Warning: Spoilers for Firefly Lane Season 2 ahead.
Raise your hand if you were not expecting to sob uncontrollably at the end of Firefly Lane Season 2, Part 1. (Yes, my hand is raised right now. And, no I’m NOT OK!)
The Netflix drama, which follows the close-knit friendship of Kate Malarky (Sarah Chalke) and Tully Hart (Katherine Heigl) throughout the decades, is based on Kristin Hannah’s novel of the same name. If you’ve read the book you should have a fairly good idea of what’s to come. But viewers like myself, who went into the series cold, are in for a real gut-punch in Season 2, Episode 9.
Part 1 of Firefly Lane’s two-part final season, which consisted of nine episodes, dropped on the Friday, December 2. (That’s today!) And Part 2, consisting of the final seven episodes, will premiere in 2023. Unfortunately, Part 1 ended on a heartbreaking cliffhanger. So the wait for new episodes is going to be straight-up painful.
Before Season 2, Part 1 wrapped, we saw Kate and Tully’s friendship hit a major rift. And in case that wasn’t sad enough, Episode 9 revealed a life-threatening health issue for Kate that leaves fans wondering: Does Kate die in Firefly Lane Season 2, Part 2? Here’s everything we know about Kate’s diagnosis on the Netflix show and her fate in Hannah’s two-book series.
Does Kate Die in Firefly Lane?
Based on what we learned in Season 2, Episode 9 and know from Hannah’s books, Kate’s fate doesn’t look too good. In Season 2, Episode 9, Kate learns she has a “rare and very aggressive” form of Stage 3 breast cancer. In the book series, Kate does die from the disease. But we’ll have to wait for the final seven episodes of Firefly Lane Season 2 to learn if Kate dies in the Netflix series, too.
At the end of Season 2, Part 1, Netflix gives fans a minute-long preview for Part 2, titled, “There’s More to Come.” Though the 60-second clip may be intentionally misleading, it seems to imply that Kate is dead and — wait for it — Tully is marrying Johnny 10 years after Part 1 concludes.
In the preview, a ”TEN YEARS LATER” title card introduces Johnny (Ben Lawson) and Kate’s brother Season (Jason McKinnon) standing at an altar in suits. Chairs are set up in what appears to be Kate and Johnny’s house, flowers fill the room, and guests are happily talking amongst themselves before the ceremony begins. “It’s almost go time. How you feeling?” Sean asks Johnny. “I’d feel a lot better if the bride would show up. We’re supposed to start any minute,” Johnny replies.
So who’s Johnny’s bride to be? Well, in Season 2, Part 1, Johnny proposed to Kate again and she accepted. For a moment, we wonder if she survived her battle with cancer and is finally remarrying her ex-husband a decade after her diagnosis. But then we cut to TULLY (!!!) wearing all white, fixing her makeup in the bathroom, and screaming “Hold your horses! I’m almost ready. It’s not like you can start without me anyway.” Again, the scene could be intentionally misleading. Maybe Kate’s fine! And Tully is her…maid of honor or something. But right now it sure feels like Tully is about to marry Johnny in Kate’s absence. And since the Firefly Lane book sequel, Fly Away, focuses on Tully raising Kate’s daughter Marah, it’s not too much of a stretch to assume that the Netflix series ends with Kate’s death and Tully officially becoming Marah’s step mom.
Will Kate and Tully reconcile in wake of Kate’s diagnosis? Will Kate survive Season 2? Does Tully actually marry Johnny one day? All will (hopefully) be revealed when Firefly Lane’s final seven episodes hit Netflix on June 8, 2023.
The first nine episode of Firefly Lane Season 2 are currently available to stream on Netflix.