Firefly Lane season 2 part 1 recap guide: All 9 episodes explained

Firefly Lane season 2, episode 9 recap: Hart Shaped Box

After the sad way the previous episode ended, it’s nice to see Kate and Tully in a better place in the 1980s when they were still living together, but the finale has at least one big twist in store.

1970s

The 1970s segment in this episode feels like filler, but it’s still endearing. In it, Tully and Kate have to deal with preparing the house and Cloud for a visit from her parole officer. That includes ushering all of Cloud’s drunk/high friends out of the house. But one of them, a guy named Leon, appears to have overdosed. Panicked, the two teens shove his body into a cupboard under the stairs.

Somehow Cloud manages to pull herself together, and the parole officer is suitably impressed. Plus, the good news is that Leon isn’t actually dead, and he wakes up a little bit after the officer leaves. Tully and Kate are thrilled to have pulled it all off and not go to jail for hiding a dead body. But then Cloud reminds them that this is just the first of many parole visits, and it sort of kills the mood.

1980s

In the 1980s, Kate is preparing for her European getaway with Theo. She’s nervous about spending six weeks away with him, so Tully helps her prepare. To start, Tully offers to let Kate use her special heat lamp so she can get a base tan before galavanting across topless beaches in Greece.

But Kate falls asleep under the lamp and gets a serious burn on her butt. Tully tries to help her with it by rubbing her aloe plant on the burn and telling her to ice it with a cold soda. Kate goes back and forth on actually going on the trip, but ultimately decides she’s going to.

Then Johnny shows up with a handful of glasses wipes. It’s a sweet gesture. He thinks they won’t have the kind she likes abroad and wants her to have them. But the whole thing is kind of awkward. It’s clear they still have feelings for each other but don’t know how to proceed.

Kate wishes Johnny had given her a big declaration of love instead of wipes. She misses her taxi while freaking out about which guy to pick. Tully suggests she go to Europe, and Kate finally agrees. Tully drives her to the airport, and just after they leave, Johnny shows up again to tell Kate how he really feels. But they’re already gone.

2000s

It seems things are really over for the Firefly Lane girls. A year passes without them seeing each other. Kate spends her time with her family through the holidays as we see Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years’ pass. Johnny keeps trying to propose to Kate so they can get married again, but she keeps saying no because she doesn’t want them to fail again.

As for Tully, she starts fixing up the old Firefly Lane house and teaching herself how to cook. She also becomes close friends with Danny, who is dating a new woman named Celeste (Rachelle Goulding), though it’s clear he still has feelings for Tully.

Once we get to Bud’s funeral, we see the moments that were teased in the first season in a new light. Johnny actually did try to defend Tully, adding that Bud was like a dad to her growing up, so it makes sense she would want to come to pay her respects, but Kate isn’t having it.

In the new year, Kate takes a creative writing class and tries to make a new friend with one of her classmates, Vivian (Karen Holness). They do become friends, but it’s clear that it’s more of a shallow school friend than a real friend. When Kate does finally accept Johnny’s proposal, she calls Vivian, who doesn’t really understand why it matters. She assumed Kate and Johnny were already married. It makes Kate miss Tully.

One way we know that Kate’s new friend isn’t ready to replace Tully is when they start bonding over the different ways their body ails them as they age and near menopause. Kate mentions a rash she has on her boob and tries to show it to Vivian, but it doesn’t go over well. Vivian thinks it’s way too “TMI.” Compared with Tully literally rubbing an aloe plant on Kate’s burnt butt, you can see how different these two relationships are.

However, Kate’s breast rash gets worse. She goes to the doctor and finds out she has an aggressive form of inflammatory breast cancer and needs to start treatment immediately. It’s the first thing that puts things in perspective for Kate, and she decides to go see Tully.

But timing is not on their side. While Kate is back in school, Tully has been preparing for the next phase in her career. Danny helps her get a gig in a global warming documentary, but it will mean going to Antarctica for several months.

As luck would have it, when Kate goes to Tully’s penthouse, Tully has already left, and the season ends with Kate crying on Tully’s doorstep.