Will there be a season 2 of ‘Hostage’? Here’s what we know

Hostage is about a hostage situation, both literally and figuratively.

The five-part thriller, which is currently dominating Netflix’s TV charts, follows British Prime Minister Abigail Dalton (Suranne Jones) and French President Vivienne Toussaint (Julie Delpy). As the series unfolds, the pair forge an uneasy alliance amid threats to their political and personal lives.

Abigail’s husband, Alex (Ashley Thomas), is literally kidnapped and held hostage, but the series is savvy in showcasing how world leaders can be more abstractly held hostage by political enemies, terrorists, and even their ostensible allies.

Hostage ends on a definitive note, but creator Matt Charman’s willingness to play fast and loose with its title allows for ample freedom in crafting a potential follow-up season.

So, will there be a second season of Hostage? What has Charman said about the future of the series? Read on as we answer these questions and more.

Will there be a Hostage season 2?

Hostage was conceived as a limited series, but Netflix has proven itself willing to expand projects when they resonate with audiences. The streamer’s Untamed, for example, was renewed for a second season after debuting as a limited series. That said, Netflix has yet to officially announce a second season of Hostage.

Charman, however, is open to the idea. “Look, I would love to tell more of this story, partly because I love writing for Suranne,” he said in a recent chat with The Radio Times. “But I also think there’s something really exciting about who she might go up against next.”

How does Hostage end?

Abigail and Vivienne’s alliance allows them to save Alex from his abductors, but the pair’s troubles don’t end there. His kidnapping, we learn, was part of a larger conspiracy related to Abigail’s defunding of the British military. It was spearheaded by General Livingston (Mark Lewis Jones), a Ministry of Defense leader who’s been secretly conspiring to remove Abigail from power.

He’s backed by John Shagan (Martin McCann), a former military sergeant who lost his pregnant fiancée during an invasion by Guatemalan soldiers into Belize, which used to be a Crown colony. Her death was the direct result of a call made by Abigail (then a junior minister) to save British soldiers while leaving behind the locals in Belize who assisted them. Livingston just wants Abigail out of power, but Shagan wants her dead.

He tries to kill her by sneaking a bomb planted in a laptop into 10 Downing Street, but the blast only manages to kill Vivienne. The subsequent chaos, however, allows Livingston to pull off what Abigail calls a “coup,” essentially flooding the streets with military forces in an attempt to reverse her budget cuts.

With the help of her aides, Abigail uncovers the conspiracy, exposes Livingston, and regains her position. But Shagan is still on the loose, and he nearly kills her and Alex. What stops him is Abigail and Alex’s daughter, Sylvie (Isobel Akuwudike), who shoots and kills Shagan.

Three months later, Abigail addresses the press, owning up to the mistakes she made as a leader and promising more transparency. She calls for a general election, hoping for a fresh start with her disillusioned electorate.

What would Hostage season 2 be about?

Speaking with The Radio Times, Charman discussed how the series’ flexible title allows for several potential storylines in a second season.

“Well, ‘hostage’ means different things,” he said. “When I think about the show, I don’t really think about Alex, I think more about the two leaders, I think of Suranne and Julie’s characters. They’re the hostages, they’re the ones being held and they’re the ones that are being blackmailed. So, it’s really about riffing on that word ‘hostage’, what does it mean to be under someone else’s control? So I think that’s where I would kind of explore further.”

He went on to consider how Sylvie’s struggles after murdering Shagan could factor into the story moving forward. “If you do [kill someone], if you’re in a situation where you do something that completely crosses a line as a human being, there’s no end to that trauma or that sense of who am I now, who was I before?” he said. “That would be fun to explore, what that does to a person as they enter adulthood.”

Where can I watch Hostage?

Hostage is now streaming on Netflix.

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