Maxton Hall S2 Premiere Cliffhanger: The Real Reason James Calls Ruby Before the Crash

Maxton Hall comes back looking like a romance and immediately swerves into a brick wall. Literally. Season 2 opens with Ruby and James trying to be okay, and closes with James in a wreck, his aunt sprinting toward twisted metal. Subtle, this show is not.

Where Season 2 picks up

We jump right in after the Season 1 finale. Ruby is on a high — an Oxford interview under her belt and her relationship with James seemingly back on track. Then James disappears. She can’t reach him, tracks him down at a blowout party, and finds him wasted and acting out. The worst part: he plants a kiss on Elaine in front of everyone. Ruby leaves shattered.

Soon after, she gets news no one’s prepared for: James’s mother, Cordelia, has died. Ruby tries to do the kind thing and shows up for him, but the place is a minefield — booze, pills, photos of him cozy with Elaine. She clocks it for what it is: a spiral she can’t pull him out of. She walks away.

The next morning, Ruby chooses sanity. With Lin nudging her to move on from James’s chaos, she pours her energy into school and into organizing a fundraiser gala. She even bakes her heartbreak into the theme for a benefit supporting Alice Campbell’s foundation, which focuses on youth mental health. Productive coping, 10/10.

James vs. the Beaumont machine

James doesn’t just lose his mom; he runs headfirst into the Beaumont family wall. Mortimer, his father, is glacial about Cordelia’s death. That coldness is exactly what sends James off the edge — into drugs, into drinking, into the kind of parties Ruby walks in on. When James drags himself home after one of those nights, Mortimer unloads on him while Lydia worries in the corner. Both tell him to keep away from the press conference announcing Cordelia’s death. Image first, feelings later.

The funeral is worse. Mortimer even signals Lydia not to cry — in public, God forbid — and James ends up comforting his sister. Then the real drama arrives: Ophelia, Cordelia’s estranged sister, crashes the service and accuses Mortimer of taking what didn’t belong to him. He writes her off as greedy and has zero time for it. Ophelia storms out but promises she’ll be back for the will reading. The glossy Beaumont veneer? Cracking fast.

The call, the crash, the cliffhanger

Mortimer’s cruelty pushes James past his limit. He bolts from the funeral, rattled and furious, and finally does the one sensible thing: he tries to call Ruby. It’s a last-ditch reach for something steady after weeks of self-destruction. He doesn’t make it. Moments after that call attempt, his car slams out of control. The episode ends on the wreckage, with Ophelia sprinting toward the scene. It’s a brutal punctuation mark on a premiere that starts hopeful and ends with everything on fire — including James and Ruby’s once-promising relationship.

Quick facts

• Show: Maxton Hall — The World Between Us
• Based on: Save Me by Mona Kasten
• Seasons: 2
• Directors this season: Martin Schreier, Tarek Roehlinger
• IMDb: 7.5/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
• Where to watch: Prime Video

Where does this leave Ruby and James?

Short answer: complicated, and not in the cute way. Ruby’s protecting her peace; James is fighting his family and himself. Whether they find their way back after this is anyone’s guess, but the show just set up a season of messy emotions, nasty family secrets, and fallout from a crash we all saw coming and still weren’t ready for.

Think they have a shot at getting back together after all that? Sound off. Maxton Hall — The World Between Us Season 2 is streaming now on Prime Video.