It's time to strap in, Hap and Leonard fans. The third season, based off of Joe R. Lansdale's novel Two-Bear Mambo, may be one of the (unexpectedly) most timely on 2018. I say unexpectedly because the story (written in 1995) deals with our two heroes (played by James Purefoy and Michael K. Williams) squaring off against a nasty, Klan-like organization. Who would have thought that would be relevant in 2018? And yet, here we are.

The new season will also see a host of sure to be memorable new characters, played by Louis Gossett Jr. (Roots), Corbin Bernsen (Psych), Andrew Dice Clay (Blue Jasmine), Laura Allen (American Horror Story: Cult) and musician Curtis Harding. For those who haven't had a chance to catch up with the series, it focuses on the (sometimes deadly) hijinks of two very different friends in East Texas in the 1980s. The show is warm, funny, profane, and is one of the truest southern shows I've ever seen.

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Stay tuned for my interviews with the cast and EP John Wirth from the set here in Atlanta; but in the meantime, check out the official synopsis for the new season alongside these exclusive character portraits below. It's about to get real.

Hap and Leonard returns to SundanceTV on Wednesday, March 7th. And remember, given the anthology nature of the show, while I would strongly recommend watching the previous seasons, you can jump right in to Season 3 if you need to (each season is only 6 episodes long though, so it's not a huge time commitment!)

Set once again in East Texas just before Christmas of 1989, Hap and Leonard scramble to locate Florida Grange, who has gone missing in the Klan-infested town of Grovetown. Once again at the center of an impending storm of Biblical proportion, Hap and Leonard find themselves at odds with a cast of characters so tough they could chew the bumper off a pickup truck, including a possibly corrupt sheriff, and the leader of the Caucasian Knights. The boys learn that the good guys don’t always win, and nobody beats Mother Nature.

The anthology series follows two lifelong best friends, Hap Collins (Purefoy), an East Texas white boy with a weakness for Southern women, and Leonard Pine (Williams), a gay, black Vietnam vet with a hot temper. Tiffany Mack (Wicked Love, “Timeless”, “iZombie”) who stars as Florida Grange, Leonard’s lawyer and the object of Hap’s deep admiration, and Cranston Johnson (“Atlanta,” Find a Way) who plays Detective Hanson, return as series regulars. 

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