What did Tully do to Kate in Firefly Lane?

Netflix's friendship drama Firefly Lane, which comprises two seasons and 26 episodes, follows friends Kate Mularkey and Tully Hart. No friendship is perfect, and Katherine Heigl’s Tully and Sarah Chalke’s Kate’s bond is no exception.

By the end of season 1, Kate and Tully, who had been friends for three decades, had a falling out and fans witnessed the same during an encounter at a funeral in the season 1 finale. Kate's words stood out as she said:

“You've got a lot of nerve showing up here. Leave, Tully. Go home now. I don’t ever want to see you again.”

Season 2 episode 7 shed light on season 1’s cliffhanger as it addressed why Tully and Kate were fighting. It revealed that Tully did something that Kate could never forgive—putting her daughter’s life in danger by driving while drunk and getting into an accident that left Kate’s daughter, Marah in a hospital.

While the accident wasn’t entirely Tully’s fault, her earlier actions resulted in consequences that Kate couldn’t forgive easily.

Firefly Lane on Netflix (Image via Instagram/@sarahchalke)

Disclaimer: This article contains significant spoilers for Firefly Lane.

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What did Tully do to Kate in Firefly Lane that was so unforgivable?

In the Firefly Lane novel by Kristin Hannah, which the Netflix friendship series is based on, the rift between the once-inseparable friends began when Tully somehow deceived Kate into becoming a guest for her talk show The Girlfriend Hour. What was supposed to be an episode where she helped Kate mend her strained relationship with Marah, ended up leading to a controversy about oppressive parents. This made Kate feel humiliated as she was portrayed as a bad mother on national television.

Katherine Heigl plays Tully in Firefly Lane (Image via Cindy Ord/Getty Images)

However, the Netflix adaptation deviated from the events in the book. The first few episodes of season 2 teased the events that caused the seemingly irreparable damage between the duo and hinted that Tully did something that Kate could not forgive. In the first episode of the sophomore season, it was discovered that the rift between the two was about a car accident that happened six months after Johnny, Kate’s semi-estranged husband, got injured in an IED explosion in Iraq.

By episode 4, fans learned that Tully was involved in the car accident as she was seen passed out with blood on her face as the paramedics arrived to help. Several episodes later, the show revealed that Marah was in the same accident.

By season 2 episode 7, all the details about how their bond was fractured came to light. It started with Marah, who was grounded, going to Tully’s penthouse for a sleepover as Kate and Johnny tried to rekindle their romance with a weekend alone. As she was grounded at the time, Kate gave Tully explicit instructions not to let her daughter leave her house.

Sarah Chalke plays Kate in Firefly Lane (Image via Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

However, after Marah pleaded, Tully allowed her to go to watch The Notebook with her best friend and crush, Ashley, despite Kate’s orders. Unbeknownst to Tully, Marah went to a frat party.

Tully learned about the same when the teenager frantically called her from the said party, saying that she had locked herself in the pantry after someone made unwanted advances towards her. Tully then had flashbacks of a time in high school when she was s*xually assaulted, and so rushed to pick Marah up.

However, before she received the phone call, Tully had been sharing a bottle of wine with her ex-boyfriend Danny, whom she met in her building. A hopeful Tully thought she was given a second chance with Danny, but later learned that he already had a girlfriend, which ended their night together. Tully then proceeded to drink a couple more glasses of wine.

Slightly inebriated, she received the call from Marah and quickly left to pick up the distressed teenager. She went to the party and fetched Marah, but on their way home, the two were hit by a vehicle after its driver ran a red light. Both Tully and Marah suffered injuries and were brought to the hospital, where Tully screamed for Kate the moment she woke up.

This marked the beginning of the decline of their decades-long friendship as Tully saw Kate look at her in disgust. Later, during a conversation, Kate told Tully that even if the latter continued to apologize about what had happened, she could never forgive her. Kate said that even if she wanted to forgive her friend, she could not as seeing her reminded her of what happened to Marah.

While the accident wasn’t completely Tully’s fault, she disobeyed Kate’s instructions about not letting Marah leave her penthouse, and worse, decided to pick her up while under the influence.

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Did Tully and Kate become friends again?

While Tully and Kate spent the rest of the season since their falling out living their own lives, they eventually made up following Kate’s cancer diagnosis. Tully was in Antarctica, and Kate had been calling her. However, as there wasn't any cell reception, there wasn’t a way for Kate to speak to Tully until much later.

When Tully did get service and saw Kate’s messages, she quickly went to meet her estranged friend. There, she found Kate resting in between her chemo treatments and promised to never leave her again.

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Did someone die at the end of Firefly Lane?

Throughout the second part of season 2, Kate was seen battling a rare form of cancer. The season finale was a rollercoaster of emotions as the two best friends tried to be there for each other and also had a heart-to-heart conversation on the patio. Tully told her friend about Danny, but halfway through, she told Kate that she needed to refill her cup of tea.

As Kate sat on the patio alone, waiting for her friend to come back, she stared fondly at the scenic view, seemingly content and at peace as she succumbed to her cancer and quietly breathed her last. The final scene featured Kate’s funeral, where her family and friends gathered to mourn her loss.

The show then featured a flash-forward scene in which Kate appeared when Tully was getting ready for Marah’s wedding. While the character died, this proved that she remained with her loved ones in spirit.

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Will there be a Firefly Lane season 3?

Firefly Lane’s story of enduring friendship and relatable storytelling has captured the hearts of viewers over the years. However, there will not be a third season and one of the most prominent reasons for this is that Kate’s story ended with her death in season 2.

Firefly Lane cast (Image via Instagram/@katherineheigl)

Firefly Lane’s writer and showrunner Maggie Friedman, spoke to Radio Times in 2023 and mentioned she wanted to “stay true” to the ending of the novel the series was based on. That said, Kristin Hanah has written a sequel to her best-selling Firefly Lane novel, Fly Away. While there is no news about the sequel being adapted into a series, the novel sheds light on the aftermath of Kate’s death.

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Firefly Lane is currently available to stream on Netflix.