Like most people with a Netflix account, I recently finished watching Adolescence. And, like most people with a pulse, was horrified. Jaw on the floor, completely gripped.
The one-shot format, the raw performances, the sheer weight of it all. It wasn’t an easy watch, but it also wasn’t meant to be.
So naturally, after the finale, the question came up: what about the victim Katie’s story? Could there be a second season, told from the victim’s perspective?
According to screenwriter Jack Thorne, the answer is no. And for good reason too.
Appearing on This Morning in the UK, Thorne made it clear that he doesn’t see himself or his team as the right people to tell that story.
“I would say two things to that,” he said. “The first is I don’t think we’re the right people to tell Katie’s story. I think there are other makers out there that can tell stories about Katie or other girls like Katie. And those shows should be made.”
He added that the goal from the beginning was to tell Jamie’s story. From start to finish.
“Our aim was to try and tell Jamie’s story as fully as we could,” he continued. “Maybe telling [Katie’s] story would dilute that.”
As for Jamie himself, Thorne doesn’t believe there’s anywhere left to take the character. “I think Jamie’s story is finished,” he said. “We’d love to explore the one-shot format in another way, but I don’t think a series two of Adolescence is quite right for us.”
The show struck a nerve for its raw portrayal of violence and the systems around it—but its scope was tight, deliberate, and focused. Calls for a follow-up centred on Katie aren’t being ignored, but Thorne’s response points to a broader issue: that not every story is his to tell.
Jamie’s arc is closed. Katie’s story deserves its own space, with its own voice. Adolescence, as it stands, was never built to stretch beyond the hour we were given—and perhaps that’s exactly why it hit so hard.
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