“Everything’s going to be different from now on,” muses Allie (Justin Theroux) in Season Two of Apple TV+’s Mosquito Coast. As if. When it comes to the beleaguered Fox family in the small-screen adaptation Paul Theroux’s best-selling novel, one thing is certain: there will be plenty of drama.

So, it makes sense that Allie’s devoted yet concerned wife, Margot (Melissa George of In Treatment and The Slap) will eventually tell him: “You want to make this a home whether we want it or not.”

Like Theroux’s book—Justin is the author’s nephew by the way—the adventurous series follows the precarious journey of Allie Fox, a passionate inventor and stubborn idealist, and his family, who must adapt to being uprooted. That’s Allie’s doing of course, as the man sets the clan on a dangerous journey to find refuge from the U.S. government, grim cartels, and a few hitmen to boot.
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Season Two picks up after last season’s wild ending. Here, we find the Foxes—Gabriel Bateman and Logan Polish round out the TV family—just barely escaping Mexico and heading deeper into the Guatemalan jungle to meet up with an old friend, Isela (Natalia Cordova-Buckley)—ah, watch out for that one—and her community of refugees. Isela eventually creates more trouble for the Foxes due to an entanglement between a local drug lord and his family.

What to do? Settle down or keep moving? And that’s where Season Two gets interesting, perhaps rebooting the entire series. Allie and Margot pursue different paths to secure their family’s future, the outcome of which will either unite the family or completely tear it apart.

“I was very surprised by Season Two,” Melissa George admitted to MovieWeb. “When I got the scripts for episodes five all the way to 10, I really didn’t see [all that] coming. I was also very surprised about the amount of dilemma they gave [my character] Margo. I had a lot to do this season. Margo is no longer the silent observer. She’s the doer. That, to me, was great to play.”

Why Season Two is a Game-changer

Author Paul Theroux is among this season’s executive producers, as is Justin Theroux. George noted that the first season was cut by three episodes due to the pandemic. On the flip side, it allowed the creative team to wrap up the season in a way that would make audiences crave more and open Season Two with a bang.

“I was quite familiar with how Season Two was going to go,” George said, “but I didn’t expect the ending.”

That Season Two ending is secretly guarded, of course, but expect a major game-changer. Overall, George felt that the new episodes were well executed. The biggest surprise for the actor: it took her to new places—as an actor and a person.

“We shot for six-and-a-half months,” George shared, “and I noticed the more stressful the character was—or the dialogue or the stress in scenes were—the calmer, more grown-up as an actress and as a woman and a person I became. It stretched me enormously—personally and professionally.”

“I realized at the end of it, there’s nothing I can’t do,” she added. “I was really pushed to deliver strong scenes and as a person, you know, become much more patient, more gracious, much more giving. When it all wrapped up, I just had this huge smile on my face. I knew, deep down: ‘there’s nothing you can’t do.’”

The second half of Season Two, in fact, delivers a bevy of surprises. Seems every character is tested, stretched, or brought down to their emotional knees in one way or another. The stakes have been raised. Not surprisingly, George’s performance should be noted. We haven’t seen the actress dive to these depths before in this show.

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On the Show’s Appeal

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One of the things that makes this season of Mosquito Coast compelling is watching how well the cast gels. Especially George and Theroux.

“We’ve known each other for two decades,” George said, “when I was the Camilla Rhodes in Mulholland Drive. Justin and I have this sort of connection that you don’t even have to describe or go into much detail about. We’ve been working together for so long. On set, it’s great. Justin is funny, he’s witty. In Season One, the family [on the show] went through many things. Justin was also pivotal in me getting the part. I’m indebted to him for many reasons.”

When asked what she felt viewers were identifying with and appreciating about the series, George was candid, noting that the series is a family drama—a mom, a dad, teenage kids, very “wrapped up,” and all that.

“But what you don’t realize is each one of their perspectives,” she added. “And that’s very interesting and very rare to see in a show. There’s something for everybody. Often there’s teenage shows for teenagers and there’s adult shows for adults, but here, you’ve got both. I also like the fact that it appears, at least on the surface, to be this sort of wholesome couple raising their kids and fighting for the best for their children. But what they’ve done behind all that is kind of like a Bonnie and Clyde thing gone wrong.”

Bottom line: George hopes—perhaps predicts—that audiences will be intrigued with Season Two. “I want people to tune in. Sometimes it takes a while [for a show] to get its feet. But hopefully, audiences just love it—the beauty of how we shot it; of where we filmed, and the performances.”

“And I want viewers to feel connected to us,” she quickly added. “If anything, they’ll feel very connected to Margo and the family.”

Season Two of Mosquito Coast hits Apple TV+ on November 4.