Will Netflix’s Trashy New Hit Series Get a Season 2? We Have Some Clues
With so many shows to choose from on so many streaming services, one surefire way to catch and keep the interest of viewers is to present them with a dead body, preferably by the end of the first episode. It’s worked for dramas, comedies, and just about every subgenre a TV series could belong to. Want to solve a murder on vacation? Check out The White Lotus. Think you could ID the killer in your apartment complex? Try Only Murders in the Building. There are even murder mysteries set at weddings (The Perfect Couple) and the White House (The Residence). But any whodunnit enthusiast knows it isn’t just the answer to the mystery that keeps viewers invested; it’s all the tea that’s spilled and all the hot mess that’s created by the characters along the way.
The Hunting Wives is Netflix’s latest iteration on the murder mystery, and it doesn’t waste any time disposing of its first victim. The show opens with a blonde woman running through the woods, already badly injured by a gunshot wound, when she’s fatally struck by an off-screen shooter. We don’t know who she is, who killed her, or why, but by the end of the first episode of The Hunting Wives, we do know that finding out is going to be a wild ride. This extremely — ahem — loaded take on the culture wars from the perspective of a group of idle and affluent Texas moms is full of jaw-dropping moments, right up to the last seconds of its first season finale. So what happens next?
Will Sophie's Story Continue on Netflix?
The Hunting Wives is adapted from the novel of the same name by May Cobb, which hit bookshelves in 2021. It became a bestseller and a book club favorite shortly thereafter, thanks to its saucy plot twists and intense readability. That it already had an intriguing premise set in a seductive world, not to mention a built-in audience, made it ripe intellectual property for the taking. Starz originally greenlit the series, with Rebecca Cutter as showrunner. Eventually, Lionsgate bought the rights and licensed them to Netflix, and the series was released on their platform on July 21, 2025, where it quickly cracked the streamer’s top 10.
The show follows Sophie O’Neill (Brittany Snow, of Pitch Perfect fame) as she moves from Boston, Massachusetts, to a small town in East Texas with her husband and young son. Sophie is modern, progressive, and simmering with resentment that she’s had to abandon her politics-adjacent career only to be surrounded by the kind of people who throw NRA fundraisers and use racist dog whistles. But she’s unable to resist the allure of their unexpectedly hedonistic lifestyle once she’s welcomed into their inner circle by Margo (Malin Akerman), the fun and attractive wife of her husband’s boss and candidate for governor.
Because the woman in the opening sequence looks suspiciously like Sophie from behind, viewers who haven’t read the book might wonder if the events of the series lead up to her death. Instead, Sophie — who has recently gotten involved in the friend group’s drama and taken an interest in target practice — becomes one of many plausible suspects when the body of a local teenage girl is discovered after a particularly debaucherous night.
It might be hard to imagine who had the strongest motive to gun down Abby, but it’s easy to imagine why The Hunting Wives is doing so well on Netflix. Besides its central mystery, the show is absolutely riddled with the kind of tension that means things could turn violent or sexual between any number of characters (regardless of age or gender) in any given scene. And there’s the deliciously dramatic contradiction between the supposedly straight-laced conservative Texans and their actual outlandish behavior. The Hunting Wives is satirical, salacious, and addictive. So when can they get their next fix?
A Second Season Is Highly Likely
Though it wasn’t a Netflix original, it’s safe to assume the streamer will order another season of The Hunting Wives solely because of its popularity. But there are narrative and production-related reasons to expect Sophie’s story to continue, too. In novel form, The Hunting Wives is a standalone volume. That’s never stopped television producers before, especially when an adaptation does these numbers. The Handmaid’s Tale, The Leftovers, Big Little Lies, 13 Reasons Why, and myriad others continued beyond the pages of their source material. The Hunting Wives is a particularly strong candidate for this treatment precisely because of the adaptation choices that Cobb and Cutter made.
Spoilers ahead for the ending of The Hunting Wives
If you haven’t read the book or completed the series, proceed with caution, as major spoilers are necessary to explain why. In the novel, Abby is pregnant with Brad’s baby after having refused to get an abortion. It’s Jill, the pastor’s wife, who kills Abby to protect her son’s reputation and future. Jill also kills Margo after learning the truth about their affair. However, on the show, it’s Margo who’s pregnant with Brad’s kid, and Margo who kills Abby. That change in and of itself wouldn’t have much of an effect on the chances for renewal, except that Akerman and Snow are the biggest stars on The Hunting Wives. That Margo survives seems like a strong indication that the show’s creators have more to explore about their relationship.
A second significant change from the book is an even bigger indicator that there’s more story to tell. Season 1 ends abruptly, and with yet another dead body. Sophie accidentally offs Margo’s brother and acts quickly to cover things up. Now, both Sophie and Margo have secrets that would threaten to undo them. Cliffhanger endings don’t always ensure renewals, but these loose threads, combined with massive interest in the show, help its cause. If Netflix does decide to move forward with a second season of The Hunting Wives, it won’t have to work hard to persuade the creative team behind the series. Cutter, Snow, and Akerman have all expressed hope and excitement about returning to the project.
