Aye, it’s bonny news: Guilt is back on MASTERPIECE Mystery! on PBS, offering another absorbing contemporary dramedy set in Edinburgh. The award-winning first season of Guilt was a genuine word-of-mouth sensation—hailed by The Guardian (UK) as “Scotland’s answer to Fargo.” Season 2 brings four more tightly wound episodes focused on unscrupulous lawyer Max McCall and offers the same dry, dark wit as last time. Revisit where we left off and learn what to expect in Guilt Season 2, plus discover which key cast members return, how to watch and, especially if it snuck by you, where to catch up on Season 1.
Where We Left Off in Guilt Season 1
When a lethal hit-and-run plunged the snide Max McCall and his soft-hearted brother Jake into a farcical cover-up, what started as a shared ordeal between brothers ended with their attempts to implicate each other. Max’s ultimate scheme was to place blame squarely on his brother (albeit after Jake had left Scotland), but Jake preemptively betrayed Max, whom we saw led away in handcuffs, an enigmatic smile on his face.
How to Watch Guilt
Stream all four episodes of Guilt Season 1 Sunday, August 14-28, 2022. (Streaming window opens at 2pm ET. Open to U.S. residents only.) Watch the episodes online (select Season 1 from the pulldown menu on the page) or with the PBS Video app. Want to experience some Guilt-y pleasure anytime? Season 1 streams on PBS Passport, an on-demand library of PBS programs, which is a member benefit.
Guilt Season 2 has a special two-hour premiere of Episodes 1 and 2 on MASTERPIECE on PBS Sunday, August 28, 2022, from 9pm to 11pm ET. Watch on air or stream the episodes starting at 9pm ET. The remaining episodes follow on Sunday, September 4 and September 11, 2022, respectively, each from 9pm to 10pm. See them on television or watch them online at 9pm ET.
What to Expect in Guilt Season 2
Guilt’s second season is set two years later, with a disbarred Max released from prison and seeking revenge. Think Captain Ahab. He’s lost his wife, his brother is in America, and his business is being run by mobster Roy Lynch. Max’s hunger to take down Lynch is woven into new storylines involving the gangster’s estranged daughter as well as Season 1’s delightful private investigator-now-in-recovery, Kenny.
Right out of the gates, expect a strong first episode with a shocking crime in the wee hours, comically untrustworthy characters, much shenanigans, and with Max McCall still (mostly) looking out for number one. Viewers will enjoy the immersive, theatrical setting of Edinburgh, the locals’ quirks and japes, and more of what earned Guilt Season 1 the 2020 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Scottish branch (BAFTA) Award for Best Drama.
Returning & New Cast Members
Viewers will be thrilled to see the excellent Mark Bonnar back for Season 2 as Max McCall, a man now at rock bottom and trying to maintain an illusion of control. Bonnar is widely acclaimed for roles in Catastrophe, Line of Duty and Shetland, and on MASTERPIECE in Unforgotten and Home Fires.
Guilt Season 1’s Emun Elliot (The Paradise) is another recurring presence this season, playing private investigator Kenny as a newly confident man who’s gained sobriety, started a business, and is ready for romance. And what of the scraggly younger McCall brother from Season 1? Jamie Sives (Annika) also returns for a very pivotal episode as Jake McCall.
Audiences may recognize new Guilt cast members from other MASTERPIECE shows. These supporting actors deliver indelible performances, starting with Phyllis Logan (Downton Abbey’s Mrs. Hughes) playing quite against character as Maggie Lynch. Stuart Bowman (Grantchester’s bishop Aubrey Gray) is her husband Roy Lynch, filling the shoes of Bill Patterson from Season 1 and deftly portraying a crime boss utterly lacking in fear. Sara Vickers (Endeavour’s Joan Thursday) is the Lynch’s estranged daughter Erin, and Sandy McDade (Sanditon’s Miss Hankins) plays an eerily cryptic undercover cop.
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