Ratched Season 2: Will Ratched 2 Be Done? The Point Of The Situation Everything We Know So Far
Since its announcement in 2017, Ratched has received an order for two seasons and 18 episodes, but two years after the release of the first, what do we know about the arrival of the second on Netflix?
Ratched Season 2: Ryan Murphy is arguably one of the most prolific TV series writers. He started with Popular and Nip/Tuck, reached the state of grace with the worldwide phenomenon Glee and raised the bar with the acclaimed anthology series American Crime Story.
The collaboration with Netflix, which began in 2018, has given rise to numerous productions including films, series and miniseries that have enriched the streamer’s catalog with the classic Murphy touch. Among these is Ratched, the prequel series of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, whose first season was released in September 2020.
From that moment on, there has been very little news regarding the arrival of the second season. Which has generated some confusion among viewers about the production status of the series: has Ratched been canceled or, conversely, will it return to Netflix with a new series of episodes? Two years later, here is the point of the situation.
Will Ratched Season 2 Be There?
Anyone who is fearing for the fate of the series starring the talented Sarah Paulson, given the absence of news for a very long period after the distribution of the first season, can breathe a sigh of relief. Since it was announced back in September 2017, Ratched has received an order for two seasons, for a total of 18 episodes (of which 8 make up the first): there is no doubt that the series will return with a second cycle of episodes.
Although there are precedents (as in the case of The Society, canceled after a renewal order for the second season) that make us feel on edge also for the fate of Ratched, the Netflix numbers seem to be on the side of Ryan Murphy’s creature: only In the first month of distribution, Ratched garnered 48 million views, becoming the 10th most viewed show on Netflix in 2020 and holding the streamer’s top 10 for around a month in both the US and UK. Unfortunately, however, production for the new season has not yet begun, nor has a filming start date announced.
Ratched 2: What To Expect From The Second Season
The second season of Ratched will have to answer mainly two questions: the first concerns the fate of the character of Edmund Tolleson, the second the characterization of the protagonist. The first season ended with an unexpected cliffhanger: Edmund, Mildred’s brother, had managed to escape from the psychiatric hospital where he was a prisoner waiting to receive the death penalty. Learning that his sister was ready to kill him with the same hands as her in order to grant him the least painful death, Edmund, furious, had set off in search of the nurse in order to take revenge.
Two years have passed since those events, Mildred receives a threatening phone call from the man, who tells her that he is coming for her. It is clear that the new season will have to focus on the conflict between the two brothers, but it will also have to deepen the very figure of the protagonist.
In the 1975 film, and even earlier in the Ken Kesey novel from which it is based, Mildred Ratched is an evil, sadistic and unscrupulous character, very different from the ambiguous but merciful one of Sarah Paulson. Ryan Murphy and the writing team’s desire is to get to the end of the series by explaining a little more about the nurse’s past and her path to evil.
Interviewed by TheWrap after the first season, Sarah Palson had assured that, during the second, Mildred Ratched, no longer the affection that bound her to her brother to hold the pieces together, would lose her humanity, hardening day after day.
Who Will Be Back In Ratched 2? The Hypothesis
While the full cast of the second season has not yet been revealed, when Ratched returns to Netflix, so will its protagonist, Sarah Paulson, in the role of the nurse who gives the title to the series. Among the other actors, we can speculate that Cynthia Nixon will almost certainly also return in the role of Gwendolyn Briggs, love interest of the nurse, and Finn Wittrock in those of her brother Edmund Tolleson.
Sophie Okonedo may also return as Charlotte Wells; Brandon Flynn as Henry Osgood; Judy Davis as Nurse Betsy Bucket, Amanda Plummer as Louise; Vincent D’Onofrio in that of Governor George Milburn. Who, however, except for a few flashbacks, will not be able to return? Clearly all the characters who, during the first season, went to meet their death: Dr. Richard Hanover (Jon Jon Briones), nurse Huck Finnigan (Charlie Carver), Lenore Osgood (Sharon Stone); Dolly (Alice Englert), Charles Wainwright (Corey Stoll).
