Kindred, the newest mystery drama from FX, had its Hulu release on December 13 and has received positive reviews from viewers for its compelling plot. The eight-episode television show is based on Octavia E. Butler’s 1979 novel with the same title.
The TV adaption of the best-selling sci-fi novel, where a young woman called Dana can’t help going back in time and being stuck in the early 1800s, then transporting back to the present day which is her world in 2016, has now arrived on screen. This show highlighted the horrific treatment, working conditions, and inhumane situations that many were put through during slavery in the 1800s.
With Dana needing to find the key to why her time travel is happening, the ending brought us ever so closer to finding out why. And all the questions will be answered in Kindred Season 2. Before talking about Season 2, first will talk about the ending of season 1 and then we’ll continue with what will happen in Season 2.
Here is everything on Kindred Season 2:
Kindred Season 1 Ending
Throughout the show, we saw that Dana was struggling to understand why she had these abilities to travel back in time, why her mother was stuck in the past, and why she had such a strong connection to Rufus. Rufus was the key to why she kept getting dragged back in time, every time he fell like his knife was in danger, she’d get taken back to the 1800s to basically save him. And then when she felt like she was going to be harmed, that became the very thing that would allow her to return to the present day.
During the final episode, we saw that Kevin whom she’d gone back in time with and was the main love interest of the show, had of falling out with Tom who was the owner of the land that they went to and the house that they were drawn to every single time. This then led Kevin to be separated from Dana which was an issue, due to them needing to be in contact with each other for them to go back to the present day. This then meant that due to Dana being horrifically whipped by Tom as punishment for stealing his books and accusing him of not being able to read, she feared for her life and she ultimately went back to reality in 2016 without Kevin.
With her mother Olivia holding on to her that also meant that the world that she’d been away from for around 11 years was one that she’d return to as well. With Kevin being left back in time in the 1800s, all the time that Dana is away, it essentially means that his aging drastically, as time moves a lot quicker back then when compared to reality. So if and when she does eventually return, it means that he could be completely different.
All Dana wanted was to have her mother back and to find out how to bring her back to reality, which she did successfully do. But with Kevin now being stuck there, a person she’s only really known for a few days, it means she’ll need to go back in time in order to deliver him to the world that he belongs to. Now let’s jump into the ending for each individual character.
Dana
Dana went on a real journey in the show, she experienced shock, going back to that period of time as you would expect most people in today’s world too. But just like her mother Olivia, she wanted to help the lives of the people that were stuck there working for Tom. Even though that meant that bad things did occur, such as people dying and others going hungry. But what she did, she did with good intentions, aiming to improve their lives.
Dana had a connection to Rufus that she still didn’t truly understand by the end of the series. Nor did ways the viewers have any stronger understanding of the two. Dana believed that Carrie was an ancestor of hers and that she had to keep her alive. And also keep Rufus alive in order for her existence to be there in the future. So we saw her doing all that she could to ensure that both of them survived, which she did successfully do and part of that came by getting rid of Winnie.
However, with her transporting back to the present day without Kevin and with Rufus being taken by his mother to an unknown location, it makes things 10 times more difficult for her to be able to bring Kevin back. Unless she wakes up near Rufus in the new location and not near the Weyland’s House.
Dana grasped a little more knowledge of her power as the season went on. Things that touch her can travel with her, she has to be fearful of her life to transport back and time moves completely differently in both time periods. A couple of minutes in the present time is more like months back in the 1800s. With her having the powers, her mother having the power, and also us hearing about how her grandmother had the ability too, it does make me wonder if she’s also out there and hasn’t been able to be found yet.
The Cliffhanger of the mother being brought back and Kevin being stuck did certainly feel abrupt for the ending and the ending of her Arc. But I’m hoping it will pick up immediately there when Kindred Season 2 does get released. The importance of Alice, being the person who needed to be taken care of was a good twist that I didn’t expect. Especially after such importance was placed on Carrie.
Kevin
Kevin most certainly has something deeper going on that we don’t quite know about. In the novel, Kevin is Dana’s husband. So the TV show has most certainly twisted it slightly. With the messages to his sister before he went back in time, it insinuated that there was a pass to Kevin that we don’t quite know about. He cared deeply for Dana and you could sense that he was a good person.
However, with him being stuck back in time in the 1800s for a long period of time, judging by how time moves differently, we could see that it becomes warped by his surroundings. And when Dana does eventually go back to rescue him, he could be completely different. With a clear amount of time passing, due to Alice being significantly older than what she was when we saw her walking with Kevin at the end, we know that she is still alive which is the main thing.
The change of roles of the character, meaning Kevin was somebody on a dating app in the show when compared to a husband in the novels, felt like something did get lost. With it being her husband it’s supposed to form a somewhat divide due to the different types of experiences that they both go through when they go back. In the show it is mentioned and insinuated a little, but it’s not mentioned enough is when I feel it probably should be.
Olivia
Olivia is Dana’s mother and she was trapped in the past for around 11 years. She didn’t know how to get back, nor did she know how to get her powers to work again. We saw her reluctance to leave, when we saw Dana offer to bring her back and this was due to the young girl that she was looking after, Alice. But with us now knowing that Alice is the person who does eventually go on to be the ancestor of Dana, we now know that it’s more important than ever, but she’s essentially on her own now.
Rufus
Rufus is extremely important to the show and is the key to why Dana constantly gets transported back in time. Kevin’s aim of teaching him due to him being of a young enough age to mold, is something that seemed as though it was working. But with Margaret taking him away at the end of the season and with it looking like when we next saw Kevin it seemed as though a good few years had passed, we could see an older version of Rufus in the new season that’s dramatically different.
He needs to end up with Alice for the future of Dana’s family to be secure. Rufus does also see Dana before she does come back which is interesting. So it does mean that he has some kind of ability, it could be stemming from him. I just hope we get to see more of it when season 2 does arrive.
Kindred Season 2 Release Date
We expect the show to release in December 2023, allow us to explain why. Kindred hasn’t been renewed for season 2 at the time of this writing. Fans shouldn’t be concerned, though, since FX won’t make the renewal announcement for at least a few weeks because the show just recently made its debut. Season’s viewership figures will be taken into account by the network when deciding whether to approve a second season.
Given that the series has yet to cover a lot of the novel’s original material, a new season of Kindred is definitely possible. Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, the show’s creator and showrunner, has also discussed his aspirations to turn Kindred into a multi-season show.
“We barely cover roughly a third of the book’s content in this first season. Additionally, Branden added, “I think part of the effort on the book is to see whether we can kind of grow the universe and fill these spaces that are fairly small in the book”. The show might have three to four seasons.
If season 2 is ordered in the coming weeks, we may anticipate the series to return by the end of 2023. S Season 1 was announced in January 2022 and premiered in December 2022. If a similar trend is followed, Kindred season 2 could premiere around December 2023.
Kindred Season 2 Cast
Since the second season of the series will involve big time jumps, many of the cast members are expected to be replaced. In the show, Thomas Weylin by Ryan Kwanten, Kevin Franklin is portrayed by Micah Stock, Margaret Weylin by Gayle Rankin, and Luke by Austin Smith.
A few other actors in the cast are Sophina Brown who plays Sarah, David Alexander Kaplan who plays Rufus Weylin, Abigail Shannon who plays Alice, Sheria Irving who plays Olivia, Christopher Farrar who plays Nigel, Lindsey Blackwell who plays Carrie, and Eisa Davis who plays Denis.
Kindred Season 2 Plot
Jacobs-Jenkins mentioned in his interview that he read Butler’s previous drafts and personal materials when creating the series, noting that Butler believed she “never cracked” Kindred. “I thought it would be nice to consider how she felt about it since she didn’t joke about it. Given that we have a larger canvas, may we perform the reparative task in series? ”
According to the showrunner’s comments about intending to divide the book into three or four parts, Season 2 would presumably center on Chapter 4, “The Fight,” as season 1 ends about the same time the third chapter of the book, “The Fall,” concludes. In that part of the book, Dana has left Kevin behind in 1815 for 8 days in the present day; five years had already gone in his timeline by the time she returned to the plantation.
Dana embarks on a search for Kevin after Rufus tells her that he will write to him to inform him of her return to the plantation once he has left Maryland and moved farther north. She fails and is beaten into surrender. Rufus’ father sends Kevin to the property to meet Dana, unlike what his son did.
When he finally shows up, it becomes clear that their time apart has changed their marriage (in the book version), as the cozy comfort of Kevin’s white privilege completely alters their dynamic. Nevertheless, he makes an effort to leave the plantation with his wife, but Rufus holds them at gunpoint by threatening them. Dana and Kevin are both sent back to present-day Los Angeles once their lives are in grave danger.
Kindred Season 1 Review
I thought this show was pretty good it did a haunting job of showing the brutality and mistreatment that was put upon people that were in slavery back then. And it was also so shocking when we witnessed it occurring on screen. This show most certainly didn’t hold back on what it showed us on screen and I feel that made it even more impactful and upsetting
The twist at the end of the season with Sarah being the person who is in the first scene in the 1800s where Rufus was turned over, was something that I didn’t expect, and then also finding out that she was the reason behind all of the other killings occurring was a big twist. I thought it landed well and I didn’t expect it. I didn’t like the abruptness of the end of the season, it did quite literally leave me wanting more but in a bad way almost like it was incomplete. I just hope we don’t have to wait too long for a second season, as it was left right open.
Also Read: Avatar The Way Of Water Review: An Experience That You Shouldn’t Miss
