Return to The Deuce with HBO’s New Season Two Premiere Photos

Ahead of a return to The Deuce this Sunday, Sept. 9, HBO has shared a handful of new photos from the ‘70s-set New York City sex trade drama’s season two premiere. We at Paste numbered the acclaimed series among 2017’s best new shows, so you can bet we’re looking forward to its nine-episode sophomore installment.

Created by The Wire’s David Simon and George Pelecanos, The Deuce chronicles the beginnings of the multibillion-dollar pornography industry, its cast of characters including everyone from brothel owners and cops to street-level pimps and prostitutes. Season two resumes in 1977, five years after the events of season one, capturing NYC’s Times Square area during a particularly garish and volatile time period.

The Deuce’s season two premiere airs on HBO this Sunday, Sept. 9, at 9 p.m. ET. The episode, titled “Our Raison d’Être,” was written by Simon and Pelecanos, and directed by Alex Hall. See HBO’s preview photos from the premiere episode below, along with its official synopsis, and revisit Paste TV Editor Matt Brennan’s essay on the show’s first season here.

Times Square, 1977. After his early successes managing the Hi-Hat and French Parlor, Vincent (James Franco) is now proprietor of a new mob-backed disco, Club 366, while his girlfriend Abby (Margarita Levieva) has brought the nascent punk-rock culture into the Hi-Hat. Vincent’s twin brother, Frankie (James Franco), remains a problem, “borrowing” money from Show Land, the sex emporium he manages, to pay off his debts. Candy (Maggie Gyllenhaal), now a “triple threat” as a porn actress, producer and director, is looking to make more artful, ambitious adult films, over the objections of her collaborator, Harvey (David Krumholtz). C.C. (Gary Carr) pulls a con on Bernie Wolf (Stephen Gevedon), the director of a porn film starring Lori (Emily Meade), to get her more money. Hoping to launch a more upscale gay nightclub, Paul (Chris Coy) looks to sever mob ties from his current bar. Alston (Lawrence Gilliard, Jr.), now a homicide detective, is approached by Gene Goldman (Luke Kirby), a civil servant appointed by Mayor Koch to clean up Times Square.