5 things we learned about Tell Me a Story season 2 during NYCC

The Tell Me a Story executive producer and cast sat for a panel at NYCC to discuss Season 2 and the fairy tales that inspired the season.

It looks like we’re headed for Nashville in season 2 of the psychological thriller Tell Me a Story. Along with the new setting, we’re getting a completely new cast, with the exception of Paul Wesley and Danielle Campbell who are returning as brand new characters. This time, the home of country music will be the stage for three princess-inspired fairy tales taking place in the modern world — and it’s going to be wild.

Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty are the princess stories featured in season 2. The most apparent theme within the three well-known princess stories is that there is something dark and ominous just beneath the surface. What each story is hiding is what viewers will have to find out through the season. If there’s one thing that’s for sure, it’s that these are not the Disney stories that we grew up with.

Watch the official teaser trailer for Tell Me a Story season 2:

During New York Comic- Con, the cast spoke more in detail about their characters, Kevin Williamson expanded on his vision, and they dropped a trailer. While they kept the most thrilling parts of the series under wraps, they were able to give us a nice mental visual of season 2.

So, what did we learn about the upcoming season?

Tell Me a Story will be an anthology

The one thing that will also be true about every season — so far — is that it will be focused on fairy tales. However, the tales will change every season, and with new stories, we will also be getting new characters and likely new actors. The one thing that we’ll have to wait and see is if Wesley will be returning every season as a new character. Williamson may just take a page out of American Horror Story and make Wesley the Sarah Paulson of the series.

All of the fairy tales are connected by one family

The Pruitt family will be the focus of this season’s fairy tale gang. Rebecca Pruitt (Carrie-Anne Moss) is the matriarch of this dysfunctional family, and she’s trying to help her children in their own respective stories. According to Moss, her main focus will be her daughter Ashley Rose Pruitt (Natalie Alyn Lind) and her love interest Beau Morris (Eka Darville), both of whom are at the center of Beauty and the Beast. And for the first time, the Beast is a woman and the Beauty is a man.

Wesley will play Tucker who is with Madison Pruitt (Odette Annabelle) and will follow the Sleeping Beauty story. Simone Garland (Ashley Madekwe) and Jackson Pruitt (Matt Lauria) make up the Cinderella story that even has an evil stepmother played by Garcelle Beauvais. According to Williamson, these stories will overlap and cross paths often during the season.

The setting is in Nashville and will play a big part in the stories.

Nashville is known for its music, so there was no way that the city wasn’t going to have a starring role. Ashley Rose is a super popular singer who is disfigured after a freak accident. She struggles with her fame and music career knowing that she is no longer the same and wears a compression mask that makes her look like the Phantom of the Opera. Lind really sang for the part, and according to the cast, her voice is breathtaking.

Tucker has the most intriguing secret of all the other characters.

Maybe it’s because everyone is so tight-lipped about the character Tucker and what exactly is wrong with his story, but it looks like that’s where we’re going to get the greatest twist of all. Based on the trailer, Tucker is a struggling novelist who is lying about getting ahead on his manuscript and is struggling with sleep. The question is whether these are clues to a hidden villainous nature.

Wesley and Annabelle described their characters lives as seemingly perfect with the complexities of their relationship unraveling like an onion as the season progresses. From what we know from the Disneyfied version of Sleeping Beauty, it is an evil source outside of the relationship that is the real villain. But the creators of Tell Me a Story may have taken liberties with their version to surprise us with something darker.

Cinderella’s story will be about transformation

The classic Cinderella story followed a girl diminished by her jealous step-family and rescued by a supernatural godmother who gives her the opportunity to attend a ball and meet a wealthy prince who later wants to marry her. The marriage is Cinderella’s ticket out of servitude and a way to leave her family. It seems that Simone will find the same kind of solace in Jackson despite having a complicated relationship with her step-family.

However, the producer pointed out during NYCC that Cinderella’s story is about transformation, which opens the doors for more than just a marriage as a means to get out. There are so many ways they can transform the character, and it would be even better if she gets to get back at her step-family while she’s at it.

What are you most looking forward to in Tell Me a Story season 2? Let us know in the comments.

Tell Me a Story returns for season 2 on December 5 on CBS all access.