What Tully did to Kate in Firefly Lane has finally been revealed - and book readers might be a little confused!

Anyone still wondering “What did Tully do to Kate in Firefly Lane?”, the wait for the answer to this shocking mystery is finally over.

Whilst there were plenty of reasons fans wanted it renewed for a Firefly Lane season 2, one of them was surely so that we would know the reason best friends Tully and Kate’s fell out. They are the emotional anchor of the show and they first met as teenagers on the picturesque Firefly Lane. But by the end of season 1 their friendship was in tatters and Kate wasn’t in a forgiving mood when she told Tully she could never forgive her for what she did. What it was remained a mystery until season 2 and the reveal might have confused a few book fans.

The Firefly Lane book version of what Tully did to Kate and the show's version aren’t the same at all. Here we reveal what caused their falling out in the Netflix show and how they’re so different…

*Warning: Spoilers ahead!*

What did Tully do to Kate in Firefly Lane? 

It was the ultimate question that fans were left agonizing over for more than a year after the season 1 Firefly Lane ending but when Firefly Lane season 2 landed many of us were still asking ourselves - what did Tully do to Kate  in Firefly Lane? Thankfully, patience finally paid off and towards the end of season 2 part 1 we finally got the answer we’d been hoping for.

It turned out that Kate and Tully stopped talking in Firefly Lane because of a car accident the talkshow host was involved in.  Although the truck hitting her car hadn’t actually been her fault (it had run a red light) that was poor consolation to a furious Kate because Tully had her daughter Marah in the car with her.  

Not only that, but Tully had drunk a few glasses of wine before driving off to pick Marah up in the first place. The evening’s devastating events had started after Kate entrusted her best friend with looking after Marah, who was grounded. The protective mom made it *very* clear that Marah wasn’t allowed to go anywhere. 

Tully went ahead and ignored this and showed kindness to the teenager by letting her go out to the movies with a friend, Ashley. This backfired when Ashely and Marah ended up at a fraternity party and Marah called Tully for help after a guy started making her feel seriously uncomfortable there. 

The talkshow host set out to rescue her best friend’s daughter from this nightmare, despite drinking wine. After the accident the pair were rushed to hospital injured, but whilst some might’ve wondered - does Tully die in Firefly Lane? - both characters survived.  

Even so, given the danger Marah had been in, Kate refused point blank to forgive her friend and no apology could make up for what Tully had done.

It was this moment that ultimately led to the flashforward we saw in the Firefly Lane season 1 finale. After knowing all season there was going to be a death and wondering whose funeral it was at the end of Firefly Lane, we learnt it was Kate’s father Bud who passed away. Tully showed up at the funeral to pay her respects but was coldly turned away by Kate.

“When I said that I could never forgive you for what you did, what did you think that meant?" she asked her.

At the time fans watched this scene the reason behind their falling out remained a mystery. We had to wait until the end of season 2 part 1 to get the reveal via flashbacks of what really happened to fracture their friendship. In the meantime, many people might’ve turned to Kristin Hannah’s Firefly Lane book or the Firefly Lane sequel for possible hints at what lay in store. Anyone who did, though, might have been a little confused by season 2’s reveal… 

What did Tully do to Kate in the Firefly Lane book and how is it different? 

Like so many shows adapted from books there are some Firefly Lane book vs show differences and one of the biggest is what Tully did to Kate to cause their falling-out. In the Firefly Lane book, the friends also stopped talking because of something that involved Marah, but it had nothing to do with a car accident. 

Instead, Tully had invited Kate and Marah on her talkshow, The Girlfriend Hour, but didn’t tell her friend that the segment was on over-protective mothers and how their behavior could affect their children. 

After realizing that’s what the segment was about, Kate was furious with Tully and believed that she viewed her as a bad mother and had suggested she was one on TV. This was what caused their falling out in the novel, though by the Firefly Lane book ending Kate and Tully had made up and got past this difficult moment in their friendship. Though some people will likely be hoping something changes and there's a Firefly Lane season 3, the fandom will perhaps get to see a similar reunion before the end of season 2 part 2.

Firefly Lane season 1 and Firefly Lane season 2 part 1 are available to watch on Netflix.