When we last left Chief Sam Woodburn (Jessica Matten) and Detective Chuck “Buke” Bukansky (Brian Markinson), they had made a horrible discovery: a tomb of Indigenous bodies buried under a water treatment plant.
Returning Thursday at 9 p.m. Eastern on APTN, Season 2 of Tribal will conclude that storyline in dramatic fashion, while unearthing others, in particular the circumstances surrounding the shooting that injured Buke.
Created by Ron E. Scott, Tribal is a no-nonsense cop drama that pairs Tribal Police Chief Sam with veteran, white, city cop Bukansky, as they investigate not only crimes but corruption within the city police force itself.
“[This season] is a culmination of taking the tomb and turning it into a longer commentary,” Scott says. “We’ve crafted it in such a way that we have a lot going on. There is usually a crime of the week, and we’re going to that next level with the crime drama.”
Returning cast members include Garry Chalk, Julian Black Antelope, Ryan Northcott, John Cassini and Stafford Perry; newbies this season include Marci T. House, Stephen Huszar, Anita Brown, Bernard Starlight and Ashley Callingbull. The characters they embody circle Matten and Markinson, whose performances as Sam and Buke are even better in Season 2.
“We definitely wanted to explore how policing can affect the personal lives, and also the progression within the story world into some other realms,” Scott says. “We also learned that it was interesting to add some serialized aspects to the procedural, which gives it that ‘Can’t wait to watch next time.'”
Tribal airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on APTN.
