Bekah Brunstetter moved “the secret” earlier and is pitching a new “fifth star” season

Note: This story contains spoilers from “The Five Star Weekend” Season 1, Episode 8.

Bekah Brunstetter did not just adapt Elin Hilderbrand's novel. She re-timed one of its biggest shocks. In The Five Star Weekend, the affair between Gigi (Gemma Chan) and Hollis' late husband, Matthew, is revealed beyond Hollis herself, with the secret disclosed to the friends as well, rather than only being discovered by Hollis toward the end in the book. Brunstetter also had Brooke (D'Arcy Carden) be the first to find out the secret, with the reveal triggered by a glimpse at her phone, and she complicates it further with a kiss that differs from the source material.

That is the core strategic pivot: Brunstetter wants the five formidable actors to “come together” every episode with something to “chew on,” instead of staying siloed in separate storylines. And in practice, she uses secrets, romance, and competing priorities to force the group to operate like a single system. The result is a show that Brunstetter describes as giving viewers a little bit of both: “escapist and warm and life-affirming and friendship-affirming,” while still including “really relatable, grittier stuff going on as well.”

Brunstetter’s interest in the project started immediately after she read the novel the day after the writers’ strikes ended in 2023. Her pitch for why this works is also a market pitch: the Nantucket-set premise is inherently cozy, but she argues the books are not as light as some people think, with “a lot of depth” and “a lot of relatability.” That balance is part of why the all-star cast matters. Brunstetter wanted a group of actors who, as a group, transcend any single genre bucket, to create that feeling on a billboard of “what the hell is that show?” even before anyone clicks.

She also tackles why the chemistry takes time. Brunstetter says Regina Hall, Gemma Chan, and D'Arcy Carden had “never worked together” as a shared unit before, but she wanted relationships to build at the same pace they do in the show. The bigger production bet is that tone is not a side dish. It is the engine. Chloë Sevigny, for example, thought the project was “too mainstream” for her audience, and Brunstetter admitted she had a “similar reaction” because the show is “lighter” than her past projects. Still, she argues that the combination is the point: escapism plus grit, warmth plus real friction.

Then come the adaptation mechanics, which matter because they determine how quickly a season can land emotionally and how effectively it can set up a longer arc. Brunstetter left most characters from Hilderbrand’s novel untouched, but she altered Hollis' daughter Caroline (Harlow Jane), who has a different storyline than in the book. In the novel, Caroline has an affair with her filmmaker boss; in the show, Brunstetter wanted her story “more on the island,” and connected it to the grief her mother is facing as she rekindles a friendship with Tatum's daughter (West Duchovny).

The most meaningful shift is the externalization and earlier disclosure of the secret. Brunstetter decided early that Brooke would be first to find out Gigi’s secret. She also rewired the romantic beat around that discovery. The reveal is complicated by the kiss Brooke and Gigi share while shopping in town, which is another departure from the book, where Brooke and Dru-Ann kiss. Brunstetter frames this as a character psychology choice. She says Brooke still feels like she is 13 years old and drawn to Gigi, but it is not really sexual, “or is it,” and it whirls her into confusing feelings. This is also tied to another priority: slowing down Brooke’s journey so it is not just “I’m gay now,” but “her realizing her autonomy within her own life and within her own marriage.”

If that sounds like writing choices, it is also renewal strategy. Brunstetter wants empathy without letting anyone off the hook. She emphasizes that she did not want to villainize Gigi, and she explains her thinking as an attempt to challenge an audience to have some empathy even though what she did was wrong. That theme of forgiveness vs. growth lands again in the finale confrontation, which Brunstetter says was “pulled straight” from the novel, but with focus tuned for Hollis. Brunstetter describes Hollis as learning “this terrible truth” while also feeling “a little bit responsible” for the affair, and even feeling bad for Gigi despite anger and heartbreak. This is not just emotional texture. It is how you build a character who can sustain multiple seasons.

Brunstetter’s multi-season pitch is unusually concrete. She envisions each subsequent season following Hollis, Tatum, Dru-Ann, Brooke, and “potentially a new fifth star” in a new vacation destination, noting “They could go on vacations forever.” She also highlights specific story fuel. Tatum kickstarts her battle with cancer after getting results back from her doctor, and Brunstetter made an early change from the book to keep the show from treating cancer as destiny. “Women get breast cancer - it doesn't necessarily mean she's going to die like her mom did,” Brunstetter says, and the team wanted the end of the show to sit with that truth.

For the “fifth star,” Brunstetter has ideas, but the mechanism is pragmatic. She says she would ideally craft a character around a willing actor, talking with them about what they want to play and where their strengths are. That fifth star will not be Gigi, though Brunstetter did not shut down a future return, saying Gigi is “not going to be coming on the weekend, but I don't think she's gone forever.” She also keeps Electra (Judy Greer) as a running gag, explaining that no matter where they are, she shows up.

So what should executives take from this, beyond the fact that Peacock is streaming the show now? Brunstetter’s approach is a blueprint for how to make “cozy” scalable into serial storytelling: adjust timing so discoveries land socially, retool romantic beats to deepen autonomy, and use empathy as a structural asset instead of a loophole. If you are underwriting another season, the strategic stake is clear. The showrunner is building a system where characters keep colliding, forgiveness has consequences, and every vacation destination can function like a reset button for fresh relationships. That is how you avoid the dead end that so many ensemble shows hit after one successful weekend.