[PTA] Deep in the Blue, Season Two

We played our fifth and final episode last night and it was nice. Remi's guy's spotlight episode, and we'd agreed that this would be focused on characters and their families rather than gonzo action. Not a shot was fired, and only one punch was thrown. Cal Smith, Remi's dude, has the issue of infirmity, so we sort of pushed that a bit. He's old, he's retiring, he doesn't want to, it was fucking awful. Clinton's guy, Frank Trang, has the issue "reign in hell or serve in heaven", and he's definitely serving in heaven, which grates on him a bit, and he's alone and making bad decisions. We brought in a recurring character, news reporter Cynthia Halprin, as a love interest, which was ... fucking awful. Joe's guy, Jim Polewczack, got a mind-killing desk job surrounded by spiteful police co-workers, and was pressured by his wife into accepting a job managing security for a housing developer, who was manifestly dirty. It was the first time Jim compromised his principles. It was ... yeah. So we had an evening of uncomfortable, tragic small scenes that tied together the stories of these characters, culminating in Cal's retirement party, which put the icing on the misery cake. We went to a dark place, which is sort of a comfortable default, but it really felt right in this case, and each scene was a lot of fun. We all agreed that the show would be renewed for a third season, and it will be a very different season indeed. After ten sessions of PTA, this game is our "campaign", and we've got a real affinity for the characters and situations of Deep in the Blue.