Prime Video's most underrated sci-fi series is returning for season 2 in May, and I can't wait

(Image credit: Prime Video)

Outer Range, Prime Video's genre-bending sci-fi western series, is an odd show, but it looks like it's about to get odder still: Prime Video has confirmed that the second season of the show will be streamable from May 16 and it looks like it's going to contain some pretty big surprises.

If you're not familiar with the series, it's one of the best Prime Video shows that we view as terribly underrated. It's available to watch on the best streaming service now, so this is a good time to catch up on season one. It features Josh Brolin as Royal Abbott, a rancher fighting for his land and his family who discovers something seriously weird on the west of the family range.

The mystery surrounding it is set to deepen in the second season, too. According to Prime Video, the upcoming season "propels its characters deeper into the void with profound and unforeseen circumstances that could shake the very foundations of time itself".

Is Outer Range worth streaming?

Reviews have been decidedly mixed, but that's to be expected with shows built around mysteries. For every person who's intrigued and then hooked, there's someone who just doesn't get into it at all. But for Tara Bennett at IGN Movies, "despite intriguing performances from Josh Brolin, Imogen Poots, Lili Taylor, and Tamara Podemski, the overall story arc ends up frustratingly soapy, bloated, and ponderous".

But the critics who like it like it a lot. The Verge says that it's "mysterious, well-written, and beautifully shot with stunning sound design", while Inverse compares it to Stranger Things and says that "Outer Range is one of the boldest, weirdest, and most affecting sci-fi shows of the 21st century".

Many critics say that the show is far from perfect but manages to keep you watching. For example Salon says that "flashes of dark humor and just plain surrealness keep the show from stalling, but it's a slow burn with many burning questions". Slant says that while it is "slow to carve out the particulars of its world, Outer Range is ultimately an alluring exploration of lives and lands lost." And over at Polygon, Katie Rife says that while the tone "can feel quite disjointed... given that Outer Range is very much of the uncanny school of sci-fi, re-fashioning classic Western tropes to enigmatic ends, perhaps some off-putting qualities are appropriate."

Season two of Outer Range will be streaming on Prime Video from May 16, 2024.

Contributor

Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind.