‘Presumed Innocent’ EP J.J. Abrams On Why Finale Didn’t Set Up Season 2 & Status Of New Installment

Apple TV+ on June 12 announced that limited series Presumed Innocent will return for a second season , with creator David E. Kelley, J.J. Abrams and Season 1 star Jake Gyllenhaal back as executive producers and author Scott Turow as co-executive producer.

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Twelve days later, the Season 1 finale dropped, and it offered no hints as to what may happen next. We are now finding out why. (You can read our story on the finale’s double twist here .)

“We discussed the possibility of a second season during production, but then Apple brought it up to us in post,” Abrams said about the timing of the Season 2 renewal conversations, which kicked off in earnest after Season 1 was already in the can. “Nothing was ever shot to set up a second season. Our focus was telling the story of Carolyn’s murder and Rusty’s trial, and wrapping that up at the end of the first season.”

As Deadline pointed out at the time of the renewal, there is no obvious blueprint for extending what was originally billed as a limited series from Turow’s body of work because the Presumed Innocent book is not part of a series.

That provides the producers with a largely blank canvas, and talks are already underway over what direction to take, Abrams confirmed.

“It’s too early to talk about what might happen in Season 2, but we’re very excited about the possibilities we are discussing,” he said, declining to elaborate whether Presumed Innocent would become an ongoing series or an anthology with a different case and largely different cast each season.

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For now, the latter appears more likely, with character(s) linking the individual seasons like another hit limited series that became a drama series, White Lotus .

Besides solving Carolyn’s murder, the Season 1 finale of Presumed Innocent provided some justice for Tommy Molto (Peter Sarsgaard) who spent most of the season as a (possibly misunderstood) villain.

Asked whether we would see Tommy and Rusty — played by real-life brothers-in-law Sarsgaard and Gyllenhaal — spar again, Abrams said, “like I said, it’s too early to talk about what happens next, but I will say that watching Peter Sarsgaard bring that character to life was such a joy. He’s such a remarkable actor.”

Presumed Innocent has a book sequel, the 2011 Innocent, which again pits Rusty and Tommy against each other 20 years later after the mysterious death of Rusty’s wife.

In addition to Kelley, Abrams and Gyllenhaal, returning as executive producers for Season 2 are Dustin Thomason, Matt Tinker and Rachel Rusch Rich. Presumed Innocent , which has become Apple TV+’s most watched drama, hails from Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions and David E. Kelley Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, where Bad Robot is under an overall deal.

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