Here’s What You Need to Know About Season 2 of Apple TV+’s ‘Presumed Innocent’
Despite wrapping up its story in the first season, hit Apple TV+ legal thriller Presumed Innocent, based on Scott Turow’s novel, is set to return — here’s everything we know so far.
Anyone who watched the entire first season of Apple TV+ legal thriller Presumed Innocent might be surprised to learn that the show will be returning for a second season. Based on the 1987 novel by Scott Turow, Presumed Innocent came to a pretty definitive conclusion in its story of the murder trial of Chicago prosecutor Rusty Sabich (Jake Gyllenhaal). The question of who killed Rusty’s colleague and lover Carolyn Polhemus (Renate Reinsve) has been clearly answered, and the major character arcs have concluded.
But Apple announced in July that Presumed Innocent, which has been the streaming service’s most viewed drama series to date, would be returning for a second season, without specifying exactly what that would entail. The initial announcement said only that the new season “will unfold around a suspenseful, brand new case.” Gyllenhaal is set to return, but only as an executive producer, alongside J.J. Abrams and first-season showrunner David E. Kelley.
There are several approaches that producers could take for a second season of Presumed Innocent, and thus far the only definitive bit of information is that Peter Sarsgaard will not be returning as prosecutor Tommy Molto, Rusty’s nemesis. “I’m not really that interested in sequels. I think I’ve only ever done one season of anything… I think I’m a one-season person,” Sarsgaard told IndieWire a few weeks after the second-season announcement.
Tommy would have been a prime candidate for a secondary character to take the lead, but there are still plenty of other supporting characters (including the lawyers played by Bill Camp, O-T Fagbenle and Gabby Beans) who could be the focus for the second season. Even so, it’s likely that producers will look to land a big name like Gyllenhaal as the main star, probably to play a new character accused of a terrible crime.
It’s also possible that none of the characters from the first season will return or even get a mention, and Presumed Innocent will turn into a pure anthology series like True Detective or American Crime Story. There are numerous other Turow novels that could be adapted under the Presumed Innocent brand, with different characters but a similar style and approach. Some of the characters from Presumed Innocent make appearances in later Turow novels, and Turow wrote a direct sequel, 2010’s Innocent, that was adapted into a TV movie starring Bill Pullman as Rusty Sabich in 2011.
That book takes place 20 years later, though, so it’s unlikely to be the source material for a new season of Presumed Innocent. If Turow continues to be involved, he may consult on a new storyline, like author Liane Moriarty did when the adaptation of her novel Big Little Lies was extended into a second season. Although Kelley made quite a few changes to Turow’s novel, the author’s name is still an important part of the show’s branding, and it would make sense to keep him around.
Whatever the producers decide on for the next season, there’s probably still a long wait before Presumed Innocent season 2 premieres. Following the renewal announcement, there haven’t been any other official developments, so there are a lot of steps left before the next season starts streaming on Apple TV+. That should give everyone involved more than enough time to ensure that the second season is just as suspenseful and gripping as the first.
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Josh Bell is a freelance writer and movie/TV critic based in Las Vegas. He has written about movies, TV, and pop culture for Vulture, IndieWire, CBR, Inverse, Crooked Marquee, and more. With comedian Jason Harris, he co-hosts the podcast Awesome Movie Year.