The English season 2 potential release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know
The English spoilers follow.
Yee-haw, and other authentically Western expressions!
Hugo Blick's lavish, meaty account of bloodshed, revenge and the brutal settlement of the American West has run its fatal course, leaving dozens of corpses artfully silhouetted against the huge prairie skies. Or the huge Spanish skies at least, standing in for Oklahoma, Nebraska and Wyoming.
As the last thudding bongs and howling harmonicas of the Morricone-inspired soundtrack – and the screams of the 150-year-old ghosts of history – fade away, we have to ask: is there any more to come? And could we handle it if there is?
Here's what we know about a possible second season.
The English season 2 potential release date: Will there be a second season?
So far there's been no official renewal from the BBC or its co-producers Amazon Studios. Given that it's a limited series – six and done – it would seem that that's that: the story's told. But that's what HBO said about Big Little Lies, and many other even more expensive hits that got brought back for more.
If The English returns, though, it won't be any time soon. Filming was due to begin on season one in September 2020, but was delayed for The Usual Reason before eventually starting in the summer of 2021. And that's just physical production – writing is a whole other thing.
There's no word on how long Hugo Blick took to write the first season, but it was something he was brewing for many years.
He told HeyUGuys that he'd wanted to do a Western since he was a boy: "I was a young man in Montana, and got to see the last of the Wild West, both its benefits and its costs, and I always wanted to do a Western. It's quite technically demanding, so I'm glad I'm doing it now and not when I first started out."
We doubt we'll see anything earlier than late 2024 even if there were to be a second series.
The English season 2 cast: who's in it?
There ain't no bloodbath like an Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer bloodbath. Those two – as Lady Cornelia Locke and Sgt Eli Whipp respectively – were the core of the story, one heading north seeking revenge, the other escaping, and both finding something else instead.
You couldn't really have the show without them. And, let's be realistic, it wouldn't get greenlit without a star of Blunt's stature attached. But, for spoileriffic reasons, it's unlikely that Lady Cornelia will be doing much more roister-doistering on the plains, even though she made it out alive.
After all, Blunt seems pretty happy with Lady Cornelia's ending, which means she probably wouldn't be up for returning.
"There is dignity in [this ending] for her," the actress told TVLine. "She has gone through a reclamation of identity. And there is something healing in that she met in Eli such a kind man, and a man who had such an impact on her life. She is someone who is big on destiny, and this happens to be her rather tragic destiny.
"But there is great peace for her in it because what she has been able to experience. And in experiencing great love and being able to let go [of that love] has its own moment of dignity for her — to be able to let go and let [Eli] be free of whatever decay is going to happen to her."
Plus everyone else is dead.
We jest, but only just: the following were still just about kicking, last we looked, and so might return if there turns out to be any more story to be told:
• Tom Hughes (Thomas Trafford)
• Stephen Rea (Sheriff Robert Marshall)
• Valerie Pachner (Martha Myers)
• Gary Farmer (John Clarke)
• Kimberly Guerrero (Katie Clarke)
The English season 2 plot: What will happen?
While Cornelia and Eli's story is done, there are a million more ways to die in the West. Hugo Blick's epic dog-eat-coyote-eat-vulture-eat-human tale took in the diversity of the Native American frontier experience, the exploitation of (and by) settlers, the impact of white religions, the racist basis of "scientific" theories of culture and the whole gory history of America's founding.
It was a big canvas, but you could fill a dozen more of the like and barely begin to breach the topics covered: another season could further explore the wars between Native American nations, the foundation of the Mormon church, the fallout of the Civil War and the end of slavery. For starters.
The English season 2 trailer: When can I see it?
Let's wait on a renewal first. Till then, enjoy the season-one trailer above.
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