Sweet Magnolias EP Previews A Second Season Of Secrets And Shake-Ups: 'Happy People Make For Dull TV'

During production on Season 2 of Netflix's Sweet Magnolias, showrunner Sheryl J. Anderson had to constantly remind her cast that "happy people make for dull TV," promising to shake up their storylines like never before. "And the more I shake them up," she told them, "the more it means I love your character."

If that's the case, Anderson's love runs deep for just about everyone in Serenity, as no character — and certainly no relationship — ends the show's sophomore season exactly as they begin it on Friday, Feb. 4.

Having seen all 10 episodes of Season 2, we can confirm that the show's sophomore outing is loaded with curveballs for Maddie (JoAnna Garcia Swisher), Helen (Heather Headley) and Dana Sue (Brooke Elliott), and you'll need to pay close attention if you hope to solve the season's multiple ongoing mysteries.

Oh, and one more thing: This time around, readers of Sherryl Woods' Sweet Magnolias book series won't necessarily have the advantage.

"While we deeply appreciate, admire and respect Ms. Woods and the books, we did move away from them a bit in Season 2 through a combination of characters we added to the show and incidents that we added," Anderson tells TVLine, noting that the car accident was one major addition.

Read on for a taste of what Sweet Magnolias has in store for the ladies of the Corner Spa, then drop a comment with your own hopes for Season 2.

Multiple dramatic wheels were in motion (sorry, bad pun!) in the show's first season finale, but they all came to a screeching halt (sorry again!) when Maddie & Co. were alerted to their children being in a potentially fatal car accident.

Season 2 picks up right where we left off, with the accident — as well as the related events of that night — creating ripple effects that will shape everyone's journey moving forward.

"We knew who was in the car [when we wrote that finale], so we knew where we were going to begin if we were fortunate enough to come back for Season 2," Anderson says, adding that she (somehow!) managed to keep that a secret from the rest of the cast until production resumed. "We stepped back towards the end of writing Season 1 and asked ourselves, 'If we get to come back, what seeds do we need to plant now that we can harvest later?' We spent a lot of time discussing who was in the car and how that would play out."

Dana Sue has a big, handsome decision to make in Season 2: Does she want to pursue a relationship with hot farmer Jeremy (Chase Anderson), or does she want to rekindle her marriage to her hot, handy husband Ronnie (Brandon Quinn)? It may sound like a win-win on paper, but it won't be an easy decision for Dana Sue to make — just as it turned the show's writers against one another.

"There's an ongoing debate in the writers' room about who she should be with," Anderson tells TVLine. "Is getting back with Ronnie really the most positive thing that could possibly happen for her right now? How well would that even go? We're all big fans of Jeremy, but we're also big fans of Ronnie. On some days, we think, 'It's a good thing this isn't our decision to make,' and then we remember, 'Oh, wait, it is!'"

Before she was rudely interrupted with news of the car accident in last season's finale, Helen was sharing ice cream and flirty glances with Erik (Dion Johnstone). And as you can see in this moment from the Season 2 trailer, they aren't done exploring the obvious spark between them.

With Erik, and with other goings-on in her life, Helen learns "a lesson about patience and control" this season, Anderson says. "We don't like to be asked to be patient, but we also can't control everything in our lives, much as we'd like to. Sometimes that requires changing your worldview a little bit and considering options you haven't before." (Don't mind the vague wording. It'll all make sense in time.)

News of the car accident also interrupted a potentially game-changing question from Isaac to Dana Sue: Could she be his biological mother?

Regardless of how that specific question is answered, Isaac's investigation into his past plays a major role in the show's second season. And it's a good thing we'll finally be getting some answers, because Anderson is tired of having to keep her lips sealed on the matter.

"When we were shooting Season 1, I had cast and crew members who came up to me and would say, 'I think I know who his parents are,' and they'd go on to explain their theories," Anderson recalls. "I'd thank them for sharing and for observing carefully [and I'd move on]." For the record, Anderson and the writers "knew who Isaac was when we first brought him to town. [They] made that decision in the writers' room at the beginning of Season 1."

It's no secret that Sweet Magnolias fans have, well, let's say "complicated" feelings about Noreen (Jamie Lynn Spears). But like it or not, she's back as a series regular in Season 2.

If you happen to land in the "not" category, perhaps these words from Anderson will provide some comfort: "We have a saying in the writers' room: No one in Serenity is beyond redemption, it just takes some folks longer to get there than others."

Who knows, you might come out of watching Season 2 with Noreen as your new favorite character! (Just kidding.)

And what of Serenity's hottest (confirmed) couple? Trust us, Maddie and Cal have more surprises coming their way than you — or they — could ever predict, so all Anderson will say about their journey is this: "One of the things we deal with a lot about in Season 2 is figuring out how to best carry, or maybe eventually discard, the weight of the past."