Nine Perfect Strangers: Your Guide To The Season 2 Strangers (And What The Premiere Revealed About Them)

A new group of Nine Perfect Strangers has gathered at Hulu for some more ethically ambiguous psychedelic therapy.

Although the Nicole Kidman-led drama was initially expected to be a limited series, it returned on Wednesday — nearly four years after Season 1 ended — for a sophomore run, with Kidman back as wellness guru Masha Dmitrichenko. If you never watched the first season, though, fear not: Other than some small nods to the finale (recapped here for those who need a refresher), Wednesday's two-episode premiere doesn't require much knowledge of what went down in Season 1.

In fact, other than Masha, every other character we meet in the show's return is new to us. Having put the Tranquillum House behind her, Masha is now leading her wellness retreats at a stunning Alpine location called Zauberwald, where nine emotionally troubled guests hope to unpack their literal and metaphorical baggage with the help of Masha's now-quite-famous psychedelic therapy. (As usual, Masha is keeping some secrets of her own from both the guests and her new business partners, Helena (Lena Olin) and Martin (Lucas Englander), but we suspect all will be revealed in time.)

Much like in Season 1, these nine perfect strangers aren't exactly strangers to one another. In addition to a mother-daughter pair, a father-son pair and a romantically entangled duo, even some of the characters that seem entirely separate from one another are actually linked in surprising ways. Keep scrolling for a full breakdown of Nine Perfect Strangers' new characters — and their respective emotional burdens — then grade the two-episode premiere in our poll!

Played By: Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians)

After two episodes, we don't know much about Peter Sharpe just yet; his identity is largely linked to his father, billionaire businessman David Sharpe (Mark Strong), who's participating in the retreat, too. Based on Peter's descriptions of his dad, the men have a strained and complicated relationship, and Peter doesn't seem all that enthusiastic to have his dad joining him at Zauberwald. In the meantime, though, Peter strikes up a little romantic something with Annie Murphy's Imogen O'Claire, who also brings parent-related emotional baggage to the Alps.

Played By: Mark Strong (Dune: Prophecy)

David arrives at Zauberwald a day later than everyone else; his son, Peter, thinks he was delayed by the snowy weather, but David really stayed in London an extra night so he could close a business deal, if that gives you any insight into his personality. Once David arrives via helicopter, he tells Masha that he came to Zauberwald for his son and only his son... but we later learn that he and Masha have some kind of romantic or sexual history, and they briefly make out (!) when Masha visits his room for a check-in. Also of note? Unbeknownst to David, Masha hopes to take advantage of his deep pockets in order to get Zauberwald out of looming financial trouble.

Played By: Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus)

Of all the guests at Zauberwald, Brian Tumkin might be the most emotionally unpredictable, often bursting into fits of anger at small inconveniences, like when he loses a "critically important" piece of luggage on his journey up to the mountain resort. (He eventually gets it back, but it was also never truly lost: Masha orchestrated the suitcase's disappearance herself, and she returns it to Brian when she feels the time is right. Puppet master!)

We come to learn that Brian was once the host of a popular children's program, Brian Tumkin's Crabapple Clubhouse, that helped kids work through big emotions. In fact, that important piece of luggage? It contains Jessie, the bear puppet that Brian used on his show to communicate with his young guests; after Brian ingests some laced chocolates that are left in his retreat room on the second day, he actually hallucinates Jessie several times, and the bear helps Brian sort out complicated emotions of his own.

Unfortunately, the legacy of Crabapple Clubhouse was tarnished years ago after Brian had an angry outburst during filming one day. He was subsequently "cancelled," and there were claims that he emotionally abused his staff, but Brian maintains that he simply "lost my s—t at a camera guy" one time. That's sort of true: We see the incident in a flashback, and Brian did yell at the crew when he heard someone talking and/or snickering while Brian was filming a sweet conversation with a kid guest. But when Brian realized that someone on set was recording his tirade on their phone, he got even angrier, flipping over an entire table and calling the onlooker a "motherf—ker." Everyone on set was shocked, and Brian was especially remorseful when he realized his young scene partner now looked scared of him.

Played By: Annie Murphy (Schitt's Creek)

Imogen, a longtime follower of Masha's work, is at Zauberwald to work through her thorny relationship with her mom, Victoria (Christine Baranski), and she's frustrated that Mom has brought a much younger man on the trip to distract her from doing the much-needed emotional work with Imogen.

In the meantime, Imogen capitalizes on her romantic spark with Peter (Henry Golding), and the pair sleeps together on their first night at the retreat. Later, we also learn that Imogen's dad died when she was young, and she's never been able to work through that grief. As a kid, Brian's Crabapple Clubhouse was a big source of comfort for her, and she's angry that 1) Brian apparently abused his position of power at that show, and 2) that Brian, who she always thought would like her if he met her in person, does not like her much at all.

Played By: Christine Baranski (The Good Fight)

In Victoria's very first scene, we learn she's a) wealthy, b) sleeping with a younger man named Matteo, and 3) avoiding fixing her estranged relationship with daughter Imogen. As the first two episodes play out, though, it's clear Victoria is hiding some significant financial woes from the group — and she's also not ready to confront a binder of paperwork labeled "End of Life Planner."

Played By: Turkish actor Aras Aydin (Cherry Season)

At first, Matteo comes across as merely Victoria's arm candy who doesn't speak great English. But he's got some pain underneath, too — he reveals to Peter and Imogen in Episode 2 that he lost both of his parents to war more than a decade ago — and his presence at Zauberwald seems to have a bigger purpose. "He has to stay," Helena tells Masha privately. "He's part of the plan."

Played By: Dolly de Leon (Triangle of Sadness)

Two episodes in, Agnes is still an enigma to viewers. For now, we know that she's a former nun whose relationship with God has been fractured, and she's at Zauberwald seeking absolution, which she believes only God can provide.

Played By: Maisie Richardson-Sellers (Legends of Tomorrow) and singer-songwriter King Princess

Wolfie and Tina are in a romantic relationship, but things have gotten strained between them. Case in point: When they start canoodling after arriving to their retreat bedroom, Tina cuts off the opportunity for sex, claiming she wants to take a bath first; when she gets into the bathroom, though, she looks even more frustrated at herself for ruining the moment. Plus, there was obviously some miscommunication between the couple about this trip to Zauberwald. Wolfie thought she emphasized that it was a transformational retreat (with a focus on feelings), but Tina thought they were vacationing at a spa, and she's not thrilled about the actual, therapy-fueled itinerary.

The big chasm between them, though, is related to music. They're both musicians, but Tina was long considered a piano prodigy, and something traumatic happened that now has her unable to even look at a piano without getting upset. In a private conversation with Brian during Episode 2, Tina reminds him that she was a guest on Crabapple Clubhouse when she was a kid — and though she was delighted to talk about her aspirations of becoming an astronaut one day, her parents were furious that she went on the show and didn't mention playing piano once. There's much to unpack here, clearly, and the piano sitting in the corner of Tina and Wolfie's room at Zauberwald isn't helping things.

OK, your turn. What did you think of Nine Perfect Strangers' return? Grade it in our poll below, then drop a comment with your thoughts on the first two episodes!