One of several things the CW network does well is to stick with shows that don't have flashy ratings.

That describes In The Dark, which returns Thursday at 9 p.m. ET for its second season. Actually, it's already been renewed for a third season, too.

This is good because In The Dark is good. It can go a little over the edge at times, but it has a nice manageable core of interesting characters.

That starts with Murphy Mason (Perry Mattfeld, top), a twentysomething who is blind and resents it. She's also smart and a good person, though that comes with some caveats. She smokes too much, she drinks too much, and she sleeps with pretty much anyone. The minute she senses someone trying to get close to her, or be kind to her, she instinctively moves to cut that person off.

She's rude and abrupt with her mother, Joy (Kathleen York), who started a service dog business called Guiding Hope with the expectation it could give Murphy a job and a purpose. Murphy responded with indifference, though she continued to work there.

Murphy has one friend, Jess (Brooke Markham), a veterinarian at Guiding Hope, and the only conduit Murphy seems to trust to the sighted world. Murphy was close to one other person, a teenager named Tyson, but Tyson got murdered in the first season.

Of course, that made Murphy sad. Or sadder. On the bright side, it gave In The Dark a storyline.

Murphy became obsessed with finding Tyson's killer, and in the process, became close to Dean Riley (Rich Sommer), the policeman assigned to the case.

Dean has a blind daughter, Chloe (Callie Walton), with whom Murphy developed a rather charming friendship.

Less charming was her relationship with Darnell Parker (Keston John), Tyson's cousin. Darnell brought Tyson into the drug-dealing business that seems to have gotten him killed.

Still, Murphy needs Darnell's contacts and help, so they've developed an edgy acquaintance.

Her amateur sleuthing seemed to have paid off toward the end of the first season when she learned Dean was on the take and had been involved in Tyson's murder.

So as this season begins, Murphy thinks she's solved the case and that Dean will be going away. She's not right about all of that.

Instead, the second season introduces a new complication.

Guiding Hope, which had gone bankrupt, was rescued by Felix Bell (Morgan Krantz), a nerdy guy who worked there and decided to use his share of his family money to buy it. But he didn't have enough money, so through a set of complications, he got involved with Nia Bailey (Nicki Micheaux), a crime figure who finds Felix useful.

That's the world in which Murphy finds herself as Season 2 begins. There are other characters and other complications, but basically, she's still got something to wake up for.

Murphy remains droll and funny, the show's dark humorist. Jess is quick, earnest, and more serious. Felix is a great character, so insecure he's totally endearing.

And who knows, maybe Max Parish (Casey Deidrick) is still out there. Max is a friend of Darnell's who was crazy about Murphy and seemed to have worked his way into a relationship with her until she found out that he had a few secrets.

But when all the human characters start getting weird and making bad decisions, we still have Pretzel (Levi, top), Murphy's service dog. For Pretzel alone, we're glad In The Dark is back.