Homecoming, Amazon's tense psychological thriller, has just returned for its second season but one element of the show that's changed completely is its main character.
The first season was led by Julia Roberts as Heidi Bergman, a caseworker at a specialised live-in facility for ex-soldiers called the Homecoming Transitional Support Center, who ended up with amnesia and had to try to piece together the missing parts of her life.
But she's nowhere to be seen this season, with Janelle Monáe taking over as lead as brand new character Jackie with her own, very different, story.
Related: Homecoming's Stephan James discusses what happens to Walter Cruz after season 2
Speaking to Digital Spy, season two director Kyle Patrick Alvarez explained just why the producers decided to go down a completely alternative route for this season with a different character – and it's all to do with keeping things fresh for viewers.
"For me, growing up, watching television, one of the frustrating elements about it was that it would feel repetitive as seasons went on, especially if it was going on five, six, seven seasons and you were still with the same characters," he said. "Take an example, 24, which I love. I watched every episode from beginning to end, but how many crazy days can Jack Bauer have?
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"So I feel like for television and the way the format is evolving now, I think what's exciting is we can keep the series going but refresh it and shift that point of view so not only does it not start to feel stale and tedious, but it allows you to sort of explore the same world through someone else's eyes.
"Which I think is the point of storytelling, which is finding empathy with different people and different backgrounds and coming into that world with a different take on it... not eliminate or exclude on what happened in the first season, but expand on it in this different and dynamic way."
Related: Homecoming season 3 – everything you need to know
Alvarez added that he thinks Heidi's story ended in such a satisfactory way that there's actually no need for us to go back and revisit her.
"I think Heidi's story had kind of a perfect ending and I think great endings are very rare and by endings I mean final seconds, final frames even," he explained. "So if you have something like that, like season one did, in a lot of ways it's great and freeing in season two to be able to move away from those moments ... and say, 'Hey, that was sacred but we get to do this other thing over here'."
Homecoming showrunners Eli Horowitz and Micah Bloomberg have already revealed that they have "plenty of ideas" for a third season of the show too, so there's every chance the drama could be continually refreshed over time.
"We have plenty of ideas for a third season," they said. "We want you to have that feeling every time of thinking, 'They told me a full story, they are not withholding something from me. But I enjoy this enough that I would spend some more time in this world'."
Homecoming seasons 1 and 2 are currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
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Reporter & Sub-Editor, Digital Spy Susannah is a freelance writer and sub-editor, specialising in the entertainment industry. She graduated in 2014, with a BA in English and American Literature and Creative Writing, and an MA in Creative Producing. She’s been writing for Digital Spy ever since, after first getting involved through work experience, and has written hundreds of stories for the site on a range of topics, from The Sims to Doctor Who. Susannah has also written for Reveal Magazine. Her special interests are soaps (her Mastermind subject would be 2000s Coronation Street), Marvel and Star Wars. She can also quote far too many lines from Friends and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
