It DID get better, but it's a damned shame that they've wasted so much talent on lazy/shitty storytelling.

So if there is a season 3 they need to place it somewhere that is less familiar ie not NYC, Chicago, Southern California, or Bay Area.

I am thinking the UP, Central PA, Upstate NY, Eastern Washington/Oregon (The Palouse), Outer Banks, or Santa Fe.

You need someplace where the scenery is a character itself.

Yurop.

So here is how I think everything connects, I don't think there is one big plot but at least two that intersect.

1992: Burris, Dixon, and Holloway rob the jewelry store killing the owners and taking the blue diamonds. They don't know about the brother and sister (Laura) who hid from them. The get in contact with Caspere to fence the diamonds. Failing to do so, because they are very rare and distinctive, they buy in to Vinci and the Ghassani political machine with the diamonds. Ghassani can't fence the diamonds either nor would he want to have easily identifiable stolen property connected to a double murder in his possession. Caspere puts the diamonds in a safe deposit box until they can find a fence.

Present Day: Laura is hired by Caspere to be his secretary. They don't know she is the daughter of the jewelry store owners, probably because she is using her adopted families name. Laura finds out Caspere has the blue diamonds ambushes him and tortures him to find out who he got them from, eventually killing him and leaving his body outside Vinci to try and get someone other than the corrupt Vinci PD from investigating. When the Vinci government finds out that Caspere is dead they send Velcoro, who wasn't part of the jewelry store robbery, to investigate while Burris, Dixon, and Holloway ransack Caspere's house looking for the safe deposit box key. They couldn't find so assume that it was taken and start looking for the diamonds.

Meanwhile, the younger Ghassani is looking to replace his father. Getting together with Caspere, the Russians, and Beck they devise a plan to remove one of the elder Ghassani's biggest supporters in Frank partially out of greed and partially to weaken the elder Ghassani. Through Ben's contacts and prostitute parties they rope in and pay off the other big players in the state and around Vinci. Caspere was always going to screw Frank in favor of the Russians. The Russians could probably also fence the diamonds by smuggling them to Europe.

When the diamonds are found and put in the Vinci evidence room everyone involved except Frank, the detectives, and the ADA moved to pin the blame on some pimp and move on. Dixon was there to make sure the pimp and prostitue never talked. The whole raid went pear shaped but the pimp was killed. So everybody involved except for the aforementioned moved to close the case.

ADA opens secret investigation with a hunch that something isn't right and Woodrue starts looking into diamonds that they found out went missing from Vinci's evidence room, probably taken by Holloway or Burris. He finds out that Burris, Dixon, Holloway, and Caspere were in charge of that district. Holloway and Burris are tipped off to the secret investigation. They break in to Ray's house to steal his guns and murder the ADA with one of his guns. Bezzeredes is tagged as the murderer of the security guard. Meanwhile the Russians complete their takeover of Frank's operations but they think he is meek, as he was toning down his image when he was going legit, and don't realize he knows about the moves. That is where we are now.

This answers a couple questions:

Why wasn't Velcoro killed?

The person under the bird mask was Laura and she didn't want to kill Velcoro. She was waiting for Holloway, Burris, or Dixon.

What happened to the diamonds?

They were recovered by the people who actually stole them.

Why were the AG and police so quick to close the Caspere case?

It wasn't about Caspere's killer. It was about recovering the diamonds.

But what about the music!?!?

Knowing the way the writing goes on this story, Jordan will be the one behind it all, and she was just using Frank as a front the entire time.

Yup. That's my bet as well!

Seeing how women are pretty much all shedebils this season, that end wouldn't surprise me.

I'd still like to motor boat her...

This is painful to watch.

Certainly not as good as season 1. Lots of stuff could of been cut out and made the events a lot clearer.

Not enough people died.

What the **** is the deal with the transponder on the car.... Was it there the whole time?? If so why didn't they catch him at his motel hideout??

Well, that wasn't worth a shit.