Warning: Spoilers for Big Little Lies season 2 ahead.
The Big Little Lies season 2 finale ended with Bonnie (Zoë Kravitz) deciding to turn herself in for pushing Perry down the stairs that fateful night. With the Monterey Five finally freed from their big lie, the story seemed to be at its end; Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) and Ed (Adam Scott) are ready to move on after renewing their vows, Celeste (Nicole Kidman) gets to stay with her kids, Renata (Laura Dern) is finally done with her ranch-betting husband Gordon, and Jane (Shailene Woodley) begins to open up to Corey (Douglas Smith) after a few difficult attempts.
But some viewers had questions, requesting even more closure after that ending. What would happen to Bonnie after her confession—would she be let off the hook for trying to defend her friends? And would the other women be in trouble with the law for helping keep the truth under wraps? Will Ed ever tell Madeline about Tori’s proposal? Is Renata going to rise again, like a beautiful phoenix with a lot of money?
The only way we’d find out is with a third season. Is that in the cards? Here’s everything we know.
Has season 3 of Big Little Lies been confirmed?
No. If anything, the higher-ups at HBO seem pretty decided that season 2 will be the final installment of the drama. The show’s creator, David E. Kelley, said all the way back in February that there was “no such plan” for another season in Monterey. “It’s one and two, and we like our closure with season 2, but that will probably be it.”
He’s not alone in suggesting season 3 is off the table. HBO president Casey Bloys told TVLine that the demanding schedules of the show’s A-list cast made further seasons unlikely: “I love this group of people—I would do anything with them…But the reality is, they are some of the busiest actresses working in Hollywood. We have deals with some of them—Nicole [Kidman] is doing her next show [The Undoing] with us. I just think it’s not realistic.”
Let’s hope they all get their iCals synced, though, because it sounds like HBO would be up for it if the actors could make it work. “Look, if they all came to me and said, ‘We worked out all of our schedules!’—then sure,” Bloys told TVLine. “But I just don’t think it’s realistic.” Well, given that Big Little Lies‘ second season was itself a surprise renewal, it’s not a total impossibility…right?
HBO
Which cast members are interested in doing another season?
Nicole Kidman, for one, is Team Season 3. “I think we would love to do a season 3 because there is certainly ideas,” she told The Daily Telegraph, “but we would not do it without all of the same people involved…even the kids.” That’s a big ask, but fingers crossed.
Reese Witherspoon was fairly noncommittal at the Big Little Lies season 2 premiere when asked about further seasons: “I don’t know [if it could happen],” she told Entertainment Tonight. “I never say never. You don’t know. And [season two] was a surprise.”