The second season of Breathe Into The Shadows picks up from the same point where season 1 had ended. And so you have Avinash at the psychiatric ward before he escapes to hunt down 6 of his other victims. Will he succeed? The story here is exciting with a lot more urgency than the first season. And that is understandable because there is little to no world building required in a universe that stays intact in the second season. The writers too seemed to have learnt from their flaws from the first season. So the screenplay this time around stands at just 8 episodes of 30 to 40 odd minutes each which does make for a brisk watch through and through. The drama here is much more quicker as compared to its first season. And it has to do with the number of killings too. While the first season did have about 4 out of 10 killings completed, the second season has the remaining 6 killings attempted in 8 episodes. So do the math, about 1 killing for every 1.5 episodes(roughly). What that does is, it always keeps the viewers on its toes, consistently having their attention throughout.

The screenplay here is pretty unique and less attempted too. It was similar to the Malayalam film Pappan(in terms of its structure and narrative style) wherein an event unfolds before the events leading up to that event unfolding after that. So the editing and screenplay needed to go hand in hand for this constant to and FRO kind of non-linear drama that required your undivided focus. There are smaller details integrated in the narrative that may get missed out on if you aren’t attentive. And this was effectively done as well with elements of mythology nicely integrated in it!

The drama is engaging and engrossing for most parts. The introduction of another character in this universe definitely raise the stakes a notch higher this time around. But importantly, once the killings begin to unfold, you begin to enjoy them in a weird manner. The cat and mouse chase between the two protagonists is a lot of fun to witness. A smaller drawback is that the events do get repetitive after the halfway mark where the drama slightly loses a little steam. But to the writers’ credit, the drama is consistently watchable with a few twists and turns which are fascinating to watch.

Another limitation in the screenplay is its predictable and one-dimensional characterization. You often know how the characters are going to react to a situation barring a couple of them and that makes the drama that much more predictable. If you remember in season 1, the character of Abhishek Bachchan switches at the halfway mark thereby adding a shock value to his character. But no such luck here!

The events leading up to the final act are decent and the climax too seemed a little underwhelming. But the outro had multiple twists to it that elevated the drama right at the end. Also I was impressed at how major events were tied up together not only in the final act but through and through in its other subplots as well. So overall, the screenplay here can be termed as one of the most exciting screenplays of the year although a tad repetitive!