Sweet Magnolias – Picture: Netflix
Sweet Magnolias is one of Netflix’s in-house feel-good series which recently returned for its second outing and with lots of burning questions for a third season, will we be headed back to Serenity? Here’s what we know so far about Sweet Magnolias season 3.
The series is based on the novel series by Sherryl Woods and while there’s been some divergence between the story told in the book and what we’ve seen on screen, there’s plenty more source material for the show to pull from. So let’s dig into Sweet Magnolias season 3 chances and what we can expect.
First debuting in May 2020, we finally got a second season of Sweet Magnolias just a few months shy of two years after its initial premiere.
Will Netflix Renew Sweet Magnolias for a season 3?
Official Renewal Status: Not Yet Renewed (last updated: 02/16/2022)
Our Renewal Prediction: Certain Renewal
Unlike some of the other shows in the genre, Sweet Magnolias hasn’t been renewed ahead of time so it’ll all come down to viewership and the “stickiness” of the series.
What we mean by that is Netflix will be looking at the viewership of the show among other factors when coming up with what’s been referred to as adjusted view share.
Our view is that the show still maintains a solid base and is one of the few shows that manages to appeal to a broad audience across the United States and therefore, is highly likely to get renewed.
The show even received a mention at Netlfix’s recent quarterly earnings where Ted Sarandos mentioned that the show was among his wife’s favorites.
How well has Sweet Magnolias season 2 performed on Netflix?
We’re still waiting for a full months worth of data to benchmark it but early indications are that it’s
The arrival of season 2 also saw an uptick in viewership to the first season too. Season 1 recorded 21.64 million hours viewed between February 6th and February 13th.
Here’s how the viewership for Sweet Magnolias looks from week to week.
| Week Period | Hours Viewed(M) | Rank | Week in Top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 30th, 2022 to February 6th, 2022 | 43,000,000 | 5 | 1 |
| February 6th, 2022 to February 13th, 2022 | 58,150,000 (+35%) | 2 | 2 |
If we compare the first two weeks to Virgin River season 3 given they’re very similar in genre, Sweet Magnolias lags behind.
| Week Period | Hours Viewed(M) |
|---|---|
| July 4th, 2021 to July 11th, 2021 | 62,580,000 |
| July 11th, 2021 to July 18th, 2021 | 87,270,000 (+39%) |
| July 18th, 2021 to July 25th, 2021 | 44,890,000 (-49%) |
| July 25th, 2021 to August 1st, 2021 | 28,320,000 (-37%) |
We can also look at the top 10s to see where the series is performing well.
Thanks to FlixPatrol, we can see a heat map of where the show is performing the best. The show is performing the best in regions like the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Ireland, Sweden, and South Africa.
Sweet Magnolias Popularity Heatmap – Picture: FlixPatrol
The Sweet Magnolias writers room celebrated their 7th day in a row in the Netflix top 10s with a big picture of the cast and crew.
Today is Day 7 of being #1 on Netflix in the US and Day 8 (since our drop) of being Top 10. Thank you to our entire cast and crew, only a fraction of whom are pictured here. Serenity is a success because of you! 🌸 pic.twitter.com/UtJS6g140H
— Sweet Magnolias Writers (@swtmagnoliaroom) February 12, 2022
What to expect from Sweet Magnolias season 3
Season 2 ends with plenty of cliffhangers continuing the tradition over from season 1.
The second season concludes with a proposal and a confrontation in the restaurant which leads to Cal being escorted away in cuffs. We also know that someone has returned after the main trio saw footage of tires being slashed on Sullivan’s delivery van.
Helen (played by Heather Headley) had a rough ride in season 2 with a number of traumatic events but the season ended with her being proposed to by Ryan. Season 3 will likely kick off with the decision she makes.
Picture: Netflix
In an interview with TVLine, Sheryl J. Anderson answered a number of the burning questions that many have after the conclusion of season 2.
When asked about who slashed Dana Sue’s tires, she said “I will just say she has a past in common with our ladies and some other folks in town,” adding “She’s been away for a while, but she has come back with an agenda. She has come home to settle some scores.”
Anderson also said we could “potentially” see the return of Victoria and implied we could see other “troublemakers” return in the future too. Dana Sue’s relationship was addressed too where Anderson said that three-way dance will likely continue to be complicated.
Speaking to Glamor, Anderson said there isn’t one sole question heading into season 3 compared to season 2 other than the big one being about a renewal saying “I hope the main question that everybody has at the end of season two is: Are they going to get a season three?”
While we’re waiting for renewal news and the third season, Netflix is still running its book club hosted by Uzo Aduba (Orange is the New Black) and Sweet Magnolias was a recent pick. We’d also recommend giving the Sweet Magnolias Writers Room a follow on Twitter.
Do you want to see season 3 of Sweet Magnolias at Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.