While Reese Witherspoon was dropping hints about a second season of HBO’s hit show Big Little Lies as early as May of this year, we finally have the official word that Big Little Lies season two is happening.
As Vulture reports, HBO announced Friday that season two, which will consist of seven juicy new episodes, is officially on its way. According to HBO’s announcement, the majority of the cast is expected to return, and the company is already negotiating contracts in order to bring back the families of Monterey for a second season.
Not only that, but we can expect to see some new characters this time around. While HBO hasn’t confirmed anything yet, a casting breakdown sent to multiple casting agencies indicates that four new characters have been written into season two — including a new second-grade teacher at Otter Bay Elementary School, a new employee in the school administration office who becomes close with Jane, and Bonnie’s parents, Elizabeth and Martin Howard.
It looks like the only one who won’t be returning is the show’s original director, Jean-Marc Vallée, who has moved on to directing a different HBO series, Sharp Objects. Instead, Andrea Arnold, known for 2016’s American Honey, will be taking the reins.
Considering the show was originally supposed to only be a single season limited series (and was based on a novel with no sequel), many fans have shown concern over how the show’s producers would handle a second season, if it happened — luckily, it sounds like BLL‘s team has already thought it through. Before committing to a second season, they even had the book’s original author, Liane Moriarty, write her vision of what happened next to the characters she created.
“Everybody approached it from a place of love and care [for] these characters and this property, and again, with a little dose of skepticism along the way,” HBO’s programming chief Casey Bloys told Vulture.
The bad news? Bloys also says we’ll have to wait until at least 2019 for season two. But better late than never, right? If the first season is any indication, it will be totally worth waiting for.