As compelling as Hulu’s latest true-crime limited series will probably be, as far as we know, it’s over when it’s over. The Girl From Plainville is based on a true story, so there probably won’t be a season 2. I know, I know… a lot of shows claim to be limited and then magically get renewed for a second season like Big Little Lies and The White Lotus. But there’s really no reason for The Girl From Plainville—which stars Elle Fanning (The Great) and Colton Ryan (Dear Evan Hansen)—to get the un-limited treatment. We pretty much know how it ends, because it happened IRL.

The Girl From Plainville is based on the 2017 Esquire article by Jesse Barron, who served as a consulting producer on the series, about the “texting suicide” case in Massachusetts involving the death of Conrad Roy III and his virtual relationship with Michelle Carter. In 2014, Roy died by suicide and in 2017 Carter was convicted for involuntary manslaughter due to the nature of the calls and texts exchanged between the two teenagers. Carter ultimately served just over 11 months in prison.

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Though this didn’t happen that long ago, Michelle and Conrad’s story has already been told in a Lifetime film, an episode of Dateline, and an HBO documentary. So if you want to learn more after the Hulu limited series has concluded, there are plenty of other perspectives on this case. That also means that the Hulu series has a lot of source material.

“We had Jesse’s article and the documentary,” screenwriter Liz Hannah (The Post) said to a panel of journalists during the 2022 Television Critics Association winter press tour, “but we also had access to all of the court documents during the trial, which included all the texts between Michelle and Conrad.” This, according to Hannah, was instrumental in developing these characters and exploring the difference between what a person is like online and via text versus what they’re like in real life.

But an abundance of source material doesn’t necessarily mean that we’ll see more from The Girl From Plainville past the eight episodes scheduled to drop on Hulu starting on March 29. The show also stars Chloë Sevigny, Norbert Leo Butz, and Cara Buono as the adults in these two teenagers’ so-called “star-crossed” life.

True crime feat. blonde women seems to be having a moment. First it was Inventing Anna, then The Dropout, and now The Girl From Plainville… instead of asking for a season 2, we should be asking: Who’s next?

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