Firefly Lane’s Heartbreaking Season 2 Ending 2023
Well. I lacked preparation. I spent the majority of season 2, part 2 blindly hoping that Kate would survive her cancer and walk Marah down the aisle at Marah’s wedding, despite knowing how Firefly Lane the novel concludes and that there is no Firefly Lane season 3, which should have been a sign.
Given the Kate-Tully flash-forwards during said nuptials, it is clear how I arrived at this conclusion. Obviously, there are Firefly Lane spoilers ahead: I was incorrect. The series concluded with Kate’s tragic demise, and I am devastated.
Let’s discuss the conclusion of Firefly Lane part 2, season 2, also known as the conclusion of Firefly Lane the series, because I don’t believe I’ll be permitted to go into such depth in therapy.
Kate and Tully reconcile.
Thanks be to God. Kate calls Tully, who, as you may recall, is being exiled for drinking and driving while Marah, Kate and Johnny’s daughter, was in the car. Unfortunately, Tully ignores the calls because he is in Antarctica and inexplicably unable to communicate with the outside world for months.
When she finally receives service, she sees the missed calls and immediately flies back to Kate, where she discovers her best friend resting between chemo treatments. Tully promises to never abandon her again, and — sob — he keeps his word.
Kate and Johnny are remarried.
You may recall from previous seasons of Firefly Lane that Johnny and Kate get married, then divorce, then reconcile, culminating in a second ceremony. This is a beautiful, joyous event officiated by Tully, but it culminates in drama when Kate collapses while dancing, having just learned that her cancer has returned, and when Tully discovers that Kate has concealed her second diagnosis from her. (Which Tully classic, am I correct?)
In season 2, episode 2, Johnny and Kate are back on track and more in love than ever, which is a relief because I’m not sure my heart could handle anything else.
Tully falls in love with Danny, also known as Sports Man.
Danny, Tully’s erstwhile on-air rival and former love interest, is revealed to be living in her apartment building…with his serious girlfriend. Tully and Danny rekindle their friendship, which comes to a head when Danny’s girlfriend hits on Tully (that portion was less predictable, but I greatly appreciated the break from the cheating trope I was anxiously anticipating).
Danny and his ex-girlfriend break up, allowing Danny and Tully to take their relationship to the next level. And while Tully has a bad tendency of pushing Danny away when things get tough — there’s a whole subplot about when she stops calling him when Kate gets really sick — he is seen accompanying her to Kate’s funeral (sorry, another spoiler), indicating that he will be sticking around for the long haul. Unfortunately, this brings me to…
Kate expires.
Throughout this portion of the season, Kate becomes increasingly ill, and Tully does everything in his power to enroll Kate in an experimental trial. Danny successfully enrolls Kate in a promising trial (go, Danny! ), but then Kate suffers a seizure.
Kate is ineligible for the trial because the illness has spread to her brain, and Johnny informs Tully that she will likely not live much longer. Tully moves into the home, and she, Marah, and Johnny care for Kate until her tranquil death during a pause in Tully’s conversation.
Marah is married, but Kate is absent.
You had me fooled, Firefly Lane deities! In flash-forwards interspersed throughout the season, we see Tully preparing for a wedding; it appears for a moment that it could be Johnny and Tully’s wedding, especially when Kate encourages them to get back together after she dies (they wisely decline, as they are chalk and cheese).
Fortunately, it turns out to be the nuptials of Marah! (Intriguingly, no one has aged at all over the past decade. It is a testament to the wholesomeness of this show that I did not mind the characters ostensibly not aging for THREE DECADES, Twilight-style.)
Anyway. Then Kate appears at Marah’s wedding, and for a moment, we think, Oh, it’s alright, Tully got her into the clinical trial, and she’s fine! Unfortunately, it’s all in Tully’s mind. Kate is only present in spirit, as it has been ten years since her passing. Netflix, this was a disappointing flex.
Kate creates a keepsake box for Tully to access after her passing.
Johnny informs Tully that Kate was anticipating her funeral, which Tully finds unbearable. He enters the house but leaves Tully with a parcel containing mementos from their years together, including an iPod with “Dancing Queen” loaded. Outside the funeral, with her iPod headphones inserted in as if it were 2005, Tully begins to dance, just as she and Kate did in the past. It’s a beautiful moment, but it’s still tragic.
However, there is a subsequent chapter in Tully and Kate’s tale; it’s just unlikely to be available on Netflix. Fly Away, the sequel to Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah, follows Marah, Johnny, and Tully’s journeys after Kate’s death, after Tully has a near-fatal car accident and hovers between life and death herself. So much for that!
