Night Sky Season 2 Setup Unnecessarily Ruined A Perfect Ending

Night Sky season 1 was a gripping and emotional journey. However, the season finale’s efforts to set up a second season undercut its own ending.

Night Sky Season 2 Setup Unnecessarily Ruined A Perfect Ending

Warning: Contains spoilers for Night Sky season 1.

The science-fiction drama Night Sky season 1 tells a compelling narrative across its 8-episode, but the season 2 setup was an ending mistake. Fronted by Sissy Spacek, J.K. Simmons, and Chai Hansen, Night Sky Is a powerfully character-driven science fiction story. While it has not been renewed for season 2, it is clear that the Night Sky season 1 ending is working to set up future plot lines.

Before the events of Night Sky, Irene (Spacek) and Franklin York (Simmons) found a strange teleporter in their backyard after the death of their son, Michael (Angus O’Brien) and keep it a secret for many years. After it brings Jude (Hansen) into their lives, they begin to learn more about the network and the Cult of Caerul that uses them. In the season finale, Byron (Adam Bartley) has gone missing on the strange planet, Jude and Denise (Kiah McKirnan) have traveled to Bangkok, and Stella (Julieta Zylberberg), Toni (Rocío Hernández), and Cornelius (Piotr Adamczyk) are kidnapped by Hannah (Sonya Walger) and the Fallen World.

Throughout Night Sky season 1, the show tells a deep and emotional story that is focused on grief, depression, trauma, and death while using the science fiction trappings as a vehicle to tell that story. It is artfully done and stellar performances by the cast help to sell the true nature. By the end of Night Sky season 1, there is room for a natural conclusion to that story with Irene and Franklin able to move on from Michael’s death and to help Denise with her own struggles. However, the efforts that are taken to set up mysterious dark plotlines for Night Sky season 2 undercut the tone and ultimately weaken the whole story.

The end of Night Sky obviously leaves a lot of important questions to be answered. What happened to Byron? Who are the Fallen World? What is the cult of Caerul? Why has Jude and Denise’s journey to find Jude’s father led them to Bangkok? While the show leaves the viewers wanting more and if Night Sky is renewed for season 2 then those questions’ answers will surely be fascinating, it is a shame that it comes in place of a satisfying conclusion to the story. This is generally exacerbated by the fact that several elements of this mysterious finale were only lightly telegraphed before, and could easily have been wrapped up instead of being stretched out to justify a second season.

This is, of course, not a problem that is in any way unique to Night Sky. While it is becoming more common, it is a rare series that knows exactly how and when to end its story and does so not because of cancellation, but because they have told the narrative that they set out to tell. While shows like The Good Place achieved this balance, it is hard to imagine how Night Sky will be able to recapture the magic from its original season in future content. With the story about grief and trauma already largely told, focusing more directly on the machinations of cultists is likely to leave the show with a less complete feeling. While Night Sky season 2 will no doubt be a gripping watch, the season 1 finale would have been more successful if it had not had the weight of setting up the next installment.