A Few Suggestions for Shōgun Season Two
Yabushige flashbacks are nonnegotiable.
When Shōgun was airing and prompting questions about whether the hit miniseries, which tells the complete story of the novel upon which it’s based, would continue for more seasons, I was adamantly against the notion despite my adoration of the show. Shows that were designed as a stand-alone limited series continuing past their initial stated endpoint have been an irritation since at least Big Little Lies season two, and a couple of major character deaths meant that subsequent Shōgun seasons would lack some important elements that made the first so appealing. But today’s confirmation that the show will indeed be returning to “continue the saga” made me realize I’ve done a complete 180 on the idea and am now eager to see how the creative team — most importantly, star and executive producer Hiroyuki Sanada — will move this story forward.
A couple of weeks ago it occurred to me that, assuming we’re not going the anthology route and adapting the other books in James Clavell’s “Asian Saga” — which the announcement language indicates we’re not — the first season laying the foundation for the Edo period means Shōgun could transition from a show about the rise of a ruler to a show about the rise of a city. That scene in episode eight where Father Martin realizes the land Toranaga gave him for a church directly abuts the land given to Gin to establish a teahouse district? That’s the makings of a seasonlong arc, baby! Give me Deadwood but make it 17th-century Edo, please and thank you! Here, some of Vulture’s critics share their own dreams for the future of Toranaga and his cohort. —Genevieve Koski
I am often on the record as saying things should end, as evidenced by my recent stance on John Mulaney’s Everybody’s in L.A. experiment. I am pro-conclusions and giving people the opportunity to experience complete ideas, and the first season of Shōgun ended in such a fulfilling way that I was perfectly happy considering it a closed loop. But I also understand that TV endures, that’s its whole thing, and Shōgun did enough world-building in its first ten episodes that there are unseen locations to which the series can travel, other characters to meet (remember, Toranaga-sama has more sons), and more aspects of Japanese history to explore. May I recommend two things: First, Yabushige flashbacks; this is a nonnegotiable. Second, I’m interested in a more critical take on Japan’s regional aggression and tendency to invade its neighbors. Given how much Toranaga smarted at the suggestion that the Catholic Portuguese claimed Japan, what if Shōgun were to turn that idea around and analyze the country’s own form of nationalism? Also, if future seasons of Shōgun never materialize, at least its reclassification for this year’s Emmys allows it to beat The Crown for Best Drama, a delightful possibility suggested by our Gold Rush columnist, Joe Reid. However we can deny a win to the series that gave us the grotesquerie of Diana’s and Dodi’s ghosts, let’s take it. —Roxana Hadadi
I like where Roxana’s head is at with flashbacks, and I’d like to take that one step further: prequels! Everyone on TV is doing them right now — The Acolyte! House of the Dragon! Dune: Prophecy! — and we know these creatives will give us the best possible version of that treatment. We got a bit of a Mariko flashback in episode six, “Ladies of the Willow World,” but would I watch a whole season that shows us her early life, thereby letting Anna Sawai bring this character back to life again? Yes. Yes, I would. —Jen Chaney
I’ll admit: I’m intrigued to see how the second season will handle John Blackthorne now that he’s fated by karma to remain in the Japans for the rest of his life. Or is he? The original Shōgun’s ending leaves the Anjin as the fool he was throughout the story, a persistent pawn in Lord Toranaga’s chess game who is deliberately kept in the dark. But what if the dude finally wises up? Will he try to make a break back to England? And if that’s not in the cards, it’s worth asking: What is his place in this world? I just want my boy to be happy, and if this means a seasonlong subplot where Blackthorne learns how to maintain a farm, I’d be down to watch that too. —Nicholas Quah
My primary wish for season two of Shōgun feels improbable and ahistorical (a counselor arrives and asks everyone to sit down and talk through why they are so focused on ending their lives and suggesting that perhaps there are other ways to work through conflict). My secondary desire feels more attainable: Toranaga discovers that keeping a country is even harder than conquering it in the first place, and in the meantime, Blackthorne opens a pheasant restaurant. —Kathryn VanArendonk
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