time jump five years into the future sees that Hannah and Bailey’s relationship has remained strong in the aftermath of their deal with Nicholas. However, Owen’s brief reunion with Hannah is meant to do nothing more than suggest that while Owen is alive, he will never be able to rejoin his family. Forced to be near, but never with, the tearing apart of this family leaves a strong impact, and one that feels like an honest conclusion to the story it tells. The Last Thing He Told Me season 2 ruins this.
The Last Thing He Told Me should have ended after season 1
From the moment The Last Thing He Told Me makes it clear that Owen will have a substantial role, the thrill and intrigue of the series is dead. The most interesting thing about Owen was his disappearance, and the decision to turn him into some sort of heroic protagonist determined to reunite with his family only makes the story worse.
Owen had almost no role in the show’s main timeline in the first season, which is part of what made the show so exciting. Watching the tension between Hannah and Bailey turn into trust because they could only trust each other while simultaneously being confused, betrayed, and hurt by Owen’s actions leads to a far more dynamic approach to the show. But Owen’s presence as a series lead, rather than a mystery, actually makes him harder to root for, mostly because the character has no real personality.
In season 1, Owen was barely more than a ghost. In season 2, the audience is expected to root for the character whose every action has a way of putting those he loves in danger.
The Last Thing He Told Me is nearly a perfect example of what should have been a limited series, and how expanding on it could be the worst thing you could do.
The romance between Hannah and Owen is forced, compelled by a narrative that needs Hannah and Owen to work it out rather than allowing the frustration that Hannah would have toward Owen to actually breathe. While season 2 does allow for that, it seems to disappear just in time for the final episodes. That is one of the worst elements of the season’s pacing, especially when looking at a scene fairly early in their reunion, where Owen admits that he married Hannah because he could not imagine his life without her in it and had no real regard for how his past actions could catch up to them in the future.
Bailey’s anger toward Owen is an integral part of season 2's early episodes, but her feeling concerned for her father also plays well, at least partially. However, their tension clears up just when the narrative needs it to as well. Owen plays off his abandonment as a heroic action that doesn’t require more than an “oops” rather than the traumatic event it was for Hannah and Bailey.
The Last Thing He Told Me struggles to add more emotional depth to either of Owen's relationships with Hannah or Bailey beyond the suggestion that he loved them and they loved him prior to his disappearance.
In comparison, the dysfunctional dynamic of the Campano family between Frank, Teddy, and Quinn has moments of being more compelling than any of Owen's personal family drama, including what should be a captivating reunion between Owen and Nicholas after everything their history entailed. Instead of exploring it and devoting time to actual character and relationship-centric moments, the story carries on with surface-level conversations, relying on chemistry and writing that never quite hits the way it needs to.
On top of the character issues, another problem is that it takes until the seventh episode to really pick up.
For the most part, The Last Thing He Told Me sleeps through the season, never really committing to the bite, excitement, and intrigue that season 1 had throughout its run. In comparison, season 2 drops the ball in every way possible. The characters are duller than they have ever been, the mystery struggles to hold the series up, and the emotional stakes are almost non-existent. While Jennifer Garner still brings a strong performance to the role of Hannah, the storylines and characters around her never help elevate the plot. Judy Greer's role as Quinn comes close, but she is never used quite enough to really help the season's plot move forward at a quicker speed.
The season 2 finale does keep the mystery and intrigue alive, but by that point, if the audience has not dedicated themselves to completing the season, it almost does not matter.
Main storylines are given closure, such as the big reveal as to what really happened to Kate and the resolution to Owen’s freedom from the Campano family. Yet, the cliffhanger surrounding what is next for Quinn and how that could impact Hannah, Bailey, and Owen is the main thread leading into where the story could lead next.
The Last Thing He Told Me may have more to tell of its story, but it would have been better off not coming back at all.
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