The Beast in Me is coming back for season 2 — without Matthew Rhys
Netflix has renewed The Beast in Me after 43 million views in seven weeks — Claire Danes returns as Aggie Wiggs, with a new mystery to untangle.
So, Netflix is sticking with its dark horse hit, The Beast in Me, giving the psychological thriller a green light for season two. It's not really much of a surprise, considering how well the first series went down — both with viewers and the awards bods. If, like me, you thought this show deserved a bit more attention, well, Netflix clearly agrees.
The Beast in Me rocketed to number one globally for Netflix and racked up 43 million views in its first seven weeks.
The Next Chapter for Aggie
In case your memory's fuzzy: Claire Danes is back as Aggie Wiggs, the damaged author at the heart of all the drama. Last time, Danes landed an Emmy nod for the role, which, to be honest, was the best turn she'd done since her more shouty 'Homeland' days. Matthew Rhys is, once again, not returning — unless it's via flashback or fever dream, considering his character’s fate. The second series will pick up with Aggie still front and centre, but with a new puzzle to untangle.
Who’s Running the Show?
Howard Gordon is once again overseeing the mayhem, joined by Daniel Pearle. Gordon, who steered the ship for season one, is clearly Netflix’s golden boy right now — he’s just inked a multi-year deal for more projects under his Teakwood Lane Productions banner. That engine’s not shutting down soon.
- Gordon and Pearle as co-showrunners & executive producers
- Antonio Campos, Caroline Baron, Amy Lippman, Conan O’Brien, David Kissinger, Jeff Ross, and Jodie Foster also executive producing
- Gabe Rotter created the show
- 20th Television still producing with Netflix pulling the strings
The Season One Rundown
If you skipped the first run or got lost somewhere around episode five, here’s the quick-and-dirty catch-up: Aggie won a Pulitzer, then lost her son Cooper in a car crash and retreated from the world. She ends up living next door to Nile Jarvis, the dodgy property developer played by Rhys. He’s got a missing wife problem and oozes charm of the ‘possibly killed someone’ variety.
Plot thickener: Nile bumps off an FBI agent and frames Aggie for a kidnapping — the same bloke who was behind the wheel when her son died, just for maximum trauma. Things go south for Nile when his current wife Nina (Brittany Snow) gets wise and secretly records his confessions. That’s curtains for Nile once the police get those tapes, and fellow prisoners do the rest. Aggie, with no more murderous property developers raining on her parade, finally publishes her book and starts coming to terms with her past.
With Aggie ready to move forward, season two promises another mystery — and at this point, I wouldn’t put anything past this show, so expect more twists than a pretzel factory.
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