The first season is on Netflix and it’s an absolute riot.
If you’ve not seen End of the Fucking World then consider this to be your spoiler alert. Then again, you could live dangerously and read on. We’ll let you decide!
Given the fact that the original comic-book material has been used up in the first season, there are obvious questions as to where the next season could go. There’s also the major issue that needs to be answered, the gunshot and James’ apparent death.
Well, after rumours swirled that we might not have yet reached the end of The End of the Fucking World just yet, the show’s creator, Jonathan Entwistle, has been speaking with Collider about the prospects of a new series.
In the interview, Entwistle argued that the fate of James isn’t exactly central to any future direction that the show could take.
“No, I don’t necessarily think it does [change the message of the show],” he told Collider of his potential death. “In some ways, the cleanest, most epic, emo teenage ending is what we have. And it’s literally like the crystallised version of this heightened world that we have there at the end. So, to a certain extent, it’s the perfect circle for James. He always thought he was a psychopath, but meeting Alyssa made him deal with the things that… he obviously wasn’t a psychopath and he sort of knew that all along.”
Speaking about James’ narrative arc and that final scene, he said: “then he became her protector, if that makes sense, and then he realises that the biggest sacrifice to save everything is to run at the end, essentially; is to leave, to split up from her because, by association with him, she’s just going to have kind of a bad life.”
Entwistle adds: “She’s going to have a bad life anyway, which is the most teenage decision. So it’s like he’s super chivalrous, and he’s like, ‘Oh, I’m going to do this.’ But actually, it doesn’t make any difference either way what he does. They’re done for anyway, which is quite a teenage decision-making process.”
There are various theories about how James could be involved in another season and the most plausible one revolves around the use of his voiceover throughout the show.
“All his voiceover is in the past tense in the show until the final line. So a lot of people have lots of conjecture about where the story goes because James is always in the past tense and the series voiceover is in the present tense, and until James delivers the final line of the show. So you can read into that what you will,” he said.
In a previous interview with Thrillist, the series creator said that he’s currently exploring ways in which they could “continue the tone of the show”
“We’re looking at what the people who loved the show are saying, to see how we can unpack that and how we could continue the tone of the show. Because I think that is so crucial. For me, it’s about James and Alyssa – and I think that’s what people have connected with. I think a season two would have to involve James and Alyssa somehow. I just love the world of them out there on the road, doing something in a weird world. So for me, any story that we expand keeps them out there somewhere,” he said.
Given the fact that shows like Fargo and True Detective use a new cast for each season but keep similar themes, perhaps this is something that Season 2 of The End of the Fucking World will do? Then again, there’s also the possibility that James will somehow survive. We have to wait and see.
The End of the Fuckng World is streaming now on Netflix and All4.
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