Thank you to Netflix for the opportunity to screen the first two episodes of the upcoming series Firefly Lane in advance of its February 3 release, and the experience of participating in a Q&A with the cast and creators. I read the book Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah a number of years ago and really loved it (and its sequel Fly Away ) so I have excitedly anticipated this series and discovering how the creators bring these characters to life.
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Trailer for the Series:
Thoughts about the Series Preview:
Over the weekend, my husband and I watched the first two episodes of the Netflix series. Since I read the book and he hadn’t, I was interested to get his take on the story.
This tale stars Katherine Heigl as Tully and Sarah Chalke as Kate. The two meet in 1974 when teenaged Tully and her mom move into a house on Firefly Lane next door to Kate and her family. The series follows the two unlikely friends through the years alternating different timelines until the present day. It mostly explores three times: the one as teens, one in the 80s with Tully and Kate starting their careers, and the present day. There are some flashes back to Tully’s early childhood that show the impact of her mother’s actions on her life.
The first episode sets things up for the friendship, we know that even though the two are as different as night and day: Tully is beautiful, cool and sophisticated compared to Kate’s nerdy and plain, the strong parts of each other’s personalities balance out the weaker ones. Tully brings out Kate’s more daring side and Kate brings out Tully’s more centered side. In the present day, divorced Kate has a teen daughter and single Tully stars in a television talk show. The second episode furthers the narrative, but it’s also clear that the friendship is a bit unbalanced and this appears to definitely lead to problems in the future.
Our Take:
I saw the foreshadowing at the end of episode two because I know what’s going to happen, and my husband recognized that something obviously tragic is going to occur, yet he can’t quite piece together the details yet. When I read the book back in 2008, I gave it four stars. I didn’t care for the endless pop culture references in the book, but the series appears to have toned that down significantly, to the point where I didn’t even notice it. We will definitely continue to watch the additional eight episodes after release and hopefully the reception will be good enough that a Fly Away series will follow.
Cast and Creators Conversation and Q&A Panel
On January 27, Netflix sponsored a Panel featuring Showrunner Maggie Friedman, Author Kristin Hannah, and Actors Katherine Heigl and Sarah Chalke. They were interviewed by Jessica Radloff, the West coast editor for Glamour Magazine.
Book to Screen
This was a fun discussion and gave some insider information into the people involved as well as the project. Kristin described how the process took place to get the book to the screen. The book was released in 2008, and around 2018 Maggie, who really connected with the book, approached Kristin with the three timelines concept (the book is written in a chronological linear order). Kristin thought that it was a brilliant way to tell the story on the screen, so it was then pitched to Netflix.
Katherine (or Katie as she is referred to by those involved with the show) was looking for a big heart and soul story with relatability, she heard about the script for the show so she bought the book and devoured it. Sarah too was sent the script and read the book quickly as well.
Kristin was asked if she had a vision while writing the book for who would play the roles, and she admits that vision like that isn’t part of her writing process. However, once she saw Sarah and Katie on screen “it was a remarkable and magical experience.”
Katie stated “I’m a huge bookworm and I absorb the descriptions.” There wasn’t a question about whether or not she would change her hair because that’s the way Tully is written in the book.
Maggie’s Process
Maggie’s biggest struggle with writing the three timelines was that what happened in each one needed to work with the others within the context of each of the ten episodes. Not surprisingly, this is a complicated thing to pull off. Also, since pop culture and music is such a huge factor in the book, she created playlists for each of the eras portrayed and made sure that Netflix included enough money in the budget for some “big songs” such as Magic Man by Heart .
Katherine the Bookworm
Katie said “I could pick Kristin’s brain for two hours about creating a book. My secret dream is to be a writer. It’s like witchcraft.”
While reading the book, Katie related much more to being a “Kate” at heart. She thought Tully was “too much” and not as likable. It caused her to really pore through the book to find and connect with Tully’s vulnerability.
Sarah’s Take
Sarah thinks that it’s incredibly rare to get to play a character at two ages (Roan Curtis and Ali Skovbye play Tully and Kate as teenagers) and she and Katie both had to channel their “inner 20-something” to pull it off accurately. They had to move with energy and lightness as young people do, and since both actors are in their 40s, they could definitely relate to the characters at that age. Sarah also stated that it’s pretty rare to have comedy and drama in the same role but it was such a joy (and a challenge) to pull it off in this series.
Kristin’s Insights
Kristin wrote Firefly Lane over a two year period when she was in her 40s. She had originally envisioned it as a trilogy, but when she finished it was so emotional she had to back away. It feels complete at this point, but you never know.
She really wanted to portray women’s soulmate friendships, which include both good and bad times. We don’t see enough of real life women’s friendships on screen these days, it’s usually on the surface or very mean, so Firefly Lane gives a voice to true, deep friendships. All of the women talked about their lifelong friendships–ones formed at early ages and carried through over many decades to close relationships with their mother.
Final Thoughts
Again, huge thanks to Netflix for including me in this fantastic experience. Make sure you check out Firefly Lane on Netflix February 3 and come back here to tell me what you think.
