Kaley Cuoco fans who had been so used to seeing the actress portray Penny on The Big Bang Theory for 12 seasons were quite shocked when The Flight Attendant debuted on HBO Max. While Penny had been known to have her vices over the years, Cuoco's new character, Cassie Bowden, had a far darker existence, and was faced with a murder mystery so twisty and darkly comical, that it was suddenly very easy to forget that Penny Hofstadter ever graced our screens.
The series also garnered rave reviews from critics and viewers alike, and even netted star Kaley Cuoco her first two Golden Globe nominations, one for acting and the other for Best TV Series – Comedy or Musical. So, we can imagine that many of you are awaiting The Flight Attendant Season 2, and eager to see what other great big messes Cassie and her flying friends can get themselves into (and out of). While we don't know much about the new season just yet, here are six quick things we know about Season 2 of The Flight Attendant!
If you have, somehow, still been reserving The Flight Attendant Season 1 for your later viewing pleasure, know that there will be SPOILERS BELOW!
The Flight Attendant Has Been Renewed For Season 2
Remember all of the praise I just mentioned was heaped upon The Flight Attendant? Well, it was a very good thing for more than having an incredibly received Season 1. Even though the series is based on the 2018 book of the same name by author Chris Bohjalian, which did not have a sequel, the day after the, supposed, series finale aired, the comedy-drama was renewed by HBO Max for Season 2. Kaley Cuoco found out about the book while doing a little late night Amazon shopping, and ended up buying the rights to it, so I guess we can't say that Amazon never did nothing for us.
The Flight Attendant Season 2 Should Debut In Spring 2022
I know, I know! It seems like this is a very long time to wait for new episodes of The Flight Attendant, but, they need time to work everything out for a story that left fans with some surprising twists and plenty of new avenues for Cassie and her friends to travel down. According to Variety, the writer's room for the series was set to assemble in March, and assuming that did happen, production should be able to fully begin in September or October, which will put us nicely in that Spring 2022 debut window.
Don't worry, though, Cuoco and her fellow executive producers, Sarah Schechter and Greg Berlanti, along with showrunner Steve Yockey, already have plenty of ideas of how to continue what was supposed to be a limited series.
Cassie Will Not Be In The CIA For The Flight Attendant Season 2
As you may recall, Season 1 of The Flight Attendant ended on the shocking twist that saw Cassie's friend and fellow flight attendant, Shane (Griffin Matthews), reveal himself to be a CIA agent undercover. If it hadn't been for good ol' Shane, Cassie probably would have met her end at the hands of her lover / hitman, Buckley (Colin Woodell). But, after saving her life and checking in with his bosses, Shane told her that he was going to continue to keep his cover job to try and track another flight attendant friend, Megan (Rosie Perez), and that Cassie was wanted for the CIA’s “human asset program.”
However, this does not mean that we will immediately be thrown into a full blown spy thriller when Season 2 starts, as Cuoco told Variety:
She’s not coming in and now she’s CIA. [Laughs] But there will definitely be a little of that asset thing, because that’s how we ended — and that will keep her in all the hijinks. I’m more focused on what I want for Cassie emotionally.
Cassie Will Still Struggle With Her Drinking Problem
As you might imagine from the events of The Flight Attendant Season 1, part of Cassie's emotional journey in the second season will involve her struggles with alcohol. The narrative of the series was set off by Cassie drinking so much that she was backout drunk and couldn't remember whether or not she'd killed her hot, one-night-stand passenger, Alex (Michiel Huisman). She proceeded to continue to drink heavily during the series, but was also able to confront many of her demons as she tried to figure out who really killed Alex to clear her name, and had stopped drinking by the finale. That is not going to be an easy road, though. According to Cuoco:
She thinks this is going to be quick and easy, and I’m nailing this! And she’s going to learn really fast that this is a lifelong issue that will not be cured for her overnight. She always had the excuse of alcohol. So no matter what situation she gets in, it’s like, ‘I was drunk! I’m fun Cass!’ And she kind of gets away with it. So now what is her excuse for being shit? What is her excuse for fucking up?
Cassie Will Still Retreat Into Her Mind In The Flight Attendant Season 2
One major part of The Fight Attendant Season 1 was how we saw Cassie interact with both dead Alex and her own distorted memories of her childhood when she would retreat into her mind. A lot of this was so that she could try to put together the pieces of both the night Alex was murdered, but to also reassemble her recollections of the past which led to her drinking problem. If you think that Cassie will now be free of that "mind palace," though, think again. As Steve Yockey told TV Line:
In our finale, Episode 8, she has that beautiful moment where she walks through the mind palace and shuts it all down, basically, so I think that iteration of the mind palace is done. That one has to do with Alex, and she’s moved on from that, but there would be some new version of it that would have to exist in a series, I think.
The Flight Attendant Season 2 Will Still Mostly Be Set In New York
Cassie, obviously, did a lot of traveling during Season 1 of The Flight Attendant, but her home base was always New York City, and that will continue to be the case, even though she's now going to be a CIA "asset." However, Kaley Cuoco mentioned that we could see an episode or two which will actually require the newly sober high flyer to head to the opposite coast, as she noted that she had pitched “a couple of storylines in L.A." to Yockey. So, we'll just have to wait and see what kind of madness Cassie gets herself involved in when the new season rolls around.
Until The Flight Attendant Season 2 hits HBO Max, you can revisit the first season, and see what's coming to the small screen with early 2021 TV premieres!
