Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Netflix’s “Black Rabbit.”
Will there be a second season of “Black Rabbit”?
In the Netflix series’ eighth and seemingly final episode, not only does one of its leads die, but the other starts an entirely new, calmer life that is not as outwardly conducive to the kind of heart-pounding drama that defines much of “Black Rabbit.” The same is true for many of the show’s survivors, who are shown embracing happiness and new possibilities in the closing minutes of its finale.
That is because “Black Rabbit” was originally written and intended to be just what it presents itself as: a one-and-done show. “The idea was always for it to be a limited series for a number of reasons,” co-creator Kate Susman told TheWrap. Contrary to what its eighth episode suggests, though, Susman revealed that she and co-creator Zach Baylin have not written off the possibility of returning to the world of “Black Rabbit” just yet.
“As soon as we got on set and realized what we had with the crew and what we had been able to put together with the cast and the producing team, everyone was kind of like, ‘Why are we ending this? This is a good thing we got going here,’” Susman explained. “There are so many storylines I still want to follow.”
For Baylin and Susman, “Black Rabbit” was born out of their own experiences living in New York City and going to the kind of restaurants that inspired the Netflix series’ eponymous, late-night drinks-and-dining joint. “Those places could be these magical performances every night, but we also had the awareness that in New York everything is a mirage,” Baylin recalled.
“When you go to one of those places at five in the morning when the trash trucks are going by and they’re taking the garbage out, it’s like the circus has left and it’s not as appetizing as it seemed when you were there hours earlier,” he added. “The show really came from us thinking about the kind of person and family that might decide to try to put on that show, and how they could be both an embodiment of the glossy and the shiny veneer of it, as well as the sort of underbelly of it.”
In “Black Rabbit,” the vessels for Baylin and Susman to explore that very New York dichotomy became troubled brothers Jake (Jude Law) and Vince Friedkin (Jason Bateman). While their story seems definitively over by the time everything is said and done in “Black Rabbit” Episode 8, there are other characters and places the show’s creators want to further explore.
Susman, in particular, wants a chance to catch back up with deaf, imposing loan shark Joe Mancuso (Troy Kotsur), who is last seen leaving Jake’s apartment after mercifully sparing his life in the “Black Rabbit” finale. “I want to know what happens with Mancuso!” Susman said, adding, “I think there are endless tendrils we could explore.”
Netflix has yet to officially greenlight a second season of “Black Rabbit,” which may be why Baylin was not willing to share as specific of hopes as Susman when TheWrap spoke to the pair.
Instead, the creator just expressed his general interest in returning to the world that he, Susman and their collaborators worked tirelessly to bring to life in the Netflix series. “Hopefully, people will watch and like the show,” Baylin said with a smile. “Then, you know, maybe we get to explore some of those other avenues.”
“Black Rabbit” is streaming now on Netflix.
