Will there be a Better season 2? Potential release date and news for BBC thriller
There's only one thing on our minds now that we've made our way through all five episodes... **WARNING: Contains spoilers for Better season 1.**
Premiering on BBC One last night, Better has got off to a very tense start and if you're an avid thriller fan like us, you'll have no doubt made your way through all five episodes on iPlayer already.
Naturally, then, our thoughts have turned to season 2 and whether another run is on the cards. Throughout the five episodes, we saw how DI Lou Slack's (Leila Farzad) conscience caught up to her after the traumatic diagnosis of her son contracting meningitis.
While she had to reckon with newfound family problems, she also had to face up to the fact that because of her, Col McHugh (Andrew Buchan) has progressed to being one of Leeds's most notorious crime bosses.
The five-part drama ended with a shocking twist none of us were quite expecting but can we expect a further second season of Better? Read on for everything you need to know about the potential season.
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Will there be a Better season 2?
As of now, there hasn't been any official announcement as to whether a second season has been given the green light for Better or not.
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Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com about whether he co-wrote the series with Jonathan Brackley having any further seasons in mind, Sam Vincent said: “Well, I think it's an open-ended question. Like everything, you have to see how it goes down and that's fair enough, that's the way it should be.
“I think the ending of season 1, we are really excited and satisfied with the two episodes that close the season. But at the very end, it ends in quite a surprising place, I think and hope. In a place that the audience will not expect it to end. But as to more? We'll just have to wait and see.”
Further discussing how Better was based on a long-held idea, Vincent said: "This story is an idea that we've had for many, many years and it's changed a lot. It's evolved from a very kind of simple premise.
"I think it sort of comes from somewhere quite deep within me and John, this desire to kind of wrestle with this moral story and this particular way of exploring it. So, in some ways, it's very, very personal and it goes back a long way."
He added: "This kind of timeless story as well ... it's a universal thing: good and bad and what these things mean." So, with a universally understood premise that could very well continue into more seasons, we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.
Better season 2 release date speculation
As the first season of Better has landed on our screens in February, we can only assume that any potential second season could follow suit and be released in early 2024 or 2025.
Watch this space.
Better season 2 cast speculation
We'd assume that Leila Farzad would return as lead character Lou Slack following the events of season 1. But the real question is whether Andrew Buchan will return as Col.
A full list of season 1 characters that very well could make an appearance in a potential season 2 are:
- Samuel Edward-Cook as Ceri Davies
- Carolin Stoltz as Alma
- Zak Ford-Williams as Owen
- Kaya Moore as Noel Wilkes
- Anton Lesser as Vernon
- Ceallach Spellman as Donal
- Olivia Nakintu as DC Esther Okoye
- Joseph Steyne as Joleon
- Anthony Lewis as DC Niall Ibbotson
- Junade Khan as DS Pritam Khan
- Gavin Spokes as DI Phil Cowper
- Charley Webb as Elise
- Jamie Dorrington
What could a potential Better season 2 be about?
Warning: Better season 1 finale spoilers ahead...
Better most certainly has us questioning what is right and what is wrong but is also mind-bending in the way it interrogates those ideals. We'd only hope that a potential second season could continue to bring up such thought-provoking questions.
Season 1 explores the complex and powerful bonds of loyalty and family, set in a world where everyone has their own version of “right” and “wrong”. Examining the power of human conscience, we follow Lou’s epic battle towards redemption as she aims to bring down Col; the man she has come to love like a brother and the man she has helped place at the head of the Leeds criminal underworld.
But after that slightly confusing finale, what can we expect from a potential season 2? Final warning, there are major spoilers ahead!
While we knew that the series was always building up to an epic finale, we couldn't quite have guessed that it would have ended in multiple deaths and a cliffhanger.
Bulgey (Garry Cooper) tried to corner Lou in a haphazard revenge mission in Vernon's (Anton Lesser) flat but Vernon quickly spots him and shoots him. Vernon set his place on fire, calling the police saying that there was an intruder but of course, he gets arrested and charged with murder.
He confesses, never telling the police that Lou was there with him or that the two are actually friends. Col, in a blur of grief over the death of his daughter and now the betrayal of Lou, doesn't seem to care for being a crime boss anymore. So, his heavies put out the order for Vernon to be killed when moved to prison.
Even though Lou has continually tried to help Noel (Kaya Moore) get out of the life of crime he's found himself in, he refuses any of her help and is the one ordered to stab and kill Vernon.
After finding out that Vernon has been killed by Noel, Lou underlines that this needs to stop and orders Ceri (Samuel Edward-Cook) and Owen (Zak Ford-Williams) to go and stay somewhere else indefinitely while she takes care of this saga.
She tricks Col into meeting her, saying that she has a letter from his dead daughter Aoife but it's a lie. It's also a lie that Col is very aware of because, as he reveals in the finale, he was the one to find Aoife who overdosed from Col's supply of drugs.
Together, after an explosive back-and-forth in the middle of a forest, they agree to come clean to the police. It's a drastic change of heart in the space of the last quarter of the episode but indeed, they go into the police station.
But when there's nobody on the front desk, the time starts to drag on. Eventually, in the last second of the finale, we see the door swing open to the reception area as the two are sitting down. But is it someone to take their confession?
We're sure if there is a season 2, our questions about that scene will be answered. It's highly likely that a police officer could have just been exiting the station, none the wiser to the pair trying to confess. Will they actually choose to confess if time continues to drag on and reality comes back in to focus?
Similarly, Lou's colleagues or boss could be greeting the pair and their lives will be set to change forever. Could Col go back to being an informant for the police? He's done it before and if he was able to stay out of prison because of such a deal, it could be his perfect solution.
In that way, Lou and Col could go back to being a crime-fighting duo exchanging information but would the Leeds criminal underworld really forget about Col McHugh? We'll just have to wait and see.
Is there a trailer for Better season 2?
You may have to slow down there! As Better season 2 has not been announced yet, there definitely isn't a trailer. For now, the trailer for season 1 will have to suffice.
Watch it below.
Better airs on BBC One every Monday at 9pm, with all episodes available to stream on iPlayer now.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.
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