‘R.J. Decker’ returns Tuesday, Sept. 15, on ABC
NEED TO KNOW
- PEOPLE has the R.J. Decker season 2 trailer
- Scott Speedman teases higher stakes for R.J. and his team after the shocking season 1 cliffhanger
- The show promises quirky Florida cases and a deeper look at R.J.’s relationships with Emi and his team
R.J. Decker can’t stay out of trouble.
PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at season 2 of ABC’s P.I. drama R.J. Decker, inspired by Carl Hiaasen’s 1987 novel Double Whammy.
In the trailer, R.J. (Scott Speedman) is busy being shot at by a rocket-launcher, and when Emi (Jaina Lee Ortiz) points out that’s not exactly a normal day, R.J. laughs and replies, “Well, it missed.”
Elsewhere in the trailer, the Florida-based private investigator proclaims, “The hotter it gets, the more trouble that comes my way.” He’s not exaggerating either: In addition to the rocket-launcher, he’s also helping Detective Mel Abreu (Bevin Bru) find a victim’s severed hand and poking around in a shady looking warehouse.
Credit: ABC/Instagram
Season 1 of R.J. Decker left off on a major cliffhanger. As R.J. and his friends were celebrating bringing down Emi’s dangerous father Victor Ochoa (David Zayas), the man in question wound up dead in his swimming pool.
In April, Speedman, 50, teased that Victor’s death would “raise the stakes” for all of the show’s characters.
“It raises the stakes for the character and the show itself,” he told PEOPLE at the time. “Again, the balance between the light and the darkness of our show, that’s really going to put R.J. … he’s going to be one of the number-one suspects, and that whole group is going to be put into the spotlight.”
While Victor’s death promises to bring the drama, the season 2 trailer reveals it will still be business as usual for R.J. and his team. That means there will be no shortage of quirky, Florida-flavored cases for R.J. to solve.
In addition to Speedman, Ortiz and Bru, Adelaide Clemens will return as R.J.’s ex-wife Catherine, and Kevin Rankin will be back as Wish, R.J.’s best friend and owner of the F.M. Station Bar & Grill.
Speedman previously shared that he’d love to see R.J. and Wish team up more in season 2. He might get his wish as the goodnatured ex-con appears to be on the case with R.J. in the trailer as they search for a missing hand.
Credit: ABC/Youtube
The Grey’s Anatomy actor said, “Wish is always fascinating to me. He’s very helpful when we bring him in … he’s [Rankin] always super fun to work with. Our five main cast members, I think, are always, honestly, very fun to work with. … I would love to see Wish doing more with me. That’d be cool.”
The end of season 1 also brought a fresh start for R.J. and Emi, though their romance could face a setback after her father’s death. Speedman shared that he thinks there’s hope for the potential couple, even as there’s sure to be plenty of roadblocks in their way.
Credit: Disney/John Merrick
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“I don’t think R.J.’s had a real relationship for a long time,” he explained. “And I think he’s okay with not knowing what it is. I know they talk about defining what they are in the season finale and what that is, but I think R.J. is just so happy that he’s in something again and something so odd. … I don’t think he’s that worried about where it’s headed right now.”
R.J. Decker season 2 premieres Tuesday, Sept. 15, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streams the next day on Hulu.
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