Review: ‘Suzhal: The Vortex’ gets an unwieldly second season

The maelstrom caused by the intersection of folk tradition with modern crime continues to rage in the new chapter of the Tamil series Suzhal: The Vortex (2022). In its first season, the Prime Video show created and written by Pushkar-Gayatri superbly mapped a murder investigation onto a festival dedicated to a powerful goddess.

Season one ended with Nandini (Aishwarya Rajesh) killing her sexual abuser with her policeman friend Sakkarai’s service weapon. In the new season, Nandini is in prison, while Sakkarai (Kathir) stands suspended for allowing his gun to be misused.

The trial against Nandini takes place in the fictional coastal town Kaalipattanam. The respected lawyer Chellappa (Lal) successfully makes the case for Nandini’s release. Before the order can be carried out, Chellappa is found dead, with the young woman Muthu (Gouri Kishan) seemingly responsible.

Seven other women turn themselves in for the murder. It was I who killed Chellappa, each of them asserts.

Sakkarai, who is following Nandini’s trial, teams up with local police inspector Moorthy (Sarvanan) to crack a case that appears to be a head-scratcher. Sakkarai is plagued by doubts over Lal’s uprightness as well as Moorthy’s intransigence.

Meanwhile in prison, Nandini grapples with the trauma of her past actions, getting some succour from the other inmates, especially the trans-woman Vimala (Anjali...

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