The first season of Ryan Murphy’s twisted FX drama “The Beauty” wrapped on March 4, leaving viewers on a cliffhanger that had star Ashton Kutcher asking, “What the heck is happening?”
In a nutshell, Byron was horrified to discover that his son forced Franny to take the Beauty, resulting in an A+ “Death Becomes Her” tribute, with the actress playing Isabella Rossellini rocking a costume similar to the one Rossellini wore in the film. Unfortunately, that horror only intensified as Franny took her own life, sending Byron into the ultimate spiral. By the end, he appeared to be a changed man, vowing to direct all of his resources towards stopping the Beauty from spreading.
While Byron’s son immediately began plotting his father’s demise, Dr. Sterling, whose AI bots have figured out a way to reverse the Beauty’s effects, made an offer to Jeremy, Cooper, Jordan, and the Assassin. If they agree to join their cause, they’ll each receive either a dose of the antidote or free boosters to keep themselves beautiful.
Cooper, who remained in a child’s body by the end of the finale, agreed to take the cure. Unfortunately, we don’t know if it worked or not, because the episode ended before his status could be revealed.
Is The Beauty returning for season 2?
“It definitely leaves you hanging, going, ‘Wait, what the heck is happening?'” Kutcher tells TVLine. “There is a sense of it being open to interpretation as to what’s happening with Cooper at the end. And there is a sense of wondering, if Byron has lost the wife that was his gravitational pull in life, what kind of a monster does he become now? Or does he have this moment of reform? There are a bunch of open questions at the end of it.”
That said, Kutcher also feels like “the full-cycle tale has been told to some extent,” he says. “We’ve done the experiment, and we’ve seen what the output of the experiment is.” If a second season of “The Beauty” does come to fruition, however, Kutcher says he’ll be there.
“I had so much fun shooting and making it,” Kutcher says. “I’ve expressed to Ryan [Murphy] that I would be open to doing more of it, so I don’t know what’s going to happen. I can say to Ryan like, ‘What are we doing?’ and he’s like, ‘We’ll figure it out,’ which means he already knows what he’s doing and hasn’t told me yet.”
What did you think of “The Beauty” finale? Are you hoping for a second season, or was one enough for you? Grade the show in our poll below, then drop a comment with your hopes for its future.