Firefly Lane girls are supposed to be forever. But what happens when someone does something unthinkable?
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Since the start of the series, adapted from Kristin Hannah's novel Firefly Lane, we've been slowly building to a life-altering moment that would break the seemingly unbreakable bond of childhood friends Tully Hart (Katherine Heigl) and Kate Mularkey (Sarah Chalke).
We all knew something was brewing. Since season 1, the show has teased a funeral (though who died was all but unclear until season 2) and a volatile estrangement between Kate and Tully. But it wasn't until episode 9 of season 2 that we finally got the full picture.
If you are not yet caught up on everyone's favorite dynamic duo, stop reading now. The following recount contains some major spoilers. With that warning out of the way, let's recap what Tully did on Firefly Lane that changed the course of both their friendship and their lives.
Disobeying Kate's Rules About Marah
At the end of pretty much every episode in season 2, there's been an evolving scene of a car accident. Each episode revealed a little more about what happened during this pivotal crash and counted down the months, weeks and days until it happened.
During episode 7 — titled "Good Riddance / Time of Your Life" — Kate lets Marah (Yael Yurman) stay over at Tully's penthouse for the weekend so she and Johnny (Ben Lawson) can get some alone time after they (finally) rekindled things. Kate, always a little bit neurotic, reminds Tully that Marah has been grounded and not allowed to see friends because she flunked gym class.
At first, the night is seemingly innocent. Tully and Marah order pizza, and Tully helps her text the girl she has a crush on. When that girl invites Marah out to go see a movie, she begs Tully to let her go. And — unfortunately for everyone — Tully gives in and says yes.
The Frat Party
While Marah is out, Tully's plans to enjoy their pizza alone with a glass of wine are foiled when she runs into her old flame, Danny "Dan The Sportsman" Diaz (Ignacio Serricchio). She invites him in to join her, and they spend the next few hours eating pizza, drinking wine and reminiscing.
After Danny leaves, Marah calls Tully in a panic, saying that she's locked herself in a pantry at a frat house. Apparently, her "date" was just using her to make her ex-boyfriend jealous and dragged her to a frat party but then left her alone.
When Marah tells Tully that some guy tried to grope her, Tully (who had been raped when she was a teenager) runs out the door to go save her. She finds the 15-year-old on the pantry floor and quickly scoops her up to leave.
The Car Accident
On the drive home, the vehicle Tully and Marah are in is T-boned by a car that runs through a red light. Police are immediately on the scene, and you overhear EMTs reporting that both the driver and the passenger are in critical condition.
When Tully wakes up, she's alone in a hospital room, and she can see Kate through the window of her door. She keeps trying to call for Kate and ask what happened to Marah, but Kate just looks at her and says nothing. Tully is eventually taken by an officer and arrested for what we assume are drunken driving charges (though her exact arrest report wasn't ever revealed).
Even though Tully had been drinking — we see her down at least a couple glasses of red wine while she's with Danny, and it's later revealed that she was over the legal limit — it's important to note that she was not at fault for the accident. The driver who hit her ran through an obvious red light. But that small detail was not enough to get Kate to forgive her lifelong best friend.
Kate Reached Her Limit
While both Tully and Marah suffered injuries (Marah's were seemingly worse, as she had to have surgery), they both survived the accident and made full recoveries. But the emotional wounds left behind from the crash would not heal as easily.
Tully spends days trying to contact not only Kate but also pretty much everyone in the Mularkey household. But despite her numerous attempts, she's told by Johnny that Kate doesn't want to see her. It's not until Marah texts Tully from Kate's phone that the two are finally in a room together.
Even though Tully makes an uncharacteristically selfless apology and begs for forgiveness, Kate says that as much as she wants to, she can't. And from there, the best friends split and go a year without speaking.
They meet again at the funeral, which turns out to be for Kate's dad, Bud (Paul McGillion), and Kate basically tells Tully to leave. Viewers who have read Hannah's novel will note that Bud's death is a new detail that wasn't in the book version — which makes what will happen in the final chapter even more of a surprise.
Will There Be A Season 3 Of Firefly Lane?
Netflix is only making two seasons of Firefly Lane — but Tully and Kate's story isn't over just yet. The second season is being released in two parts; part 1 is available to stream right now, and part 2 (the final chapter) will be released April 27 and contain seven episodes.
With so much shocking news and things left unsaid in the final episode of season 2's part 1, the Firefly Lane girls will have a lot to navigate when they return to our screens.
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