'Firefly Lane' Alternate Ending Explored: If Tully Hart had cancer, the show's tone would have changed for better
Spoilers for 'Firefly Lane' Season 2
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Firefly Lane’ has officially come to an end with its conclusion, Season 2 Part 2, and it has been an emotional journey for all. The focus of ‘Firefly Lane’ Season 2 Part 2 stayed on Kate Mularkey and her battle with cancer. Kate’s character was loosely based on Kristin Hannah and her mother, Hannah being the author of the book this Netflix series was adapted from. ‘Firefly Lane’ Season 2 Part 2 paid homage to the book and honored each and every character by Episode 16, the series finale.
However, one can’t help but wonder how different things would have been if the roles were reversed. What if Tully Hart had cancer instead of Kate? Without a doubt, Tully’s storyline was side-lined to a great extent in ‘Firefly Lane’ Season 2 Part 2, and maybe a spin-off series would help fix this, for all the viewers.
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What happens to Tully Hart in ‘Firefly Lane’ Season 2 Part 2?
Tully and Kate both get a good amount of screentime in ‘Firefly Lane’ Season 2 Part 2, but it almost feels Tully’s story wasn’t paid as much attention to. We can’t blame the creators because the focus of this part was Kate’s aggressive breast cancer, and her journey from being diagnosed, to remission, to cancer coming back, and eventually dying. Nevertheless, this series is about the ‘Firefly Lane’ girls, and lack of Tully Hart’s story and personality was missed in Season 2 Part 2.
Everything was about Kate’s battle with cancer, and while that was largely the focus, it also dragged in Tully. Of course, Tully and Kate’s friendship demanded they be there for each other, but Tully put her entire life on pause because of this. Her relationship with Danny got minimal screen time, despite being one of the more interesting and fun subplots of Season 2 Part 2. There was no mention of Tully’s career either, which is shocking because the creators had established her work life as a huge part of her personality.
Tully eventually gets a happy ending of sorts, and closure. She ends up with Danny after he decides to stay back instead of moving to New York. Kate leaves behind her book, a letter, and a few other things for Tully, from beyond the grave. It was the perfect goodbye, but what if the roles were reserved?
Would Kate have been there for Tully in the same capacity?
Picture this: Tully Hart getting diagnosed with cancer, and Kate dropping everything to be there for her. It might be a little hard to picture this, and there’s an ongoing discourse on the internet about who was a better friend, and we have to say, Tully. So, if Tully had cancer instead, we could have seen more of her and Danny. Their relationship deserved so much more screen time, but that isn’t all. Cloud and Tully’s relationship would have significantly been in the limelight if the roles were revered too, and that’s something that would have added great value to ‘Firefly Lane.’
This alternate ending would also put Kate and Tully’s friendship to the test, and the glaring differences in their personalities and the way they love each other would have been reflected heavily. Tully would also have most likely created a bucket list of things she would want to do before she dies, and attempted to finish it all. The tone of ‘Firefly Lane’ would have shifted greatly. And frankly, if this series wasn’t based on a book and Tully had cancer, she would have survived.
That’s the thing about wishful alternate endings, they’re only around to occupy a space in our minds unless Netflix decides to give Tully her own series, and if that happened, we would rush to see it! You can stream all episodes of ‘Firefly Lane’ Season 2 Part 2 on Netflix from April 27, 2023.