Will there be a season 2 of Little Fires Everywhere?
The latest news on whether the dark family drama will return...*
Reese Witherspoon's latest suburban drama, Little Fires Everywhere, has launched on Amazon Prime Video in the UK (Hulu in the US), leaving viewers who binged the series in its entirety wanting more.
The series stars Witherspoon as smug middle-class mother Elena Richardson whose perfect life is disrupted when she rents one of the family's properties to mysterious artist Mia Warren, played by Scandal's Kerry Washington, and her daughter Pearl.
The gradual intertwining of their vastly different lives and the uncovering of secrets result in the Richardson home being set on fire.
Although Little Fires Everywhere is based on Celeste Ng's 2017 novel of the same name, which wraps up the dark tale quite neatly, the series ending veers slightly from the book's narrative which has fuelled rumours of a potential second series.
Here's everything we know so far about the possibility of Little Fires Everywhere's renewal for season two...
**Warning: contains spoilers for Little Fires Everywhere season one**
Will there be a season 2 of Little Fires Everywhere?
There's been no official word yet from Hulu or Amazon Prime as to whether Little Fires Everywhere will be back for season two, but based on comments from the cast, crew and writers, we can give you our educated guess.
Celeste Ng's book finishes the story on a definitive note, with the reader learning that after Elena kicked Mia and Pearl out of her property, her rebellious daughter Izzy set their home alight before running away, leaving Elena to spend the rest of her life searching for her daughter.
However, Reese Witherspoon's adaptation provides viewers with a different ending: Izzy's siblings manage to stop her from starting the fire, but finish the job themselves after their mother screams at Izzy that she was never wanted, causing Izzy to run away from home.
The change of ending may be a way of leaving the show open to a second season, which could explore the new family dynamics caused by all four children playing a role in their home's arson.
The series also does not provide an epilogue describing what happens to the characters in the future, unlike the book, which could suggest that Izzy may come back and that Mia and Elena could cross paths again.
It's also worth noting that Big Little Lies, on which Witherspoon served as an executive producer also, ran for a second season despite being based on a novel with a definitive ending.
In fact, Little Fires Everywhere's author Celeste Ng, who produced the series, told Vulture that she would "never say never" to a second season and cited Phoebe Waller-Bridge's decision to continue Fleabag, which was adapted from a stand-alone play, as a potential reason to do so.
"These characters may come back to me with an idea about more story that needs to be told. Right now, I feel like the series did such a good job of ending where you have an idea of what people’s trajectory is going to be," she said. "So right now I don’t have more to say about them, but maybe three years from now, we’ll make another episode and there’s gonna be a hot priest."
That being said, Little Fires Everywhere's showrunner Liz Tigelaar told EW that while she was open to a second season, Little Fires Everywhere will likely remain just a limited series. "These eight episodes honour the book. This is a close-ended story to me and we've ended it where it ends."
"I would shudder to think of a contrived way to get Mia and Elena back in each other’s orbit that would at all feel real. I guess I would never want to say never, but I see this as a story that had its beginning, middle, and end. And I love the ending," she added. "I’ll be happy if it stays what it is, but at the same time, yes, selfishly I would of course love it to continue."
So will there be a season two? It's hard to tell at this point, especially with Tigelaar's comments muddying the waters, but we can always hope!
Could there be a spin-off instead?
While a second season is looking unlikely, showrunner Tigelaar did suggest a potential spin-off to Little Fires Everywhere.
Speaking to Vulture, she said: "I do think there are stories to tell. But that's more of a spinoff than a second season. It's hard to say goodbye but there's something about trying to extend it past its shelf life that I feel would dishonour what it was."
When could a second season be released?
There's no official word on whether season two could happen at this point in time, but if it does become a reality, it's likely that we won't be seeing it for a long time.
The coronavirus pandemic is delaying film and TV production across the globe, so it's hard to guess when filming would be able to start even once a script is written.
Little Fires Everywhere recap: What happened in season one?
In season one of Little Fires Everywhere, we saw artist Mia Warren move into Elena Richardson's rented property and take up a job as a housekeeper for the Richardson's family home, mainly to keep an eye on her daughter Pearl who had become enamoured with the Richardson's seemingly perfect suburban lifestyle.
Pearl grew close to three of the Richardson children – developing a friendship with Moody and Lexie, while becoming romantically involved with Trip. Meanwhile, the Richardson's black sheep of the family Izzy grew close to Mia.
Mia soon discovers that Elena's family friend's daughter Mirabelle is actually the biological daughter of her work friend Bebe, who gave up Mirabelle at birth but has been searching for her ever since.
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After Mia tells Bebe, who then seeks legal redress to reclaim her child, Elena discovers Mia's interference and decides to look into her background. She finds out that Pearl was conceived by Mia for a wealth couple in New York, however Mia decided to keep Pearl so told the couple that she miscarried and fled.
Bebe kidnaps her child and takes her to Canton, causing Elena subsequently kicks Mia and Pearl out of her property. As a result, Izzy runs away from home and the remaining siblings to set their family home alight to spite their mother.
Little Fires Everywhere is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video in the UK – check out what else is on with our TV Guide