Tell Me Your Secrets Season 2 - Will It Ever Happen?
Created by Harriet Warner, "Tell Me Your Secrets" is an original psychological drama with a "true crime" feel. It ran on Amazon for a single season in 2021, and revolved around three individuals connected in horrific ways. First there is Mary (Amy Brenneman), a distraught mother who believes she knows who is responsible for the kidnapping and potential murder of her daughter years before. Then there's John, a serial predator who claims he wants to turn over a new leaf. Lastly, Emma struggles with memory loss while being given a new identity after her boyfriend is exposed as a serial killer.
Emma is also the woman who Mary believes killed her daughter, and to get to the truth, the revenge-driven Mary will do just about anything, including ally herself with the twisted and enigmatic John. A taut thriller that kept audiences on the edge of their seats, "Tell Me Your Secrets" was met with rave reviews from audiences, who appreciated its stunning story, while Paste Magazine called it "an addictive, cockamamie crime binge."
With all 10 episodes of the show's first and only season released on the same day, that's only left fans with more time to wonder when or if they'll get a continuation of the story. The ending, such as it is, feels like it's crying out for a follow-up, with unanswered questions left hanging in the air. But with years having passed and little news on when we could see it, many are asking: Will Season 2 of "Tell Me Your Secrets" ever happen?
Why hasn't a second season of Tell Me Your Secrets happened yet?
When it was released in 2021, "Tell Me Your Secrets" had faced a troubled road to the screen. Originally developed, written, and produced for cable network TNT, it entered production in 2018, but was quickly canned after filming wrapped. For a while it seemed like it might never make it out of the vault, until Amazon acquired the series from TNT in 2020, and aired it in the following year as a streaming original. That TNT scrapped the series so abruptly after it had been completed, and that Amazon chose to drop the entire season in a single day, could suggest that they believed they had a stinker on their hands. And sure enough, it met with poor reviews from critics.
Audiences overwhelmingly loved the first season of the series, though — it's just that many professional reviewers found the story contrived, overwrought, and more outlandish than its contemporaries like "Big Little Lies" or "Little Fires Everywhere." That the reviews weren't good could very well be why we haven't seen a second season, but because it debuted on a streaming network, Amazon can probably also back those poor reviews up with viewing figures. Evidently, audience response just wasn't enough to earn it a second season, because if the viewership was strong enough, there's no doubt that they'd have given it another season by now.
What have the cast and crew said about a second season of Tell Me Your Secrets?
Since Season 1 of "Tell Me Your Secrets" landed in 2021, the cast and crew have been surprisingly quiet on the prospects of a follow-up season, but a few nuggets have trickled out during interviews to promote the show's first year. Star Hamish Linklater spoke with Collider when it was first beginning its run, and talked about his contract and a possible future on the series.
"I signed a one-year deal, going into this. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that, but it's true," he told the outlet. "As it was going along, I was like, 'Please don't kill me. I'm having too good a time. Keep me alive.' But we didn't know how it was gonna turn out." He also believes that Emma's story is perfectly set up for a second chapter. "I think that there's a weird inevitability to where Emma ends up. She's running and running and running, and then is gonna become the pursuer in the next chapter. It makes sense."
And it's not just Linklater; star Lily Rabe is also hoping for more. "Something that I loved about the first season was that it has a beginning, middle, and end, but there is also room for more and lots of ways that can be done," she said while speaking with Forbes. "That is something that [creator Harriet Warner] expressed very specifically to me when we initially talked about it, so hopefully, that will happen."
Who would star in a second season of Tell Me Your Secrets?
Given what we've heard from two of the show's three stars, "Tell Me Your Secrets" Season 2 — were it ever to happen — would likely bring back both Hamish Linklater as twisted, monstrous John Tyler and Lily Rabe as Emma Hall. We have yet to hear anything concrete from co-star Amy Brenneman, but we'd imagine she would also be sought to reprise her role as Mary, should a possible Season 2 continue the trio's three-way story.
In fact, while promoting the series, Brenneman did suggest that there is more story to tell between her character Mary and her on-screen daughter, and even offered up an idea of where it could go next "There has to be another chapter between me and my daughter," she said. "Maybe I'm going to apologize, but she's out there and I have to find her."
Nevertheless, there's another, less obvious route a second season could take. Considering the nature of the show — following the interwoven lives of three different people — there's always the possibility that Season 2 could center on an entirely new cast of characters, similar to shows like "Manhunt" or "True Detective." Though this is admittedly pure speculation on our part, it does reinforce how wide open the series is for a sequel, and how Amazon could try to improve critical reception with a new story and setting.
What would be explored in a second season of Tell Me Your Secrets?
Though Lily Rabe rightly praised Season 1 for being a dramatic standalone story with a beginning, middle, and end, she also was correct when she said that there were plenty of places for the story to go in a potential Season 2. In fact, the ending of the season closes with a major cliffhanger of sorts, and fans have been begging for answers ever since.
In that conclusion, we see that John didn't die after being attacked by Mary and Emma, returning from his apparent death in an ominous moment. With his reemergence in the finale's closing scenes, John's return after being left for dead is ripe for continuing into Season 2, with him likely to go on a new rampage after going back to his dark and twisted ways. Another unresolved storyline that seems perfect for picking up in a second season would be that of Pete (Enrique Murciano) — the disturbed psychologist who helped Emma adjust to her new life — as his curious past remains shrouded in mystery by the end of the first season.
Of course, arguably the biggest plot thread that's left hanging in Season 1 is the revelation of Emma's daughter Freya. In the final episode, we not only learn that Mary's daughter was a killer, but in the present, has kidnapped Freya, Emma's daughter who she'd handed over to a foster family after her birth. Season 1 offered plenty of starting points for gripping stories, and there are plenty of roads Season 2 could take.
Don't count out a second season of Tell Me Your Secrets
While fans eagerly await word of a possible second season, they may begin losing hope the longer the wait drags on. But these days, particularly with streaming series, a lengthy, extended delay may not be the death knell of renewal it once was in the era of network television. After all, a series can become hot at any moment, as new audiences discover an old favorite, and should viewership on "Tell Me Your Secrets" suddenly spike — whether because it gets trending on social media, or because one of its stars or even its creators has a newer, breakout hit — Amazon could greenlight a new season to capitalize on it.
Let's also not forget that the series itself was acquired by Amazon from another network, and there's always a chance another streaming service could snatch it up in the future. Shows switching networks is nothing new, and there's nothing to say that Paramount+, Hulu, or even Netflix couldn't take a run at the show for a new season.
Despite reviews being poor, most critics still saw the potential in the show's premise; its unrealized promise was actually one of the biggest issues reviewers had. And with Lily Rabe as popular as ever — appearing subsequently on Max's "Love & Death" and "Shrinking" on Apple TV+ — that potential could be realized, and the story improved upon, with a new season.