Kate and Johnny’s relationship in ‘Firefly Lane’ has been tumultuous and filled with drastic ups and downs. The latest instalment of the Netflix drama sees the estranged couple make some big decisions about their relationship.
Netflix’s ‘Firefly Lane’ has been about one thing and one thing only — relationships.
Whether it’s lifelong ups and downs of friendship or the rough and tumble of marriages and families, the show weaves the narrative with a number of central storylines all exploring and dissecting the limits and nature of said relationships.
One such relationship that’s quite central to the main story is that of Kate and Johnny. Over the many decades, the two have gone through their fair share of rough patches and smooth-sailing bliss.
At the start of Firefly Lane season 2 part 1, Kate and Johnny are still very much separated.
However, Johnny’s recent condition offers the two some much-needed opportunities and shared time to reconsider their relationship and ask themselves some crucial questions.
We’re still divorced
Kate’s heart jumps out of her chest at the news of Johnny’s injuries. She holds out for hope amidst highly uncertain and dire circumstances. However, Johnny beats the odds and regains consciousness.
Kate is there by his side, with all the love and care she still harbours for her ex-husband. Later on, she offers Johnny a place at her house while he recovers and during this time, the two parents try their best to spend quality time with their daughter Marah.
Kate knows they’re divorced by her hope and longing for a reunion, to have those days back is very apparent and keeps leaking out of her heart. Johnny picks up on it and makes it clear to Kate that they’re still pretty much divorced, and Kate agrees, although with her heart a bit broken.
Lottie, trauma & therapy-hesitancy
There are three major things that become the roadblocks for Kate and Johnny’s reunion — Charlotte aka Lottie, Johnny’s trauma, and his stubborn reluctance to therapy.
Kate tries, time and again, to impress upon Johnny just how vital it is for him to seek therapy. Johnny keeps getting struck by PTSD flashbacks from the IED explosion in Iraq.
These frequent attacks of trauma turn him into an erratic, easily irritable, and aggressive person. Johnny loses his cool, composure, and presence of mind in several instances, and realises that he’s suffering from a post-traumatic disorder.
Kate tries to convince him to see a shrink, and so does Marah. But in 2004, therapy had way larger of a stigma attached to it than today, and Johnny was one of the people who saw it as something meant only for mentally helpless cases.
However, he finally understands that his stubbornness is hurting him and his family. He decides to work on himself and starts showing great improvements shortly, being happier than before and more cordial towards Kate.
There is another hitch in this ride to the Kate-Johnny reunion, though, and it’s the viciously passive-aggressive Charlotte, aka Lottie. She was once an intern under Kate and Johnny at KPOC, and she always had the hots for him.
Her intense lust for Johnny was unrequited but very public, as she herself admitted to it quite a number of times in front of Kate. She’d also always leave Kate with some passive-aggressive remark targeted to lower her self-esteem that might potentially ruin her relationship with Johnny.
When Johnny is at the hospital recovering from his injuries, Charlotte reappears in Kate’s life in a brand new avatar but the same old obsession with her ex-husband.
She finally confesses her love to the man as well and leaves him with a request to just consider it. That goes nowhere, though, as Johnny’s heart still flutters for a special someone.
Love lingers still
This special someone is none other than Kate. The estranged couple has always had a problem of miscommunication and difficulty in grasping the other one’s love for them.
Both also suffer from a sort of impostor syndrome wherein both think they’re not quite in the same league as their partner. This always results in rough patches in their relationship.
In ‘Firefly Lane’ season 2 part 1, though, they do end up overcoming their problem of inefficient communication, and a general lack of a truthful conversation.
The estranged couple tries to distract themselves with others at first but both know that they have immense feelings for the other one, still lingering and boiling to spill out.
They do end up spilling out and Kate and Johnny confess to each other that they still love each other. Later on in ‘Firefly Lane’ season 2 part 1, Johnny proposes to Kate, asking her to marry him for the second time, only this time he promises they won’t divorce or separate.
Drifting apart and getting back together
In the 80s timeline, Kate and Johnny’s relationship is pretty much over, even though both still vie for each other’s love here as well. However, Kate’s ideal family of her having kids is an idea of marriage that stands in contrast with that of Johnny’s.
Johnny doesn’t want kids but kate wants the so much she calls it quits. Both go through a rough patch following their breakup, with kate eventually finding common ground with a new flame.
Part 1 of this season ends with Kate departing with her new beau Theo to Europe while johnny finally bursts out his repressed emotions and cries for her to come back. However, the cliffhanger ending sees Johnny run after Kate when she might’ve already departed and it might’ve been too late.
Fans can take solace in the fact, though, that the two do end up getting back together later on anyway.
While Kate and Johnny are back together, it’s only up to the final instalment to reveal what fate has in store for the two, given Kate’s severe disease she’s just learned about.
Also Read: Firefly Lane season 2 part 1 ending explained: What happens to Kate?