Black Rabbit Season 2 has one mission: give its most compelling character the story they deserve 👀🔥
After a breakout debut left fans craving more, season 2 can’t afford to waste this unfinished arc — and the stakes have never been higher 🐇⚡

Warning: This article includes a brief mention of suicide.

Spoilers for Black Rabbit are ahead!

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Black Rabbit season 2 needs to solve one major mystery that has nothing to do with the fallout from Vince’s tragic fate. Netflix’s Cain and Abel-esque parable has quickly skyrocketed to the top of the streaming charts. The story tells of Vince and Jake, brothers who get swallowed up by the world of organized crime in NYC.

When co-creators Kate Susman and Zach Baylin spoke to Variety two days after the show’s release, they reiterated that Black Rabbit was always meant to be one and done. However, they’ve since expressed openness to continuing the story.

This raises questions about what Black Rabbit season 2 could focus on. A prime option for continuing the story is to focus on a big mystery related to the show’s best character – and no, it wasn’t Jason Bateman’s Vince. Mancuso is, without a doubt, the most interesting character, and I want to know more about him.

Mancuso Stole Every Scene In Black Rabbit

Courtesy of Netflix

The actors in Black Rabbit, especially Jude Law and Jason Bateman, did the absolute most to engage the audience with their one-dimensional characters, and they had moderate success. In many ways, Law and Bateman carried an otherwise flimsy story. However, there is one exception to this generalization. Mancuso is, by far, the most interesting and compelling of the entire series.

Even though I wrote an op-ed expressing my dislike of Black Rabbit, I didn’t hate every part of the show. I would happily watch an entire show centered on Mancuso’s life as a mob boss. Troy Kotsur knocks it out of the park with this role, and he’s right that it will open doors for more deaf actors (via PEOPLE).

In every scene with Mancuso, he had a commanding and dominating presence. He was an absolute badass in the little screentime he had. Watching Mancuso was the only time when I felt on the edge of my seat.

Black Rabbit’s co-creator Zach Baylin revealed when speaking to Tudum that they wrote the role of Joe Mancuso specifically for Troy Kotsur after meeting him when he was promoting CODA, the role for which he became the first deaf actor to win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Though he wasn’t outwardly emotional, I felt the tension bubbling under the surface. He was just expressive enough to be clear with his sign language, which relies on facial expressions and body language, without laying everything out on the table. He felt vicious and calculated in the way every mobster should.

It felt as if he was about to become violent or order his gang to whack someone at all times. Mancuso clearly held all the power in every situation, and he knew it. Unfortunately, they shortchanged Mancuso by not giving him as much character development and backstory as he deserved, even though his character felt less one-dimensional than the others.

Mancuso’s Backstory Remains A Mystery After Season 1

Considering Mancuso is the most interesting character in Black Rabbit, it’s really disappointing that they chose not to explore him more as a character. His backstory is a complete mystery at the end of Black Rabbit season 1. It’s unclear how he became a mobster, what types of crime he’s involved in, or how he recruited his gang.

While mystery can increase the perceived power of a character, I don’t think Mancuso needs a mysterious backstory to be scary. He’s already proven he’s a capable leader and willing murderer. There’s so much more to explore with him.

At the very least, he’s a loan shark, but mobs don’t tend to stick with a single type of crime. To maximize profits, organized crime institutions tend to get involved in multiple different varieties of criminal activity, including money laundering, murder, drug trafficking, and prostitution. I want to know what else he’s involved in.

Black Rabbit Season 2 Needs To Give Mancuso A Proper Backstory

Courtesy of Netflix

The most significant missed opportunity with Black Rabbit was giving Mancuso, and I’d love for them to rectify this if Netflix decides to continue the Black Rabbit limited series for season 2. This is especially true because most of the other storylines are entirely wrapped up by the end of Black Rabbit.

I want to know where Mancuso came from and what kind of family dynamic he has. It’s possible he became a mob boss by way of his family, but he also seems savvy and threatening enough to start a mob on his own.

Since Black Rabbit focuses on the toxic relationship between brothers, it would also be interesting to see if Mancuso has a toxic sibling relationship, like Vince and Jake, that impacts him as a person. After all, the show is about complex family dynamics.

The ending of Black Rabbit also includes a perplexing scene that feels deeper than it is at face value. Rather than killing Jake, he hugs him and leaves when he learns about Vince’s tragic death by suicide. For a man who’s so terrifying, this moment of compassion feels a little uncharacteristic.

However, it also matches up with the fact that Mancuso willingly stepped in to stage the death after Vince accidentally killed his abusive father. There has to be something in Mancuso’s past that makes him willing to help cover up the Friedken dad’s death and hug Jake. There has to be something more that we don’t know.

We Need Answers About Mancuso’s Connection To The Friedkens Family

Courtesy of Netflix

Mancuso’s only moments of compassion are directed at the Friedkens family, which makes me wonder if there’s a deeper connection between them. The show reveals at least two generations of connections between them and the mob boss.

The abusive father or the mother had to have a relationship with Mancuso for him to step in and cover up the murder. Presumably, it was the father, since they mention him being a gambler too. Then, Mancuso gets involved with Vince multiple times, eventually telling Junior to cut him off because he’s an unreliable loanee. That seems like more leeway than he’d give others.

I want to know how many generations were involved with Mancuso. It’s possible the link goes back further than the father. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Friedkens were part of the mob at some point, explaining Mancuso’s willingness to continue engaging with them despite complications.

However, that’s just my pet theory after watching Black Rabbit. They don’t give us much to work with, so it’s easy to fill in the blanks with whatever headcanon a person wants. If the show continues, Black Rabbit season 2 finally has the opportunity to explore Mancuso’s connection to the Friedkens in more depth.