Hi John.
Well, if they sign as free members (WP's subscriber role), then it'd be hard to terminate their access to the content later without deleting their accounts. I think it's better to place the content at the level it belongs and give the user access to it at that level, even if free.
If you have s2Member Pro, you can use a free registratio pro-form for Level 2 (or whatever level you want to give them). It can have an EOT time, but it'll just trigger the EOT behavior, not a payment.
WP Admin -> s2Member -> PayPal Pro-Forms -> Free Registration
WP Admin -> s2Member -> Paypal Options -> Auto EOT BehaviorAnother option is to give a 6 mo. free trial, which will trigger after that the recurring payment you set. This doesn't need a pro-form, can be done with PayPal buttons.
WP Admin -> s2Member -> PayPal ButtonsI hope that helps.