Note: This piece contains major spoilers for “Firefly Lane” Season 2 Part 2, so if you haven’t watched it yet, don’t read any further!
The on-screen story of the “Firefly Lane” girls has come to an end.
Part 1 of Season 2 ends with Kate (Sarah Chalke) just missing telling Tully (Katherine Heigl) that she has been diagnosed with inflammatory breast cancer. The seven-episode Part 2 arrived on Netflix on Thursday and marks the finale of the drama series, which is based on the novel by Kristin Hannah.
The estranged friends, who had a falling out due to Kate’s daughter Marah being in a car accident with Tully at the wheel, make up and reunite within the first two episodes.
They come together in Kate’s moment of dire need as she prepares to undergo a mastectomy surgery and then a reconstruction for her breasts, as the aggressive form of cancer is already at Stage 4. Author Kristin Hannah’s mother had breast cancer, which is what inspired Hannah to write the story in the first place.
“I suddenly went through one of those waves where I really missed my mom, which is a classic grieving process for your mother. It comes and goes and comes and goes, and At 40 I realized this driving was something she needed to re-learn,” Hannah told TheWrap. “I went looking for her the way I go looking for everything I write about, and in this piece, at different times I’ve certainly been Rebel Marah, but I’ve also been Kate.” going through and trying to see our lives through her eyes. Interestingly, I didn’t realize it, but I started the book at the exact same age [my mother] That’s when she was diagnosed, and I ended up having her at the age she died. So I really felt like she was on this journey with me.
Kate fights to recover for a brief period, in which she marries Johnny for a second time, before discovering that the disease has spread to her bones and liver. Tully tries to get her in for a test, but Kate soon has a seizure, and at the news that the cancer has spread to her brain, she has no choice but to spend the rest of the day at home. The heartbreaking moment of Kate’s death comes when Tully is telling her about finally being with Danny Diaz (Ignacio Serricchio), but Tully remembers the exact moment Kate passes away as she pours her tea. Goes in to refill.
“We talked a lot in the writers room about a lot of different versions of what this moment really [Kate’s] There was going to be a game of death, and what we eventually landed on was the idea that Kate hangs in there until she knows everyone is going to be okay,” Friedman told TheWrap. “In that moment, she knew that Tully told her, ‘Okay, I got together with Danny. It’s finally happened and we’re going to be together.’ then kate exhaled [and says] ‘Okay, Tully will be fine. Not because she needs a man, but because of the idea that Tully hasn’t really let anyone other than Kate in on her in a deep way.
Tully and Danny date back to early journalism days, but Tully has become heavily dependent on Danny since Kate became ill.
“Now she has finally grown in a way where she can have an emotionally intimate relationship with someone other than Kate. Given that [Kate] Freedom to let go. And then in that moment, you know, Tully walks in, it’s Kate’s last moment to assess her life and commune with nature and just appreciate who she is and where she is and Where is he at this time.
The show ends with Kate’s funeral, where she has arranged for Tully to attend, who cannot cope with the loss of her best friend. The final moments are played down to Kate’s note in Hannah’s book and as she dances – ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.”
“I thought it was such a beautiful ending. I love ‘Dancing Queen.’ It was so cool that we were able to get the rights to use it and we use it several times in previous episodes,” Friedman said. . “There was something about the way the book ended, that you know it feels free to live up to that and come full circle. and to see it in its entirety. We know it’s very sad, but [Kate’s] going to be together [Tully] Always.”
Although there is a sequel to “Firefly Lane” titled “Fly Away”, in which Hannah explores the aftermath of Kate’s death and how it affects Tully, Marah and Johnny, Friedman has no plans to turn it into a spinoff. Is.
“I’ve worked on a lot of shows where we thought the show was coming back for another season, we ended on a cliffhanger and then for whatever reason, it didn’t come back,” she said. “I knew I wanted to tell the whole story of Kate and Tully and make it feel like someone’s never seen the show, and they want to sit down, they can watch all the episodes and then the story is complete. “
