Netflix series Firefly Lane, a 10-part adaptation of Kristin Hannah’s book of the same name, has continued to keep viewers guessing throughout its two seasons.
With new episodes of season 2 having landed on the streaming platform on Friday 2nd December, tissues aplenty were needed to get through the mid-season finale.
Now, with a six-month wait for season 2 part 2 to land, many viewers are left pondering the big questions of the season so far. Will the pair of childhood best friends reconcile? What does Kate’s breast cancer diagnosis mean for the rest of the season?
Read on for everything you need to know about the Firefly Lane season 2 part 1 finale and what happens in the book.
Firefly Lane season 2 ending explained
Season 2 part 1 left off with a major rift between childhood best friends Kate (played by Sarah Chalke) and Tully (Katherine Heigl). Fans discovered that the fallout was due to Tully driving Kate’s car after consuming a few glasses of wine – all while Kate’s daughter Marah was also in the car.
Tully allowed a grounded Marah to go out with the girl she had a crush on but then had to come to Marah’s rescue after an unsafe scenario at a frat party.
They unfortunately got into a car accident and wound up in hospital. After the fact, though, Kate proceeded to ignore Tully’s multiple apologies and hopes for reconciliation.
But in the final moments of the mid-season finale, Kate has a momentous change of heart and turns up on Tully’s doorstep following her cancer diagnosis, only to find that Tully has embarked on a trip to Antarctica.
Fans went into season 2 knowing that some mysterious incident had caused a major rift between our two heroines and best friends, but it’s safe to say that season 2 has ended (for now) on a somewhat heartbreaking note for the pair.
Speaking to Deadline about shooting the final scenes, Chalke admitted that while she knew what was coming as she had read the original Kristin Hannah book, the script made her cry: “It was really beautifully written. Obviously, I had some trepidation about shooting it. It was quite an emotional day.”
Who dies in Firefly Lane?
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The last episode of Firefly Lane teased a funeral taking place in 2005 – and it was left unclear whose funeral it was right up until the end of episode 10.
It was revealed that it was Kate’s father who had passed away, but that Kate and Tully were now estranged following some unknown, devastating betrayal on Tully’s part.
Standing outside the church, Kate tells her former best friend that no one – least of all her – wants her at the funeral, even as Tully begs to be forgiven for the mysterious event that tore them apart.
However, we know that the betrayal took place sometime during 2004-2005, as another clip in the episode saw the pair happily sipping champagne on New Year’s Eve 2003.
Of course, from the novel Firefly Lane (warning: spoiler alert for the book!) we know that Tully doesn’t die – but that Kate does die at the end of the book, leaving her daughter Marah and her best friend completely devastated.
Will Tully die in Firefly Lane?
No, Tully doesn’t die at the end of Firefly Lane. However, we have since learnt that the car accident (and major betrayal of trust) threatens to undo the decades-long bond between them.
Will season 2 part 2 give us the long-awaited reconciliation we’ve been hoping for? Fans will just have to wait and see.
What happened in the book of Firefly Lane?
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Following the part 1 finale of season 2, fans have been wondering just how the book that the Netflix series is based on actually ends.
Although the pair suffer a huge rift in both, the reason for the falling out strays from the original book content. In the novel, Tully and Kate’s broken friendship is as a result of Kate’s underlying jealousies around Tully and her relationship with her daughter Marah.
Marah starts to idolise Tully and with Marah and Kate’s relationship taking a downwards turn, Tully invites them onto her show, The Girlfriend Hour.
But it’s there that Kate figures out that their segment is actually one about overbearing mothers. She storms off and Johnny even quits the show as its producer also. As a result, Kate and Tully completely lose contact.
Eventually, the pair reconcile after Kate reveals her breast cancer diagnosis. Tully helps her during her cancer journey but the book sadly ends with Kate dying of breast cancer and the impact it has on Marah and Tully.
Is there a Firefly Lane sequel?
Yes, there is a sequel to the best-selling book Firefly Lane: the novel Fly Away.
You can read more about what happens in Fly Away here.
You can buy Firefly Lane and Fly Away by Kristin Hannah here. Visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight, or check out our guides to the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix.
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