A 14-year-old boy named Callum has been abducted and is currently for sale on UndaCounta, an underground website on the dark web, and with Jesse's help, they hope the boy can be rescued before the transaction is completed. The man that runs the site is Jan Roth (Anthony LaPaglia, Without a Trace), a brilliant hacker that several governments have been seeking for quite some time. If Jesse can draw him out with something he can't resist, like the digital keys to Parliament, maybe they can snag him. However, men as smart as Jan Roth aren't so easily fooled.
Before you know it, things go sideways and Jesse and Hani have been kidnapped by Roth and are taken to his haven in Papua New Guinea. This also happens to be a place of great political unrest and danger due to a very profitable mining operation where the land is cheaply leased from Papua, but is turning huge profits for those who run the mine. As it turns out, several local murders are tied to both Jan Roth's people and the mine, and as Jesse, Hani and Ned get dragged into this web of deceit, things are not as they appear.
A photographer named Meg Flynn (Ella Scott Lynch) works for the mine taking photos of all of the "great" work they are doing, but secretly, she works with Roth, his brother-in-law Remsey, and the rest of the locals who are taking a stand for the independence of the Papuans, and she digitally documents the horrors along the way. As more bodies start accumulating, it becomes really unclear who the good guys and the bad guys really are. Jesse finds himself on the tight leash of Lara Dixon (Sigrid Thornton) who runs Vertex, a private cyber security company for the feds and, strangely enough, Marina Baxter (Robyn Malcolm), the Minister of Foreign Trade, is starting to feel the same way when things in her life start to become oddly manipulated. She's a key player, as she will be the one to make sure that the mine's lease gets signed and renewed in the coming days, despite all of the chaos that seems to surround the mine and the people connected to it. Although, once Ned reaches out to her and shows her proof of the atrocities that have skillfully been kept hidden, she starts to rethink her position on the mine.
Jesse and Ned will find themselves in more danger than ever and actually having to work separately most of the time, which becomes a real turning point for Jesse and an opportunity for him to mature. As things with the mine come to a head and Jesse finds himself in the possession of a digital time bomb that everyone seems to want, can the brothers make it out of this latest situation alive?
Once again, The Code: Season 2 brings an incredible story to the screen, fraught with danger, intrigue, drama and character development. It spans a number of topics including a bit of the Snowden/privacy situation, along with child peddling, the dark web and, most importantly, the real life situation happening with the politics in Papua New Guinea, and as always, they do it with style and panache. Anthony LaPaglia was a great addition this season, as his character is so nuanced and mysterious, and Sigrid Thornton is fantastic as well - someone you really love to hate. I also enjoyed Ella Scott Lynch as Flynn and hoped something would blossom between her and Ned, but maybe in a future season. Truly, though, all of the cast members are incredible, but especially Ashley Zukerman. I've seen a different side of him recently on Designated Survivor, but he is just brilliant and entrancing to watch as Jesse, who is a very deep character who also happens to say whatever the hell he is thinking.
There are a number of special features on the storyline, production and characters and there is a good bit of overlap between them; however, the Behind the Scenes is pretty comprehensive and I really enjoyed the Production Design featurette, as it talked about creating Papua in Australia, since they couldn't actually film in Papua.
Overall, if you enjoyed The Code: Season 1, you'll love The Code: Season 2. It is technology-heavy, but for those who enjoy shows about hacking and political intrigue, it's can't-miss stuff. Highly recommended.
