Will There Be a ‘Flight Attendant’ Season 2? Season 1’s Ending Explained

It’s been a truly wild ride, but The Flight Attendant is finally over. Our favorite drunk, Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cucoco), has survived multiple brushes with death, hitmen, double agents, and creepy rich families. And you know what? She’s come out all the better for it.

As action-packed as this final episode is, it absolutely leaves room for more. What happens to Cassie, Megan, Annie, and Miranda in Episode 8? Is The Flight Attendant getting a Season 2? And if so, what could happen? That’s where we come in. From obsessive analysis of The Flight Attendant’s multiple endings to plans for its future straight from its executive producer’s mouth, here’s what we know about this streaming gem.

How Did The Flight Attendant End for Cassie?

Say the big c-word with me: closure. The Flight Attendant‘s finale saw Cassie (Kaley Cuoco) facing off against Lionfish’s favorite deranged hitman. Only that hitman wasn’t a stranger at all. He was actually Buckley (Colin Woodell), Cassie’s actor friend and pseudo-boyfriend.

With the help of her favorite Italian hookup Cassie was able to smuggle a gun into her hotel room for their face-off. But Cassie wasn’t the one who pulled the final trigger. That distinct honor went to Cassie’s airline friend Shane (Griffin Matthews). It turned out that Shane wasn’t only good for great oysters and even better clubs. He was actually working for the CIA all along and assigned to keep an eye on Megan. We’ll get to Mrs. Briscoe in a minute. But Shane was the one who shot Buckley and saved Cassie and her Italian hookup.

That wasn’t even the end to Shane’s heroics. In The Flight Attendant‘s final moments he covertly told Cassie the CIA is open to making her an informant. If there’s more of this series, get ready to see Cassie the good spy.

Even though she evaded death and got to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Alex Sokolov (Michiel Huisman), those weren’t Cassie’s ultimate victories. No, that triumph was more internal. Before her showdown with Buckley, Cassie gave up alcohol. As she later revealed to Annie (Zosia Mamet) she plans on staying sober, or at least as sober as she can. The Flight Attendant’s ending was one of closure and hope. Cassie returned to her mind palace one last time, not to talk to Alex, but to say goodbye. As she walked through each different room, the lights turned off behind her. Cassie has finally found a healthy way to process her trauma instead of reveling in her own repressed pain.

What Happened to Megan?

Oh lord, Megan. What are we going to do with you? Remember how Megan (Rosie Perez) spent this entire season stealing files from her husband’s computer and giving them to random shady men? Those files were government secrets and those men were part of the North Korean government. Can you spell treason?

Megan was able to escape in Italy without CIA Shane tracking her down. During her last moment on screen, Megan made a phone call to her son. As she apologized for everything while explaining nothing, she told him to take the money and flash drive out of her ceramic rooster. Yep, Megan is officially off the grid but it seems like there are more secrets to come.

What Happened to Annie?

Just like her best friend, Annie’s (Zosia Mamet) ending was bittersweet. Trying to protect Cassie cost Annie her career. But on the flip side, her boyfriend survived. They even admitted that they loved each other!

Annie spent The Flight Attendant‘s final episode helping detective Kim Hammond (Merle Dandridge) figure out who Buckley really is. Sure, her professional prospects may be bleak right now. But when you’re talking about someone as competent and level-headed as Annie, that’s not going to be the case for long.

What Happened to Miranda?

This is by far the best change between The Flight Attendant novel and the HBO Max series. Miranda (Michelle Gomez) lives!

After striking a deal with Cassie, Miranda hid in her hotel room, hoping to catch Buckley before he caught Cassie. She wasn’t successful. Their ensuing struggle ended with Miranda bleeding in the bathtub. But when the cops and paramedics inspected the room, they found no trace of the red-headed killer. Interesting….

We don’t see Miranda any other time during the finale, but we do hear from her. While Cassie is catching up with Annie over coffee, you can see someone in a purple coat slipping something into Cassie’s jacket. That person is Miranda and that special something is Alex’s copy of “Crime and Punishment.” Miranda tore out the page with the codes and left Cassie a note saying, “Took the page and the money but you should have the book. See you soon.” We have no idea what the hell “See you soon” means but we are here for it.

How Does The Flight Attendant’s Ending Differ from the Book?

For the most part HBO Max’s show and Chris Bohjalian’s novel follow the same beats, though the miniseries executes them better. In both versions Megan is a spy, Buckley is a hitman who’s been assigned to off Cassie, and there’s a struggle in Cassie’s hotel room. However, instead of Shane coming in, after a brief fight scene Buckley offers to defect to America, so Cassie turns him in and that’s that.

There are a couple of other, smaller changes. Shane’s character isn’t nearly as fleshed out in the book. Also, Annie wasn’t originally Cassie’s best friend but her lawyer (and is named Ani). But the two biggest changes have to do with Miranda and Cassie. In the novel Miranda dies anti-climatically by Buckley’s hand, chapters before the end. She never really talks to Cassie after their one drunken night together, and they two certainly don’t share a delightful back and forth.

Then there’s Cassie. In the book it’s not Cassie’s own resolve that leads to her giving up alcohol but a major life change. Turns out she’s pregnant. With Alex’s baby! Yeah, considering all the drinking she did to cope with Alex’s death, that child’s future looks dim. We’re so happy the miniseries went with another ending.

Will There Be a Season 2 of The Flight Attendant?

All right, let’s get the truth out of the way. Technically The Flight Attendant is a miniseries. That means it’s intended to tell one concise story over a single season before ending. So all practical signs point to this being the end of The Flight Attendant.

…But come on. Cassie’s offer to be a spy? Megan on the run? Miranda’s ominous promise that she’ll see Cassie again? The fact that Buckley’s still alive? This series is begging for a Season 2. And according to The Flight Attendant’s developer and executive producer Steve Yockey, turning this miniseries into a multi-season project has been discussed.

“Here’s what I’ll say: These eight episodes of television have a beginning, a middle, and an end that are very clear. Everyone gets to have a complete story. I think that’s important. In a season of television that’s important, but I thought it was important for this,” Yockey told Decider.

“Obviously Kaley and I had conversations. There are little breadcrumbs along the way that could be picked up and rolled right into a second adventure for Cassie or a further adventure for Cassie. That’s always out there,” Yockey added. “The things that we’ve discussed are kind of laced through it but in a way that no one’s going to be like, ‘What are all these unanswered questions?’ If we do get another adventure with The Flight Attendant, we’ll be able to use them so the story can feel like it grows out of this story, rather than hard cut, here’s a whole new thing.”

Watch The Flight Attendant on HBO Max