If you’re anything like us, you binge-watched 2017’s Friends From College in one sleep-deprived weekend and have been wondering about its return ever since. Well, good news — the wait is over, at least for a status update. Netflix announced on Friday that Season 2 of the show will drop Jan. 11, 2019.
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Based on the critics’ initial response, the fate of the series seemed dubious at best. Having said that, though, Netflix picked it up for a second season only a month after its debut.
Do you have pictures from college? Share them with us using the hashtag #meandmyfriendsfromcollege and we'll show them at the Friends from College screening TOMORROW at 7PM: https://t.co/mOMuQQIXCXpic.twitter.com/ShlYAm7WMv
— Austin Film Festival (@austinfilmfest) October 25, 2018
According to married creators Nick Stoller and Francesca Delbanco, who based the series on their own social circle at Harvard, their saving grace was the fact that viewers saw the show through all eight episodes.
“A lot of people were watching to completion. That’s the only metric [the execs at Netflix] really care about. And they picked us up quickly because of that, which was very gratifying,” Stoller told IndieWire on Friday.
The writers admitted they were not prepared for the negative reviews of the show, with Delbanco saying, “We were heartbroken that critics didn’t really like it but felt like it was an interesting conversation that people were having about it, and obviously people were thinking about it, which is hopefully good.”
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Did the show have problems? Sure. But it was also weirdly relatable. Who hasn’t wondered at some point how much they have in common with their old school friends decades later? Or faced a general sense of unrest and questioning of life choices as you stare down the barrel of your 40s?
Plus, a huge strength of the series lies in the ensemble cast: Keegan-Michael Key (Ethan), Cobie Smulders (Lisa), Annie Parisse (Sam), Fred Savage (Max), Billy Eichner (Felix), Nat Faxon (Nick) and Jae Suh Park (Marianne).
So, what do we know about Season 2, which comes a year and a half after the first?
For starters, Stoller and Delbanco have addressed some of the series’ most criticized arcs. This includes the much-maligned affair between Sam and Ethan which, admittedly, people were “really unhappy and uncomfortable” about, Delbanco said.
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The second season jumps one year in the future, giving Delbanco and Stoller time to re-evaluate the state of the friendships after that disastrous 40th birthday party.
“Everyone’s cards are on the table at the beginning of the season. Everyone knows everything that was going on. There are no longer any secrets that the characters are carrying around, or lies they’re trying to not be caught up In,” Delbanco explained.
Thanks to a teaser clip for the second season, we also know the friends haven’t spoken for almost a year (since the aforementioned hot mess of a party). However, the impending wedding between Max and Felix brings them all back together again… for better or worse.
According to Stoller and Delbanco, it will be a “reckoning.”
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