Yahoo Finance I May Destroy You season 2 would undermine Michaela Coel's story
I May Destroy You spoilers follow.
Now that the final episode of I May Destroy You has aired, it seems that Arabella's story has come to an end. Except it hasn't really ended at all, has it?
As actor Paapa Essiedu pointed out to us in an earlier interview, "That's not how trauma works. We never eviscerate things that have happened to us. Unless we're sitting in denial, we've got to live with the events of our lives."
A second season could theoretically explore how Arabella continues to navigate this trauma, balancing her pain with the kind of successes celebrated in season one's finale. I May Destroy You isn't a one-woman show either, so there's also scope in future episodes to dive into what's next for Kwame and Terry, revealing how their stories play out later down the line too.
There's certainly some demand for this. Michaela Coel's devastating treatise on assault and consent ends on an ambiguous note, and given how much this show has resonated with viewers worldwide, plenty of fans will be eager to see how Arabella fares in future seasons. However, it seems unlikely that Michaela will ever pen more episodes of I May Destroy You.
Theo star Harriet Webb told Metro she'd "be surprised" if Coel started work on another season:
"I have never spoken to Michaela about that. I took it as a piece of work as it is. It's an interesting one because it's not a classic set-up for a load of series. Not at all... I'd be surprised, but also anything is possible."
Co-star Paapa Essiedu reiterated that sentiment to Digital Spy, saying "none of us are really thinking about [season two] right now".
And why would they? Michaela wrote a staggering 191 drafts of I May Destroy You before finalising this story. Inspired by a deeply personal experience of her own, Coel spent years developing the show, working through her trauma in what's already become the most important series of 2020.
Each episode and the show as a whole interweaves the violence of assault with smaller moments where invisible lines are crossed in blurred yet still extremely significant ways. And then on top of all that, pervasive issues of race, gender and sexuality blur these lines even further, questioning what it means to be a victim and how victimhood can shift according to perspective in modern-day London.
There's nothing else like it on TV, and that's especially true of the final chapter. After 11 ingenious episodes, I May Destroy You ends with a truly breathtaking finale which breaks through the limits of conventional storytelling to redefine how sexual assault and perhaps even TV as a whole will be discussed moving forward.
Three different narratives unfold in these final moments, each playing out a different ending where Arabella works through her desire for revenge against the man who assaulted her back in episode one.
Towards the end, Arabella realises the power her attacker still holds over her subconscious. When she finally tells him to "go", two different versions of the rapist walk out of her bedroom at once, including the bloodied one which was still lurking under her bed, waiting there in the deepest part of her psyche.
By tearing apart the realistic world she had built up in the show's previous 11 episodes, Coel pushes through the limits of what's possible in order to finally start healing.
There are no easy answers here, and that's the whole point. Through her own catharsis, Michaela forces us to think beyond our own limits and share in her pain while acknowledging that trauma affects everyone in significantly different ways.
This conditional aspect of I May Destroy You can even be found in the title itself, so explaining what really happened to Arabella in season two would undermine everything this show stands for. And yet, for a second season to work, the impact of this finale would naturally be undone.
And that's why I May Destroy You must remain one perfect, self-contained story. Arabella's trauma no longer runs her life, but that doesn't mean it will ever leave her completely. To try and impose some kind of closure on that would do both the show and the viewers a disservice. It's like Essiedu said earlier, "That's not how trauma works."
When asked if she plans to take I May Destroy You further beyond its first season, Coel told The Hollywood Reporter that when fans watch the final episode, they'll "know" if a second season is coming. And she's right. We "know" that trauma isn't something that can be "cured" or destroyed completely, but by ending things here, we're left with hope that the healing process can now begin.
I May Destroy You is available on BBC iPlayer and airs on HBO in the US.
Rape Crisis England and Wales works towards the elimination of all forms of sexual violence and sexual misconduct. If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this story, you can access more information on their website or by calling the National Rape Crisis Helpline on 0808 802 9999. Rape Crisis Scotland’s helpline number is 08088 01 03 02.
Readers in the US are encouraged to contact RAINN, or the National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800-656-4673.
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