Sweet Magnolias shocked viewers by killing off Bill — but is there a chance there will be more character deaths in season 5?
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly while promoting Hallmark’s Providence Falls, JoAnna García Swisher confirmed that “no one dies” in the next season.
“But it’s extremely dramatic,” Swisher, 45, who plays Maddie, teased. “It’s a roller coaster — as it always is — but I think this is the first season in a really long time that fans are gonna get those butterflies again.”
Swisher was excited for fans to see how the hit Netflix series evolves.
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“There are some fresh faces that are joining our cast in really unique and fun ways,” she teased. “The Magnolias are seeing new possibilities on the horizon that are going to only expand our world.”
Sweet Magnolias, which premiered in 2020, is based on Sherryl Woods’ novels about three women who have been best friends since childhood as they navigate their romantic lives, careers and growing families. Season 5, currently in production, will pick up after Chris Klein‘s controversial character Bill was killed off.
“I prefer to think of it as Bill’s untimely passing. Not that we killed off Bill,” creator Sheryl J. Anderson quipped to Us in February. “But the reason [he died] is we were looking for a cataclysmic event that would strike everybody at the core of their being. And across his time in Serenity, [Bill] has been central, obviously to Maddie and the kids but also to the group of friends around them [and] to other people in town.”
Anderson noted that Bill and Kathy (Wynn Everett) ultimately found their “happy conclusion” during the season 3 finale.
“We were also looking for a way to have our characters confront those really existential questions that erupt when the first person in your friend group passes,” she continued. “You know, it’s like, ‘Who am I? Could time run out for me tomorrow? And if it does, what’s my legacy? Have I spent my time wisely? Am I doing what I should be doing? Am I with the person I truly love? Bill was such a shock. What if another shock is coming? Should I change my life?’”
Anderson clarified, however, that the writers and the cast all “love” Klein as an actor, sharing that they were collectively ”so sorry to tell him, ‘We’re taking this direction, but we love you.’”
In addition to a new cast, Swisher previously explained what else led to a season 5 delay.
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“It is very exciting this season. We are all over the place. It’s taking us a little bit longer to complete a season because we’ve gotten the opportunity to travel,” she shared with Us. “Actually, last night we were shooting at the baseball field and I was looking around, and we have a lot of new cast members. There’s these new faces in Serenity, South Carolina, that are so exciting for me.”
She continued: “I get to direct two episodes this year and I’m prepping that right now. I get these incredible moments with the heart and soul of our show — our Magnolias — and the kids on our show. But there’s new, fresh blood and energy in Serenity.”
Swisher isn’t just working on the next season of Sweet Magnolias. She is also an executive producer on Hallmark’s three-part Providence Falls film series, starring Katie Stevens, Lachlan Quarmby and Evan Roderick, based on the book series by Jude Deveraux set in 1844 Ireland.
“We filmed in order and we knew where we were gonna end up,” she told Us. “We are all bubbling with ways to continue these stories.”
Providence Falls returns to Lifetime with Providence Falls: An Impossible Promise premieres on Saturday, August 9, and Providence Falls: Thief of Fate on Saturday, August 16, both at 8 p.m. ET.
