Here's Why You Shouldn't Expect A Conversations With Friends Season 2
Even if the finale was a bit ambiguous.
Conversations With Friends, author Sally Rooney’s first novel and second Hulu series adaptation, came to screens in mid-May 2022. After the wild success of Rooney’s first adaptation, Normal People, Conversations was highly anticipated by Rooney’s readers and Normal People fans alike. But it’s unlikely Conversations with Friends Season 2 will ever see the light of day.
Like Hulu’s first Rooney adaptation, Normal People, the Conversations series is a pretty direct translation from the book. Despite a few differences, the show generally tracks along the plot and themes of the book. In both iterations, two undergrad besties who used to date, Frances and Bobbi, become friends with an older, successful married couple, Nick and Melissa. This foursome friendship then has to deal with their desires for each other; Frances and Nick start an affair while Bobbi develops a crush on Melissa. Chaos — and steaminess — ensues. Plus, Rooney’s signature commentary on classism and systemic power shines through the narratives of each character’s personal struggles.
The end of both the book and the show leaves viewers with very little to go on. In.a flash-forward, Frances and Bobbi have rekindled their romance and Frances hasn’t talked to Nick in quite some time. Frances seems happy, which is a welcome relief for viewers who have watched her toil over her emotions for 11 and a half episodes. But then, in the last five minutes of the finale episode (and the last couple of pages of the book) Nick calls Frances accidentally and they chat for a minute. Nick admits he misses her dearly and the series closes on Frances saying, “Come and get me.” So much for that relief.
In classic Rooney fashion, readers and viewers are left to deal with all the things this makes them feel — good and bad — without a concrete resolution. Because the ending of the book and the series are identical, and because Normal People, despite its success, has yet to receive a sophomore season, it’s very unlikely there will ever be another season of this sordid romantic drama. Unless Rooney wanted to go back and add a sequel to her first novel, there’s no original material for a possible second season to use. More likely, fans will just have to imagine what happens next for Frances, Nick, Bobbi, and Melissa.
“I like the idea that everyone can have an individual map of where those stories might go that plays in their own heads,” executive producer Emma Norton told TV Insider. “That was my experience in the book. And I like that being just a sort of open space.”
It seems fans will just have to rewatch the series (including its many steamy moments) when they need a little more Irish melodrama in their lives.
