Whenever we start watching a new show that just premiered, whether it's a limited series or a show intended to run for multiple seasons, we're always inclined to wonder if another season will happen. The natural curiosity about a show's fate even happened with Prime Video's hit murder mystery limited series The Better Sister, which wrapped up its central story but teased a bit more.
Jessica Biel, one of the show's executive producers co-leads along with Elizabeth Banks, recently addressed the possibility of bringing back Chloe and Nicky for The Better Sister season 2. Unfortunately, it sounds like we should manage our expectations for Amazon to bring this one back, since it seems Biel isn't rushing to walk back the show's limited series order.
The Better Sister season 2 probably won't happen
In a new interview with Deadline, Biel was asked what she would think if the idea of The Better Sister season 2 was floated across her desk. While the star admitted that she would personally love to return to work with the cast and crew because they had such a great experience, she wonders if reacting to the show's success by making another season would be the right move.
As Biel told Deadline, "Well, I would say that I loved the experience. I loved working with our entire cast and [showrunners] Olivia [Milch] and Regina [Corrado], they were amazing. They just made such a beautifully safe and warm set, as I know we’ve talked about before. But for me, it’s always like, 'OK, where’s the level of believability? Where do we begin again? Do we have enough to say?'"
Biel noted that The Sinner, which she starred in and executive produced for the USA Network, was also intended to be a limited series, but its success prompted its renewal for season 2. When thinking about whether her character Cora could return, the team opted to shift the series into an anthology format centered on Bill Pullman's detective character investigating different cases.
The Better Sister was based on the book of the same name by author Alafair Burke, who hasn't written a sequel novel. It's not unprecedented for a limited series based on a book without a sequel to receive a season 2 with the author creating the new story. That's what HBO has done with Big Little Lies and Apple TV+'s The Last Thing He Told Me. It could happen again.
However, as a producer, Biel asks the necessary questions about the purpose for returning for season 2 and if it serves the characters. She also expresses her concern about whether a second season would be "as good or better" than season 1, a consideration that a lot of shows don't take when turning limited series into traditional series. Still, she's not revealing if there have been talks.
"I would put a producer hat on at this point and go, 'OK, so what are the options here? How are we going to be believable? Of course, we love seeing these women together. Of course, it’s so fun. How does it work? And is it enough to be as good or better than the first season?' So, I would ask those technical questions, but it was a dream job," she told Deadline.
Nearly one month after the show's release on May 29, The Better Sister remains the No. 1 title (as of June 19) on Prime Video's most popular ranking in the United States. The series could likely have even more legs this summer as new viewers continue to discover the show through word of mouth. That's obviously cause for Amazon to consider season 2 — or a new show with Biel and/or Banks.
In the series finale episode, Chloe and Nicky's sisterhood earns a renewed united front in the aftermath of Adam's murder and its varied revelations. The finale does feature another last-minute death that could be an opening for another season, but do we really care enough about that particular thread? After all, Biel says she's considering a genre change from murder mysteries.
Read Show Snob's The Better Sister recaps: