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Grief weighs heavily on 'Your Honor' in Season 2 of Showtime legal thriller

The image of a bearded, unkempt Bryan Cranston tells you a great deal about what's ahead for "Your Honor" in the second and final season of the Showtime legal thriller.

Indeed, as the new round gets underway Friday, Jan. 13, on Showtime's online and On Demand platforms (and Sunday, Jan. 15, on cable), Cranston's character of New Orleans Judge Michael Desiato is in a state of grief so profound following the accidental shooting of son Adam (Hunter Doohan) in the closing moments of Season 1 that he's really stopped caring about much of anything. Which prompted the show's star and executive producer to consider how that might look on screen "and on himself.

"It's really allowed me to reflect on my own personal life," the actor explains, "and part of the process of dealing with tragedy or disappointment or grief is to allow yourself to feel it, to truly be in it and not try to hastily get out of that, but put your arms around grief and almost welcome it as a way of process to then work through it. I think, the more we try to resist it, the longer it takes to process it, and it may then linger. It also may create and exacerbate other situations in your life. So, I think ... it's allowing me to mature in understanding all of life and its ups and downs."

Desire Gang leader Big Mo (Andrene Ward-Hammond) pushes to expand her empire with the help of Little Mo (Keith Machekanyanga) in the second season of Showtime's "Your Honor." Courtesy of Showtime

Beyond Michael's grief, Desire Gang leader Big Mo (Andrene Ward-Hammond) will be making waves this season as she pushes to expand her empire throughout the city with the help of Little Mo (Keith Machekanyanga); Fia Baxter (Lilli Kay) is forced to reckon with her family's true nature in the wake of her boyfriend's shooting, while her brother Carlo (Jimi Stanton) is determined to follow in his father Jimmy's (Michael Stuhlbarg) criminal footsteps; and Eugene's (Benjamin Flores Jr.) attempt to avenge his brother's death threatens to turn New Orleans into a tinder box ready to explode into all-out war.

Also, Rosie Perez joins the cast as Olivia Delmont, a charismatic U.S. Attorney who must manipulate an unwilling asset to bring down a crime organization. Other cast returning this season include Isiah Whitlock Jr. as Charlie Figaro, a local politician and Michael's best friend; Hope Davis as Jimmy's formidable wife, Gina; and Margo Martindale as Sen. Elizabeth Guthrie, the mother of Jimmy's late wife.

"I think what's hopefully really interesting about Season 2, or one of the aspects, is that it's a continuation from Season 1, but it's not a reset and a redo ...," explains Joey Hartstone, who replaces creator Peter Moffat as showrunner this season. "So, expect to see the characters that you know, but because they all endured such trauma in Season 1, it's impacted who they are and often changed who they are and how they react (and) are somewhat different from who you met."

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