Sweet Magnolias Cast Weighs In On Biggest Season 2 Premiere Twists: Helen's News, The Accident And More

Nearly two years after being left to digest a series of devastating cliffhangers, Sweet Magnolias fans can finally rest easy — but not too easy.

The Netflix drama returned for its second season on Friday, picking up right where it left off back in May 2020, with Maddie & Co. breathlessly waiting for an update on that car accident. But before the hour was over, the aftermath of the crash became just one of many game-changing developments that will shape everyone's journey this season.

Fortunately, the show's leading ladies — JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Heather Headley and Brooke Elliott — were more than happy to break down those juicy twists in an interview with TVLine.

Grade the premiere below, then read on for the stars' thoughts on what went down... and what comes next.

Let's start with the million-dollar question(s): Who was in the car and what happened next? The premiere picks up with everyone gathered at the hospital, where Kyle is undergoing surgery for serious but non-life threatening injuries. Nellie was in the car with him, but her injuries are considerably less severe. And much to Dana Sue and Ronnie's relief, Annie wasn't in the car.

Tyler also wasn't in the car, but that doesn't mean he escapes the premiere unscathed. He hurts himself during a fight with Jackson, resulting in an arm injury that will take four to six weeks to heal. Needless to say, he's furious. Like, cry-himself-to-sleep upset.

"We had our theories" about who was in the car, "but I didn't expect all this other drama," Swisher tells TVLine. "I feel like we really get into some fights this season. I knew it was going to be a rollercoaster of a season, given all of the elements that unfold in that first episode."

Despite being at odds in the finale, Serenity's No. 1 couple is back in action by the end of this premiere — and the viewers aren't the only ones relieved.

"I was surprised that Cal and Maddie were back together so quickly, but I was delighted for that," Swisher tells TVLine. "Maddie kind of overreacted [in the finale], so she should probably forgive him for that."

Maddie and Bill also share a heated exchange in the premiere ("God may be able to forgive you, but I can't!"), and it's not the last one they'll have this season.

"She is done carrying his burden," Swisher tells TVLine. "I think everybody has been met with a situation like this in their life when they just ask, 'Why am I holding so much for this person?' She has to deal with the fallout of his actions because they share children, but it would be so easy for her to just wash her hands of him and move forward. She can't be responsible for his choices anymore. She has to make sure that she supports the ones she loves."

Without giving too much away, this sentiment becomes especially true as we get closer to the end of Season 2.

Although we learn in the premiere that Dana Sue is not Isaac's long-lost biological mother, she and the other women promise to help him find his parents.

And how's this for a twist-within-a-twist: Elliott has known the truth since she filmed the Season 1 finale! While preparing to shoot the scene where Isaac asks Dana Sue if she's his mother, Elliott went straight to showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson.

"I needed to know how to play that scene, not to give anything away, but I just needed a bit of knowledge on that," Elliott explains to TVLine. "We are usually kept in the dark, but in my preparing for that scene, I needed to know if he was my son or not. So I asked Sheryl, and she let me know that I wasn't. But I didn't know for a while before that. I was like, 'Oh my God, is that my kid?'"

If you thought Dana Sue was going to make up her mind between Jeremy and Ronnie by the end of the premiere, you are seriously underestimating the difficulty of that decision. Plus, you can't exactly blame her for milking this situation for all it's worth, as both guys bring very different — but equally hot — things to the table.

"Jeremy is such a gift to Dana Sue," Elliott tells TVLine. "He allows her to feel beautiful again. She feels desired and wanted, and she gets to feel that someone craves her and is interested in her, and that is no small thing in life. He also comes with such innocence, and he really, truly likes her. That is to me is a huge gift. I pull for Jeremy in those ways, but with Ronnie, I think their souls just align. I find myself rooting for Ronnie, but I also see so much value in Jeremy. It's hard!"

One of the more unexpected moments in the premiere comes courtesy of Dana Sue, who blows up at Maddie over her sons' reckless behavior and the danger it put her daughter in. (Well, the danger it could have put her in. Either way, she's at the end of her rope.)

I actually think it was great that Dana Sue did that," Elliott tells TVLine. "She's always trying to support Maddie, through her divorce and with the kids, and sometimes she overlooks what's going on with Annie. It was really good for her to say, 'My daughter has been going through a lot as well, as some of it is because of your son.' That was a healthy thing to do. Maybe she got caught up a bit in the frustration of it all, and calmer heads might have said it differently, but she was protecting Annie in that moment.

Fear not, for this rift doesn't last very long, but it's a good reminder that friendships have their ups and downs. "It's a healthy thing to see, that you can argue with someone and still be friends tomorrow," Elliott adds. "Everything these characters go through is so relatable in our everyday lives."

The premiere saves its biggest twist for last, revealing that Helen is with child. Without giving too much away, this marks the beginning of a powerful story arc for Helen, one that came about because of a discussion between Headley and Anderson.

"We were talking at the end of Season 1 and she asked what I'd want to see for Helen," Headley recalls. "We talked about how Helen is so successful and has everything. She has this great house and career, and she's always able to help everyone. But there's something she's missing, which is a family — a husband, a child, whatever."

Adds Anderson, "We agreed that a woman like Helen, who has had a plan and followed it and found success, might still have this one that she deeply desires. A lot of people have that one thing that eludes them."