When television series expect to come back for another season, there are always storylines left open ended for fans to wonder about. Cliffhanger endings are, of course, meant to make sure fans return. A cliffhanger of an ending and several open storylines is exactly how Julie And The Phantoms ended Season 1 after Netflix released nine episodes in 2020. 15 months after the series debut, however, the streaming site opted to cancel the show, leaving fans wondering what would have happened in Julie and the Phantoms season 2.
There is still the possibility of another streamer or network picking up Julie And The Phantoms for a second season, but until then, fans can debate their own answers to some of the unanswered questions in the series.
Why Did Julie And Carrie Stop Being Friends?
Carrie spends much of the first season as an antagonist for Julie. While she’s not stopping Julie from getting back into music, it’s clear that she’s not happy that Julie is suddenly in the spotlight while Carrie’s working hard to make a name for her pop group. Julie talks about how the duo used to be very close, and Carrie even cautions Nick about getting close to Julie, saying she’s, “no friend.”
It would seem that something big had to happen to drive the two apart. The tie-in novels for the series imply that it’s the fact that both girls had a crush on Nick, but it’s never outright stated in the show. Carrie is portrayed as a popular mean girl right up until the end of the season, when she appears proud of Julie’s final performance with the Phantoms at the Orpheum, leaving the audience to wonder if Carrie and Julie’s crumbled friendship or rivalry would be addressed head-on in a potential second season.
How Would Caleb Have Used Nick?
The big cliffhanger of the series is that everyone’s favorite villain, Caleb, opts to possess Nick just as Nick is bringing Julie flowers. It’s not even clear why he picks Nick, though he does tease the teenager about his possibly broken heart. If Caleb is trying to get close to Luke, Alex, and Reggie, possessing a teenager they don’t interact with seems like a strange way to go. It would have made more sense to possess Julie instead.
That being said, it seems more likely that Caleb was seeking out information on Julie, the living girl who is able to perform with the Phantoms, and who seemingly was able to help get them out of his control despite never having interacted with him. Where would this storyline have gone? How long would it take for someone to realize Nick wasn’t himself? Would he know about the existence of ghosts after the possession was over? It leaves the audience with many related questions.
Is Julie Magic?
The “magic” in the series isn’t exactly well defined, leaving plenty of room for fans to come up with their own ideas about how the ghostly abilities work, just why Julie is the only one who can see the Phantoms, and how they were able to save themselves from being eliminated by Caleb’s stamp.
Reggie’s line in the first episode wondering if Julie is a witch though has left some fans wondering if it’s a bit of foreshadowing that it’s not entirely the ghosts who are magic, but Julie herself – or at least their connection to Julie. The power of love and friendship, after all, appears to stop the stamps from harming them, but none of them understand why. Whether or not Julie is more magical than she seems would be an interesting direction for the show to take.
Did Bobby Intentionally Steal Luke’s Songs?
Luke is incredibly hurt when he discovers that Bobby, his former rhythm guitarist, is now Trevor Wilson, and that the hit songs from his first album were actually Sunset Curve songs written by Luke. His anger is understandable, but it’s likely fans (and Luke) don’t have the whole story.
Bobby is the only member of Sunset Curve to not eat the tainted hotdogs that kill them. He’s a teenager who has been playing the songs written by Luke on the club circuit. If he went on to play their showcase solo, would he have been offered his record deal on the merit of Luke’s songs and his talent? Did he intentionally steal them, or did he just get a bad deal? Fans want to know.
Were The Phantoms Permanently Corporeal?
When the series begins, the Phantoms are true ghosts. They have to concentrate to touch objects and pass right through people – including Julie. After they’re saved from the stamps, however, Julie is able to reach out and touch them. The last time the audience sees them all together, they’re in a group hug.
Is this just temporary? Is it only with Julie? Does being corporeal also mean they’re visible outside of performing Julie and the Phantoms’ songs? It opens up a lot more possibilities.
Was Julie’s Mom Really Sending Her Signs?
Flynn is convinced that Julie’s mother is the one responsible for the former Sunset Curve members coming to her as ghosts. She’s sure that there have been signs telling Julie that performing with the band is her path. While the tie-in novels reveal that Julie’s mom is the Rose the boys meet at the Orpheum the night of their deaths, the show never outright confirms that.
It leaves the audience to speculate as to whether or not she’s responsible for sending her daughter a little help with her grief, or if it’s all just a coincidence.
Would Alex And Reggie Get Closure With Their Families?
It’s made very clear that Luke, Alex, and Reggie didn’t have the best relationships with their parents. While Luke is the first one to assert that the band is family so they don’t need anyone else, he’s also the only one who gets any closure with his family thanks to “Unsaid Emily.”
While Alex doesn’t voice any interest in finding his parents, Reggie does. He’s distraught to learn that the house he grew up in has been torn down. The tie-in novels also reveal that he has a younger sibling. It would certainly be nice to see every member of the band get closure with the family they left behind.
Would Alex And Willie Reunite?
A lot of attention is paid to the “interesting little relationship” between Luke and Julie in the series, but the relationship between Alex and Willie is treated as equally important. Willie is willing to give up his entire existence if Caleb finds out he helped Alex.
The last the two see of each other in the series though is Willie telling him he’ll see him around, fully expecting that playing at the Orpheum will be Alex’s unfinished business and the boys will cross over to where ever they’re supposed to end up. While Caleb knows that didn’t happen, it’s unknown if Willie’s in the loop. Fans would have loved to see the two of them find one another again.
What Is Their Unfinished Business?
Despite them getting into some childish antics, the Phantoms are very intelligent and understand that they might not be able to be rockstars forever, even as ghosts. They’re fully prepared to embrace playing at the Orpheum as their unfinished business so that they can cross over instead of just vanish from existence.
Playing the Orpheum, despite it being the last thing they were all going to do in life, turns out not to be their unfinished business though. It does beg the question of what the group has left to do on Earth, or if the audience would ever have found out.
Will The Boys Cross Over?
Most of the ghostly knowledge in the series is imparted through Willie and Caleb, and most of what Willie tells the boys, he admits is information he’s heard from other people. It’s entirely possible that his theory about unfinished business isn’t entirely accurate, or that there could have been something else that brought the Phantoms back to Earth.
In a series that is largely about Julie processing the grief she feels about losing her mother, it seems inevitable that she would lose the band too. Would the boys have crossed over as a series ender, signifying that Julie had fully embraced her grief and living her life? Or would the show have gone a more fantastical route, like bringing them fully back to life?
