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Homecoming season 2: Everything you need to know

From Digital Spy

Note: contains spoilers for season one of Homecoming.

Before Homecoming landed on Amazon Prime (on Nov 2, 2018), it already existed as Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg's podcast of the same name.

The psychological thriller follows Heidi Bergman, a counsellor/caseworker at the government-sponsored Homecoming initiative, tasked with the rehabilitation and reintegration of American soldiers. It was produced by Gimlet media and became an instant fan favourite because, like all great stories, all is not as it seems.

The rights were quickly snapped up by Amazon after the podcast's proven success, and the streaming service has gone big in a bid to ensure that the TV series is just as successful as its predecessor – Julia Roberts, who plays Heidi, is reportedly earning $600,000 per episode for her first TV role, which gives you some idea of the financial weight behind the series.

Photo credit: Theo Wargo/NBC - Getty Images
Photo credit: Theo Wargo/NBC - Getty Images

If you've already started watching, you can attest to just how good it looks – this is a slick, premium production that establishes the simmering tension laced throughout the podcast right off the bat. Director Sam Esmail uses two different aspect ratios to clearly distinguish the two separate (and sometimes conflicting) timelines, stopping the audience from losing their footing, and the cast, headed up by Roberts, is impeccable.

When you consider that Catherine Keener, Oscar Isaac, David Schwimmer, Amy Sedaris and David Cross make up the OG cast, it's really quite remarkable how seamlessly Roberts and co have assimilated themselves into their roles, which is a good thing because Amazon has picked up a two-season order.

So, what can we expect from the series' second chapter? Here's everything we know so far.

Homecoming season 2 cast: Who's coming back?

Like the TV show, the podcast is also split into two seasons.

At the end of the first instalment, the cat is finally out of the bag: the Homecoming initiative doesn't actually care about the veterans it's claiming to help. The men are being pumped with a drug that claims to treat PTSD, but is actually destroying their memories so that the government can redeploy them, and the soldiers can serve without any detrimental flashbacks.

Heidi, who we are never in doubt about being a good person, also takes the drug herself to destroy any memories she has of working there – and she also convinces her patient Walter Cruz to do the same so that he won't be fit enough to be re-deployed.

Walter then disappears, and season two is all about the hunt to find him.

So we would expect returns for all of the main cast, which includes Roberts as Heidi (originally played by Keener), Stephan James as Walter (originally played by Isaac), Bobby Cannavale as Heidi's boss Colin Belfast (originally played by Schwimmer), Shea Whigham as Thomas Carrasco from the Department of Defence, who is investigating a complaint made against the initiative four years ago, Alex Karpovsky as Craig, a Homecoming employee, Sissy Spacek as Heidi's mother Ellen Bergman, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Walter's mother Gloria Cruz, Dermot Mulroney as Heidi's on-off boyfriend Anthony, and Jeremy Allen White as Shrier, another veteran enrolled in the programme.

Homecoming season 2 episodes: How many should we expect, and what length are we looking at?

It's surprisingly difficult to find TV that doesn't stretch each episode to an hour, or thereabouts. But Homecoming is doing things a little differently.

The first episode was a rapid 26 minutes long, and the longest is 37, which makes the ten-episode season prime bingeing material.

As it stands, we don't know how many episodes season two will have, or what to expect in terms of length, but we're hoping for more of the same.

Homecoming season 2 air date: When's it out?

There's been no word yet about when we can expect the second instalment to land, but a year from the first one certainly feels like a natural move `– which means Nov 2019.

Homecoming season 2 trailer: When can we see it?

And the same goes for the trailer. Amazon haven't given fans any clues, aside from confirmation of a second season, about what we can expect for the future of the show.

The first season has only just dropped, so it's to be expected – but we might not be as patient in a few months' time...


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