If you were hooked at the first season Kaley Cuoco’s murder-thriller The Flight Attendant, we have good news. The viral series is officially back for a second season, and it’s dropping on BINGE on April 21.
Last season left us absolutely reeling, but, to the joy of many, we got a pledge from Cassie to finally get her life on track and quit drinking. Her friend Shane (Griffin Matthews) also reveals that the CIA are interested in hiring Cassie as an asset, so we’re left wondering if season two could see her taking on a brand new (but potentially dangerous) role.
marie claire Australia had the opportunity to speak with the entire cast ahead of the season two premiere, to find out what we can expect from this season and exactly how chaotic it’s likely going to be. Below, everything we know about the second season of The Flight Attendant.
What Is The Plot Of The Flight Attendant’s Second Season?
The show was initially created as a limited series that would merely follow the events of the book, but that was before it became a massive hit on the streaming platform. So while the first season of the hugely popular series was based on Bohjalian’s book, the second season will not have one to base itself off of.
Cassie’s sobriety
In a round table interview, showrunner Steve Yockey explained that the second season was created like an entirely different book, but was also quick to remind us that season one included a lot of invention and deviation from the book, so it didn’t necessarily present a brand new challenge.
“A lot of season one was invention,” told marie claire Australia during the interviews. “The book didn’t have the mind palace, or the flashbacks or any of that piece of the story, so we felt pretty confident going into season two. Cassie has been sober for exactly one day at the end of season one, and that’s a long journey so we knew that we could really explore what it means for her to get her life back together.”
As Kaley Cuoco later told marie claire Australia during a separate round table interview, Cassie is not doing well this season, and we’re going to watch her life slowly begin to unravel as the show progresses.
“I can safely say she is not doing well. We open with her having this thing that we call ‘the pink cloud.’ She’s in beautiful LA, going to AA [Alcoholics Anonymous] and not drinking. She’s also got this new side job that is keeping her very active and a new boyfriend – all these things that look so wonderful on the surface, but we find out very quickly that she is struggling now, if not more than she was in Season One and she’s putting on such a show for everyone.”
Griffin Matthews, who plays Cassie’s friend Shane, spoke incredibly highly of the actress and her masterful navigation of such a difficult topic.
“I thought she navigated this season beautifully as she’s [Cassie] struggling with sobriety,” Matthews told marie claire Australia. “It feels like a topic you don’t want to get wrong on TV. Certainly when you’re an actor, you don’t want to get it wrong. And so I think she came into this season really aware of the fact that she had to to bear more of her soul season, so I actually really loved working with her in that space. Last season was very light and funny and quippy, and this season, we had to hit some real emotional moments — so I was really proud of her.
Cassie’s role with the CIA
Cassie’s professional life will also take a surprising turn, as she continues to work as a flight attendant but also adjusts to a new job working as an asset for the CIA. Many will likely be surprised by the decision to have Cassie working alongside the CIA, but as for the believability of the plotline, Steve maintains that it’s actually not that far-fetched.
“I think that we will thoroughly unpack that for you by the end of the season,” Steve said. “We actually had consultants working with us this season who have security intelligence backgrounds and Cassie is exactly the kind of person they look for in assets —an adventurous personality and a disregard for authority.”
Early on in the second season, things take a turn when Cassie is handed an overseas assignment in which she inadvertently witnesses a murder, and from there, becomes caught up in another global crime. Season two sees her working alongside Shane, who we discovered in season one was also working for the CIA.
“My scenes with Kaley this season were different, because last season I was just playing her friend. and this season, we’re working together professionally, and on dangerous missions,” Griffin Matthews explained. “We had a different emotional lift with each other. We had to try to find humour inside of scenes that were really not funny. I thought she navigated this season beautifully as she’s struggling with sobriety. It feels like a topic. You don’t want to get wrong on TV. Certainly when you’re an actor, you don’t want to get it wrong. And so I think she came into this season really aware of the fact that she had to to bear more of her soul season so so I, I actually really loved working with her in that space because last season was very light and funny and quippy. And, and this season, we had to hit some real emotional moments. So I was really proud of her.
Sharon Stone as Cassie’s mother
As we know, Sharon Stone will be appearing to play the role of Cassie’s mother, who we know she has a strained relationship with. Kaley reveals that she actually never thought that Sharon would be interested in playing the part, but was nothing short of overjoyed when she found out that not only was Sharon a fan of the show, but was actually keen to get involved.
“I would have never even imagined that Sharon would be interested but we actually heard through her team that she loved season one and was a fan of the show. She had heard that we were casting the mom and she was interested in playing my mom. She had a lot of respect for me and I have a lot of respect for her. She has her own personal stories of alcoholism in her family and felt very close to the story. It was a dream come true, and would not have been anything I would have chosen because I didn’t think it would have actually happened,” Kaley said.
Speaking about one of the later episodes which sees Cassie and her mother get into a heated confrontation, Kaley revealed the moment where Sharon went entirely off script and caught her off guard.
“That was actually such a long scene, I think it’s nine minutes long, and we kept most of it,” she recalled. “Sharon was so amazing and it was so raw, I was exhausted by the time I got home that I cried. A little BTS tidbit is that the slap was not written into the script – that was a Sharon Stone addition – it came out of nowhere and my reaction is completely real. It was incredible and so genius on her part. Afterwards she came over, she hugged me, and was like, ‘are you okay?’ But it was all part of her kind of plan as this crazy, abusive mother. That was a very real moment.”
Who Will Appear In The Flight Attendant Season Two?
Alongside Cuoco and latest addition, Sharon stone, the main cast will be returning for the second instalment of the dark series.
That includes, Zosia Mamet, Deniz Akdeniz, Rosie Perez and Griffin Matthews. Other newcomers include Mo McRae, JJ Soria and Callie Hernandez.
When asked if there was a particular kind of person the creators look for when casting certain roles, Steve explained that they gravitate towards people who can do a bit of everything.
“It’s an incredibly colourful cast in terms of experience, what they bring to it and what they do on camera,” he said. “It’s a lot of leaning into the sarcasm and comedy, but knowing that there are emotional beats, so we’ll cast someone and trust that they’re going to have the goods when we get to that particular moment — I don’t think it’s steered us wrong yet. We’re just choosing people that we think are going to bring the roles to life in the most interesting way, and a lot of times, we end up casting people who are not at all what we were thinking when we wrote the role, but immediately become like obsessed with what they can do. Zosia is a really good example. I had a completely different idea of who Annie was in my head. And then I saw Zosia’s audition and I was like, ‘no, that’s Annie. I’m gonna go do some rewriting because that’s her.'”
When Will The Second Season Of The Flight Attendant Air?
The Flight Attendant’s second season will premiere on April 21 on BINGE.
Stream The Flight Attendant season one now on BINGE, live and on demand with a 14-day free trial. START FREE TRIAL.
