The much-anticipated season 2 of The Family Man begins in Sri Lanka, a few years ago. The scene is of a rebel military camp where we see Bhaskaran (a Tamil rebel leader) reading the news of his own death. Bhaskaran along with Subbu and Deepan are planning an operation in mainland Sri Lanka against the head of the state, Mr. Rupatunga. They are fighting for the autonomy of Sri Lankan Tamils. Next, we see a blank screen and voices shouting in pain. Sri Lankan authorities bomb the camp of the rebels. However, Bhaskaran, Subbu and Deepan manage to escape. The three leave Sri Lanka and sail to India to gather support for their cause. “They will pay”, says Bhaskaran.

Cue, the iconic The Family Man intro music.

Srikant has left TASC and now works at an IT company called CacheMe in Mumbai. His boss always gets on his nerves and tells Srikant to not be “that minimum guy”. Srikant’s brother also works at the same company.

At the Prime Minister’s Office in New Delhi, Prime Minister Basu talks to her Sri Lankan counterpart, Mr. Rupatunga on the phone. Ms. Basu wants to build a port in Sri Lanka but Rupatunga places a condition for it. Subbu is hiding in Chennai and mobilising support from MLAs and MPs for the cause of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Rupatunga wants India to arrest Subbu and hand him over to the Lankans. Fearing that the Lankan port project may go to China, Ms. Basu agrees.

Srikant and JK meet at a café for lunch. Srikant tries to know what is happening at TASC. He is guilty of not reaching Orion Chemicals in time. But what happened at Orion Chemicals? And what happened to Milind and Zoya? Guess, we’ll have to wait a little more to find out. JK asks Srikant about Suchi. Srikant tells him that even though he is now doing everything she wanted, Suchi is never happy.

Atharv’s school principal advises Srikant to not buy Atharv expensive gifts as he is always distracted and children are prone to ADHD at this age. Back in the car, Atharv plays his flute badly and the usual father-son banter follows.

At home, Dhriti comes back late. The Family Man’s family sits together to eat dinner. Srikant tries to make conversation and asks everyone about their day. He also shows his family the first picture of their house - only its foundation has been laid. Then, he asks Suchi about her day to which she replies that she only cooked food and watched television and will do the same tomorrow. So, what about Suchi’s job? This makes the conversation awkward. In the bedroom, Srikant confronts Suchi about her perpetual irritation with him. She tells him that she is seeing a counsellor and it would be a good idea if Srikant also comes with her.

Next, we’re taken to the end of season 1 of The Family Man when Srikant and JK happily return to the NIA office after seeing the dead body of Moosa. Punit, the tech guy, tells them that the phone of Vaibhav Therani (Manager at Orion Chemicals) shows that he is at the factory. This is contrary to what Milind and Zoya had reported. Srikant and JK immediately leave for Orion Chemicals and call for backup. At the factory, gas starts to leak. Zoya manages to take an injured Milind out of the factory and both wear safety masks. She drives but since they inhaled the gas before wearing masks, both of them are left unconscious. NDRF and NIA reach the factory and also find Milind and Zoya unconscious in their car. This is how a major disaster is averted.

In the next scene, we see Srikant’s boss, Kulkarni, trying to pin the blame of the gas leak on Orion Chemicals. The CEO of the factory is called and asked to give a statement favouring the NIA so that they don’t look weak in front of the media. Nobody learns that the gas leak was a terrorist attack. The CEO agrees against his will. Srikant doesn’t like this and says, “I’m done”. So, is this why Srikant left TASC?

At the PMO, Ms. Basu meets Kulkarni and other external affairs officers. She tells them about Rupatunga’s condition to capture Subbu. Kulkarni thinks it is a bad idea as Subbu isn’t a wanted man in India and he is also the foreign minister of the Lankan Tamil Government in Exile. But Ms. Basu is adamant about the plan as she doesn’t want China to form allies with Sri Lanka.

Srikant and JK visit Milind. Thank god, he is alive! We learn that Milind is in therapy. JK prods him to come back to work but Srikant advises him to take his time. Milind is guilty of Zoya’s condition (?) and rambles about it. As always, our master manipulator Srikant cooks up a story to make him feel better.

In Chennai, an MLA comes to meet Subbu at the lodge where he is staying. Subbu asks the MLA for his help to get India to recognise the Tamil Lankan Government in Exile. The MLA says that he will see what he can do and leaves. Next, we see the MLA tell an officer about Subbu’s whereabouts. Subbu calls his brother, Bhaskaran in London after his conversation with the MLA. At that moment, some officers barge into the lodge and into his room to arrest him. Chennai’s TASC officer Muthu leads this operation. Muthu’s boss orders him to hold Subbu in the lodge till an officer from Mumbai arrives. He also instructs Muthu to keep quiet about Subbu’s capture.

JK reaches Chennai and to the lodge where Subbu is captured. Srikant repeatedly calls JK but he doesn’t pick up. Meanwhile, Subbu overpowers the officers and escapes. A chase between him and the officers follows wherein some officers get killed. Subbu barges into a couple’s room and holds them hostage. Muthu tells JK about this situation which leaves him disappointed. JK finally answers Srikant’s call and tells him that he is stuck in a hostage situation currently. This excites Srikant and he asks for details which JK reluctantly gives him. Srikant’s boss eyes him while he talks on the phone. Sometime later, Srikant again calls JK for an update. As JK says, Srikant is totally experiencing FOMO! JK tells him that Subbu isn’t ready to negotiate. Srikant has an idea. He suggests that Kulkarni call up Chellam to help negotiate with Subbu. Chellam used to run missions in the Civil War in Sri Lanka and is good friends with Bhaskaran. The current RAW chief also knows Chellam. JK conveys this idea to his bosses in Srikant’s name. Srikant himself calls up Chellam who cuts the call saying it is the wrong number. But the next moment, he calls Srikant back with another phone. Srikant appreciates the level of precautions he takes. Srikant tells him about the hostage situation in Chennai and asks him to negotiate with Subbu. Through another phone, Chellam calls JK and tells him that Bhaskaran wants to talk to Subbu. Muthu carefully goes inside the room without a gun to hand over the phone to Subbu. Bhaskaran tells him to surrender. Subbu protests but acquiesces to his brother’s order. Since he killed Indian officers, Subbu’s arrest makes news.

Srikant watches the news about Subbu’s arrest and feels proud of himself.

Dhriti is on a bike with a boy named Kalyan who seems like her boyfriend. He is older than her. She asks him to drop her a few metres before her home. When she leaves, we learn that Kalyan is actually Salman who is Sajid’s associate and Sajid is in Europe!

The first episode of The Family Man Season 2 doesn’t disappoint. The pace is fast to keep the viewers hooked from the start. I hope we get more answers about the ending of Season 1 soon. 

Episode Rating: 4/5