Honestly, walking into the second season of a show like Glitch is a bit like returning to a funeral where the guest of honor just stood up and asked for a glass of water. It’s weird. It's jarring. And in the case of the Glitch Australian TV series season 2, it’s incredibly emotional.
The first season ended on a massive cliffhanger that left everyone screaming at their televisions. We found out that the town’s local doctor, Elishia McKellar (Genevieve O’Reilly), wasn't just a helpful medic—she was actually dead herself. Well, "Risen" is the term we use here. That revelation set the stage for a sophomore season that had to do more than just sustain the mystery. It had to explain the "how" without losing the "why" that made us care about these people in the first place.
The Messy Reality of the Risen
Season 2 doesn't waste time. It picks up right where the chaos left off. James Hayes, played with a perfect blend of exhaustion and desperation by Patrick Brammall, is still trying to keep the lid on Yoorana’s biggest secret. But his personal life is a total train wreck. Think about it. His first wife, Kate, is back from the dead. His current wife, Sarah, just had a baby and—spoiler alert—died for a split second during labor only to come back "wrong."
It’s a nightmare.
What the Glitch Australian TV series season 2 does so well is leaning into the Australian Gothic aesthetic. It uses the dry, dusty landscape of regional Victoria (filmed largely around Castlemaine) to mirror the internal rot and confusion of the characters. This isn't your typical Hollywood zombie flick. Nobody is hunting for brains. They’re hunting for their birth certificates, their old houses, and the people who forgot them.
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New Faces and Higher Stakes
We got some fresh blood this season, which sounds ironic for a show about dead people. Luke Arnold joined the cast as Owen, a guy who basically exists to make James even more jealous. Then there’s Phil, played by Rob Collins. Phil is... a lot. After an oil rig accident, he returns as this "Angel of Death" figure, much like Vic from the first season. His job? Clean up the mess. "Cut the head off the snake," as he puts it.
The dynamic between Phil and Sarah is one of the darkest parts of the season. They aren't like the original Risen who crawled out of the dirt. They were "sent" back with a purpose, which basically means they have an instinctual urge to kill the people James is trying to save.
Breaking Down the Science (and the Magic)
A lot of fans were split on the introduction of the Noregard pharmaceutical company and Nicola Heysen (Pernilla August).
- The Stem Cell Theory: The show tries to ground the resurrections in science. Nicola explains that it’s a mix of chemicals, specific sounds, and stem cell research.
- The Emotional Trigger: But then there’s the more "woo-woo" side. The theory is that for someone to come back, there needs to be a living person nearby thinking about them with intense, raw emotion.
- The Boundary: We still have the invisible fence. If the Risen try to leave Yoorana, they turn to dust. It's a brutal reminder that their second chance is more like a house arrest.
Why Season 2 Hits Different
There’s a scene where Paddy Fitzgerald (Ned Dennehy) is dealing with his descendants. He was a wealthy landowner from the 1800s, and seeing him interact with the modern world is both hilarious and heartbreaking. He’s a bigot, he’s confused by phones, and yet he’s fiercely protective of his Aboriginal great-grandson, Beau. When Paddy finally dies for good—turning to dust while Beau watches—it’s one of the most emotional moments in the whole series.
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That’s the core of why the Glitch Australian TV series season 2 works. It uses the supernatural as a magnifying glass for Australian history and personal regret. Charlie Thompson (Sean Keenan) finally finds out the truth about his death in WWI, and Kirstie (Hannah Monson) uncovers the dark reality of her murder. These aren't just plot points; they’re closures that the characters never got the first time around.
That Ending, Though
The finale is pure pandemonium. Everyone ends up at the cemetery. Sarah, conflicted and broken, shoots Phil but gets shot herself. She dies—again—leaving James a single father to their baby, Nia.
The "scientific" experiment to bring Elishia back fails, but the boundary around the town finally breaks. This changes everything. The Risen are no longer trapped in Yoorana. Kate decides she’s done with the drama and heads off with Owen, leaving James absolutely devastated. He leaves town with Nia, heading for Tasmania, while William stands over Elishia’s grave, waiting for a miracle that might never come.
What You Should Do Now
If you've just finished binging the Glitch Australian TV series season 2, you're probably feeling that specific "what just happened?" hollowed-out feeling.
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- Watch Season 3 immediately. It’s the final chapter and it goes even deeper into the "alien soul" vs. "science" debate.
- Re-watch the first episode of Season 1. Now that you know about Elishia and William, the early scenes carry a massive amount of weight that you definitely missed the first time.
- Look up the filming locations. If you're ever in Victoria, visiting the Castlemaine area gives the show a whole new level of reality. The cemetery scenes weren't a set; they were shot in real, local graveyards.
The beauty of this show is that it doesn't offer easy answers. It's a messy, melancholic look at grief. Sometimes the people we lose come back, but they aren't the people we remember. And sometimes, the best thing you can do for someone you love is let them stay dead.
The story of the Yoorana Risen isn't just about zombies; it's about the baggage we all carry and whether we'd actually be better off if we could just start over from scratch.
Actionable Insight: To fully appreciate the nuances of the Noregard conspiracy, pay close attention to the background noise in the lab scenes—the "sound" frequency used for resurrection is a recurring motif that explains more than the dialogue does.