Like the Ideal Lover, Jamie Dornan's The Tourist Is Whatever You Want It to Be

A crime drama, black comedy, family dramedy, relationship allegory — The Tourist contains multitudes. It’s impossible to know which of these framings is most appealing to Netflix subscribers, who are currently streaming the series in droves. Season 2, which premiered February 29, has been both praised and scrutinized by critics for veering from the debut season’s tone and approach. But that’s just proof it can be enjoyed at just about any level, and by just about anyone. You don’t even need to have watched the first season to start the second (though you really should, especially if suspense thrillers are your thing).

That might seem like an extraordinarily low barrier for entry… and it is, which also makes The Tourist a welcome vacation from more franchise-driven, lore-heavy outings. But, like HBO’s The Gilded Age, Harry and Jack Williams’ lightly anthological series only appears to have low stakes — it still manages to hold your attention in a vise-like grip for six hours at a time.

Season 1, which premiered in 2022, was more squarely in the thriller genre, with an opening scene that was like something out of the 2005 film Wolf Creek. A man (Dornan) driving through the Australian Outback is set upon by a bigger man in a bigger vehicle (a semi). The truck driver cheerfully whistles as he makes the man’s car flip, seemingly leaving him for dead. But the man comes out relatively unscathed, aside from the complete loss of his memory. He can’t even remember his own name.

The Williams brothers play this scenario for laughs at times but mostly mine it for conflict. People keep trying to kill the man for who he is or what he did in the past, and each time he narrowly evades their murderous attempts, he gleans something new (that is, old) about himself. But as he pieces together the picture, he realizes he doesn’t like what he sees. Eventually, he learns his name is Elliot Stanley, a revelation that has a cascading effect, as his desperate journey through the Outback continually puts people in danger, including probationary detective Helen Chambers (human ray of sunshine Danielle Macdonald), who’s like an Australian Marge Gunderson.

The extraordinary and imperiled amnesiac can be found through TV genres, including sci-fi shows like Nowhere Man, John Doe, Now and Again, even Firefly, and in crime dramas like Blindspot (to say nothing of soap operas). Novelty isn’t what sells this part of The Tourist’s premise, it’s the familiarity. We know things are going to get much worse before they get better, though we can’t predict just how. The mystery will entertain those primarily interested in uncovering the man’s identity and, along with it, his misdeeds.

Within that framework lies yet another show: an existential drama that questions how we come by our knowledge in this world. Can you really form your identity based exclusively on what other people think of you or tell you about yourself? Okay, that might be too heady for a show packed with ineffectual criminals and heroes. Alternatively, The Tourist can be viewed as a show about second chances (well, in Elliot’s case, more like fifth chances) — realizing that you don’t need permission from anyone but yourself to start your life over.

The latter reading holds up throughout the series, but The Tourist was already showing the makings of an unconventional romantic comedy, which thankfully come to fruition in Season 2. The new episodes, which set up a gripping family drama about breaking the cycle of trauma and violence while also keeping up with the darkly comedic thriller elements, prove the show could go in any direction and be engrossing. But Dornan and Macdonald’s intense chemistry practically necessitated the move into a relationship allegory. Theirs isn’t just a happily-ever-after story; the plucky Helen is still plagued by doubts, both about Elliot (whose real name, probably, is Eugene Cassidy) and herself. She is genuine about wanting to help Elliot/Eugene recover his memory, but every upsetting discovery makes her desperate to dig further, in the hopes of finding something that proves he’s a good guy.

But there’s a lot more to Helen’s sleuthing than her love for Elliot/Eugene. The Tourist neatly subverts cliches about needy or insecure women who are always questioning their significant others. When she realizes she’s on the verge of subsuming her identity yet again to be in a relationship, Helen stops to get some perspective. Because even without an official badge, she’s a detective at her core. "She won't stop digging until your secrets are laid bare,” her ex-fiancé Ethan Krum (Greg Larsen, who’s turned into a bit of a scene-stealer) wryly notes. By the end, her tenacity has not only saved Eugene and herself, but dismantled the decades-old feud between his family and the McDonnells, preventing further bloodshed.

This is my own personal reading of the show after two seasons, and it’s the version of The Tourist that works best for me. But the show really is a shape-shifter, capable of turning into a crime drama at a moment’s notice/killing, or slowing things down to consider if wanting to be a better person is enough to make you one. In the final moments of Season 2, Eugene — now living in Amsterdam with Helen, who’s started a private eye business — receives a file from an outside source with even more information about who he is. When he tells Helen, “I don't care about who I was. But I can't make that choice for you,” she replies “I don't need a file to tell me who you are.”

And with that, Eugene burns the file (presumably) without reading it, though the audience can see through the flickering flames that it contained documents establishing his status as a secret agent. That revelation should be taken with a grain of salt, considering Lena, who conspired with the McDonnells to lure him back to Ireland by pretending to be his dead brother, is still alive (though it does neatly set up a third season). But the point is that Elliot is choosing who he’s going to be from here on out (which includes being able to tour en l'air).

There’s an added layer to that choice — just like Elliot is taking control of his story, The Tourist has helped Dornan reclaim his. With roles in The Fall and Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, the Irish actor has already shown there’s more to him than Christian Grey. But his comedic and dramatic work in The Tourist really should banish the memory of Fifty Shades for good, no amnesia required.

The Tourist Seasons 1 and 2 are streaming on Netflix. Join the discussion about the show in our forums. 

Danette Chavez is the Editor-in-Chief of Primetimer and its biggest fan of puns.