‘The Flight Attendant’s’ Zosia Mamet, Deniz Akdeniz see season 2 turbulence for Annie, Max

Annie and Max probably should have learned their lesson in season one of HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant.”

Whether it was Max (Deniz Akdeniz) helping their friend Cassie (Kaley Cuoco) decipher and survive an international murder mystery or Annie (Zosia Mamet) wading through the sharks as legal counsel for the mob, the couple was lucky to make it out of the smash hit’s freshman season alive.

But in season two, which premieres with three episodes April 21, Cassie’s latest life-or-death mishap follows the flight attendant home, putting the happy couple in even deeper waters. Cassie’s new part-time job as a CIA asset thrusts her into the crosshairs of a killer stealthily traipsing the globe in full Cassie drag. When Annie and Max visit their recently relocated friend in Los Angeles, they are pulled headfirst into the danger – and at least one of them is elated for all the wrong reasons.

“I think Annie is so gung ho to be involved (in Cassie’s mystery) because it is a good distraction from the actual issues she should be dealing with,” Mamet said. “She is just as adept at dealing with the chaos, but I think she is a little too overzealous to deal with Cassie’s insane issues because it keeps her from dealing with her relationship issues and her crippling insecurity about what her future looks like.”

Those issues are inflamed by Max’s surprising proposal between seasons, a gesture Annie answers with the world’s most resounding “I’ll think about it.” As the season gets underway, the typically understanding Max will be pushed to his breaking point as Annie sorts out her fears of commitment.

“That love and understanding and patience that Max has with Annie is tested numerous times throughout the season,” Akdeniz said.

Both Mamet and Akdeniz said the new season is louder and bigger than anything they were involved in during season one, and the danger-around-every-corner stakes only amplifies the emotions brewing between their characters. But fans of the pair have more than just kidnapping, taser guns and occasional breaking and entering to look forward to this season. Annie will also meet Max’s parents and the couple will weigh whether or not to move to Los Angeles.

But first, they will have to determine where they stand with each other as chaos ensues.

“I think we get to see a very interesting paradigm shift between the two of them,” Mamet said. “Annie has always called the shots, and Max has always been cool with that. But Annie pushes Max a little too far and we see the tables turn a little bit between the two of them.”

One thing that hasn’t changed is how good both of them are at their jobs. Annie may have been suspended from practicing law for her mob entanglements and Max may have been nearly killed by a car for his hacking expertise, but that has only sharpened their sleuthing skills. In fact, Mamet and Akdeniz have been cooking up names for a private investigator agency because they don’t see Annie and Max giving up danger anytime soon.

“They work very well together in high intensity, high drama moments,” Akdeniz said. “Together, they thrive off that. They both work in shades of gray for the greater good and I don’t think that is ever going to go away.”

Appropriately, that’s the leading name for their agency right now: Shades of Gray.

Twitter: @hunter_wesley

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: ‘The Flight Attendant’s’ Zosia Mamet, Deniz Akdeniz discuss season 2