USA renews The Sinner for a second season but Jessica Biel may not return

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Nowadays, it's rare that I'm able to walk into a film or watch a TV series without knowing more about it than I would like, but when my fiancée and I stumbled onto The Sinner, we were both pleased to discover that we knew next to nothing about it. The eight-episode series followed Cora (Jessica Biel), a young mother who brutally kills a man in public while at the beach with her family. As she seems to have no idea why she did it, Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) investigates Cora's past in order to discover the truth.

Due to the positive reception which The Sinner received, and I'm sure the Golden Globe nominations it earned for Best Miniseries and Best Actress in a Miniseries didn't hurt, USA Network has renewed the anthology series for a second season. Bill Pullman will return to reprise his role as Detective Harry Ambrose, but it's not yet clear whether Jessica Biel will be back as well. The actress will remain on-board as an executive producer, but as the second season will be dealing with an entirely new case, I personally wouldn't count on Biel returning. What sort of mystery will the second season of The Sinner present, well, it will find Detective Ambrose (Pullman) returning to his hometown in rural New York to assess an "unsettling and heart-wrenching crime," the murder of two parents by their 11-year-old son with no apparent motive.

As Ambrose realizes there’s nothing ordinary about the boy or where he came from, the investigation pulls him into the hidden darkness of his hometown. He’s pitted against those who’ll stop at nothing to protect its secrets — and a mysterious woman who proves to be a complicated, enigmatic piece to this haunting puzzle.

"The Sinner was a huge success for USA Network," said Chris McCumber, president of entertainment networks at NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. "In our second season, we’ll follow Detective Ambrose as he tracks his newest 'why-dunnit,' while staying true to the unique, edge-of-your-seat storytelling that captivated audiences and critics alike." The Sinner's second season is expected to debut in the summer.