Following the completion of Expats' first season, whether Season 2 will ever be released has popped into many fans' minds.
The hit Amazon Prime Video drama stars Nicole Kidman and Sarayu Blue (read more about the Expats cast here) and adapted the gripping kidnapping story seen in Janice Y. K. Lee's 2016 novel.
Expats came to an end on February 23 with no guarantee for more. The series was initially greenlit as a single-season mini-series, but given its popularity, some wonder if that will remain the case.
Will There Be a Season 2 of Expats?
According to Expats showrunner and director Lulu Wang, the odds of Expats Season 2 ever seeing a release might be pretty slim.
In a conversation with Today, Wang admitted she is "never going to say never," but "there’s no talk of doing another season:"
"I think it just depends. I made things with a beginning, middle, and end. I very much see it as a complete thing, like if I was making a feature film. I’m never going to say never. That’s my rule. But right now, there’s no talk of doing another season."
Wang is currently prepping a feature-length film for production as she adapts the Hirokazu Kore-eda drama, Like Father, Like Son, for the big screen (via Variety).
If a Season 2 were to happen, it would be quite some time before it ever came to Prime Video, with the showrunner seemingly occupied with other projects.
That is not to say there is no storytelling potential for a second season of Expats. Wang and crew left things fairly open-ended with the finale, making it an easy end to the Nicole Kidman-led story or serving as a potential jumping-off point for more to come.
What Would Happen in Expats Season 2?
If Expats were to move forward with a Season 2, the hit streaming series would be heading into uncharted waters from a narrative front.
The first season was based on Janice Y. K. Lee's The Expatriates novel, which has no sequels or spin-offs; Season 2 would have no source material to lean on and feature a 100% original story.
But that is nothing series showrunner Lulu Wang has not thought about. According to the filmmaker, following the events of Season 1, she sees Nicole Kidman's Margaret continuing her trips from the U.S. to Hong Kong for "years and years."
Wang revealed the kidnapping of her son Gus in Season 1 "changes her fundamentally as a person" and that "years and years later" she thinks Kidman's character would eventually find her him (via Today):
"[Gus's kidnapping] changes her fundamentally as a person. She doesn’t have as many choices as she used to have because her life is now centered around finding her son."
As for Sarayu Blue's Hilary Starr, Wang believes after Season 1 she "ends up with a younger, very sexy, younger man," her ex-husband David (played by Jack Huston) who is left by the wayside, living out his days as a bachelor:
"I think Hilary ends up with a younger, very sexy, younger man. She’s just gonna always love her life and she’s learning to center herself for the first time and not worry about what people think about her."
She described the future of Ji-young Yoo's Mercy who was seen pregnant with David's baby in the first season. Wang revealed that David likely stays in the child's life and is a "good dad," but "he’s got a lot of work to do."
The Expats showrunner remarked that the end of Season 1 is "[a] new beginning" for Mercy, who is about to venture into motherhood for the first time:
"For Mercy, having the baby is the new beginning for her. And she’s going to fail, she’s going to have moments where she’s a bad mom, and she’s going to beat herself up and she’s just going to have to make her way through it and make the best choice that you can in every moment."
While it remains unknown if Wang and the Expats team will get to explore any of these characters in a potential Season 2, it seems the filmmaker has thought plenty of where the series could go if so.
Expats is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Read more about Amazon Prime Video's Expats:
Amazon Prime Video's Expats Ending & Spoilers from the Book, Explained
Expats: Who Is Jenny? Margaret Connection Explained
Who Is Bodhi del Rosario? 5 Things to Know About Expats Star
