Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Season 2 Review — Lara Croft Delivers Her Boldest Adventure Yet
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft’s debut season hits hard—blistering action, standout characters, and respectful nods to the classics that still welcome newcomers. If this is the baseline, the next chapter can’t arrive fast enough.
I liked the first season of Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft a lot more than I expected. Big, jump-off-the-roof action, characters I cared about, and a genuine affection for the games without gatekeeping newbies. So yeah, I was ready for Season 2. It also turns out to be the last one, which stings a bit, but the show mostly sticks the landing.
Season 2 in a nutshell
We pick up after Lara reconnects with her best friend Sam. A seemingly philanthropic billionaire swoops in, offers Lara endless resources to help make the world a better place, and for five minutes you think: sure, why not. Then the mask slips. Their real plan? Harness the power of the Orisha and basically play God. Subtle, right.
Lara and Sam hit the road (and sky, and sea) to track down the Orisha’s ancient masks before the bad guys get them. The deeper they go, the bigger the mythic swings get, and the closer Lara edges toward fights even she might not be built to win.
The vibe shift (mostly in a good way)
Season 1 was Lara shaking off the rust and staring down her trauma. Season 2 is Lara in full form. She has a squad, she has a plan, and she pulls off ridiculous feats with a straight face. The action pops: parkour across rooftops, she saves randos at the last second, and there is underwater hand-to-hand that is as slick as it sounds. The T-Rex brawl from last season’s finale is still the heavyweight champ, but a couple set pieces here come close.
The Lara-and-Sam show
The supporting team is around, but the season really narrows in on Lara and Sam. That choice pays off. Karen Fukuhara is a delight as Sam, and she and Hayley Atwell spark off each other in a way that gives the show real momentum. The flirty energy is there; the series never actually commits to it, but it is not exactly subtle.
The team (and who gets sidelined)
This is where the show wobbles. Jonah barely gets anything to do, Abby gets even less, and Zip shows up with a few good beats but feels underused. It is understandable given the Lara/Sam focus and the new mythic players in the mix, but if you wanted a true ensemble this time, you might feel the shortfall.
Gods in the room
The new characters tied to the Orisha bring muscle and heart, and the season’s primary villain is entertaining even if they are a bit stock for this kind of story. The trade-off: once literal deities enter the chat, a mortal adventurer can get overshadowed. Lara never disappears, but in the final stretch she definitely has to share the spotlight with all-powerful beings who can do things she, well, cannot.
"ethical archaeologist"
One choice that stuck out: the show (correctly) takes shots at colonialism and grave robbing, then goes out of its way to label Lara as above that. I get what they are aiming for, and to be fair, Season 1 did show her doing more actual archaeology than your average whip-and-fedora treasure hunter. But the franchise is still called Tomb Raider. Even here, Lara spends most of Season 2 returning stolen artifacts to their rightful communities, which is great, but the series never really reckons with the times she did take things that were not hers in Season 1 or in the games. Not asking for a thesis on museum ethics, but if you raise the topic this directly, you should probably engage with it more than a line of dialogue.
Cast roll call
- Hayley Atwell as Lara Croft
- Karen Fukuhara as Sam Nishimura
- Earl Baylon as Jonah Maiava
- Roxana Ortega as Abby Ortiz
- Allen Maldonado as Zip
- O-T Fagbenle as Eshu
- Toks Olagundoye as Taiwo
- Marisha Ray as Fig
- Tricia Helfer as Mila
The bottom line
This final season is not spotless. Some ideas could use more room, and a couple regulars get pushed to the background. I would put it a hair below Season 1 overall. But when it clicks, it really clicks: sharp, kinetic action, two leads with fantastic chemistry, and a finale that feels like a worthy sendoff for these animated adventures.
Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft Season 2 is streaming now on Netflix. Eight episodes total.