Elin Hilderband is known to write the occasional sequel, and frequently revisits characters across multiple novels, but intriguingly, one of her most famous books The Perfect Couple is a standalone. Now, one week after the book was turned into an onscreen adaptation over at Netflix (and reviews came down the pipeline), could the series get a sequel with Nicole Kidman and Liev Schreiber?
Hilderbrand actually served as an executive producer on the Netflix series, chiefly because she is an expert at everything Nantucket and the show really wanted to be location specific. It worked. A lot of people are already watching The Perfect Couple, and at the time of this writing it’s the No. 1 series in the U.S. on Netflix. Apparently, Hilderbrand has high hopes there could be more coming.
In fact, while she was being asked about the production of the Netflix series during the strikes in a recent interview, she told the Inquirer and Mirth that more will hopefully be coming down the pipeline on the Netflix schedule. Speaking about how the show had to film segments outside of Nantucket during the Writer’s Strike, she said:
I was very bummed. Although I support any union and the right to organize, and Netflix at the time was public enemy number one, I was heartbroken. In the end, it was really only one shot. Was it the end of the world? No. We certainly could have done a lot more were it not for the strike. Without the strike, and if there is another season – and I don't know that there will be – hopefully there will be a lot more background from Nantucket.
It’s the end of that quote that’s most intriguing as she mentioned the idea there could be more. To be honest, it’s not something I expected given the high-end cast (including Kidman and Meghann Fahy) and standalone nature of the book, but I like the idea of more.
Now, Hilderbrand is not claiming Netflix has greenlighted an elusive Season 2 for The Perfect Couple. But she is hinting that she’d like to see more of the Winbury family or some of the other main characters back on the small screen. Given all of the money-motivated players in the murder mystery, and given the show already makes plenty of changes to Hilderbrand’s original novel, I could see the show finding reasons to bring back the characters.
To me, though, the question is: What would a Season 2 look like? Would there by another murder and be tied to the community in that respect? Would it be the same characters or just similar to something like The White Lotus with some character overlap? Or would it shift to more of a family drama and be closer to how Big Little Lies got two seasons after the first was successful (and Season 3 is still talked about for that show).
Or, when Hilderbrand says "another season," will we maybe get what I would prefer to see on Netflix: a separate series based around one of her other beloved books? Maybe Golden Girl or Summer of ‘69 or -- my favorite -- 28 Summers. That would mean the show wouldn’t have to rely on making sure Kidman, Schreiber and co are all available to come back, as well.
Although the idea that Hilderbrand could help put together a Season 2 of The Perfect Couple is appealing as well, given she’s said she’s taking a break from Nantucket stories for a while. A Season 2 would likely mean she has another Nantucket story to tell.
