Apple TV+ Reportedly Canceled High Desert Ahead Of Season 2

At the end of its eight-episode first season, Apple TV+’s High Desert left a major cliffhanger to resolve. After an antic-filled entry into her new career as a private investigator in small desert town Yucca Valley, California, on-again-off-again addict Peggy Newman (Patricia Arquette) climbed into a cannon in the dark comedy’s finale — but her fate remained unknown. Now, fans will have to fill in the blanks themselves: Despite positive critic and viewer reviews, Apple TV+ canceled High Desert ahead of a potential Season 2, according to Arquette.

“A lot of you have asked about High Desert and if there was going to be a second season, so I just wanted to let you know we just found out that it won’t be coming back,” the actor revealed in a July 1 Instagram video message. “That’s a sad bummer for all of us. . . . We just had a blast. I love Peggy and that punk rock world.”

After thanking the cast and crew (but before joking about hugging it out with a cactus), Arquette concluded, “Thanks to you guys for watching. You can’t win them all. You know, it sucks but… tough.” (Bustle reached out to Apple TV+ reps for comment, but did not receive an immediate response.)

Prior to the cancellation news, actor Weruche Opia, who plays Peggy’s flighty best friend Carol, already had ideas for another installment of the Ben Stiller-produced series, too. “We can see in Season 1 that she has a secret and a past and we don’t get to delve into it because we're all in Peggy’s world, which is what it’s all about. But I think it’d be really nice to see why Carol is the way she is,” she told Entertainment Tonight, ahead of the May series premiere. “She comes across as this completely zen, cool, chilled-out woman, but there is something bubbling underneath. I would love to explore it more and to figure out how she and Peggy actually came to be who they are and be in each other’s lives the way they are.”

In addition to Arquette and Opia, the High Desert Season 2 cast also included: Matt Dillon (Denny), Rupert Friend (Guru Bob), Brad Garrett (Bruce), Bernadette Peters (Roslyn), and Christine Taylor (Dianne). Arquette’s 20-year-old daughter, Harlow Jane, also appeared as a younger Peggy in flashbacks.

In a separate ET interview, Arquette recalled her reaction when Dillon signed on to play her parolee ex. “Our casting director was like, ‘Hey, what about Matt Dillon?’ And we all screamed like, ‘Oh my god, it would be incredible,’” the Oscar winner revealed. “We kind of couldn’t imagine anyone else really as soon as that name came out. It was like, ‘Ugh, that would be a dream.’”

Despite the sad news, fans can still look forward to Stiller and Arquette on the streamer’s delayed Severance Season 2 — though there’s going to be a longer wait than originally planned. “We’re not done shooting, and now we’re on the writers strike,” Arquette told Variety in May of Severance’s filming status. “So it’s going to be a while. A lot of it’s been shot. But we still have a lot that we can’t really finish.”