The TV show “Firefly Lane” on Netflix centres on the friendship between Tully and Kate, who have known each other since they were teenagers. The show shows how the two closest friends work through various life issues while remaining close and supporting one another at all costs. The story, which takes place between the 1970s and the early 2000s, depicts many aspects of Tully and Kate’s lives, such as friendships, relationships, traumas, careers, and more.
Overall, the programme is a superb emotional drama that explores the advantages and disadvantages of having a long-term closest friend. The story takes place throughout a number of years during this time, with incidents from each year interlaced with one another. Thus, it may be a little challenging to follow the timeline and the order of events. But don’t worry; we’ve broken down and simplified the entire timetable for you. Spoilers follow!
Firefly Lane Timeline Explained
most of “Firefly Lane” occurs between 1974 and 2005. A couple other things also happen before 1974 and after 2005. The journey of Tully and Kate can be divided into three parts. Tully and Kate complete their final three years of high school, finish college, and join KPOC during the first part, which spans the years 1974 to 1982. Between 1982 until 2003, the two closest friends go through a second period during which they build their careers, enter and exit relationships, and create enduring ties. Between 2003 and 2005 is the third phase, which is characterised by the challenges and issues that come with midlife for the women. All of these events have been split down and organised chronologically for your convenience.
1959/1960
Probably in 1959 or 1960, Dorothy Hart and Parker Binswanger cross paths. When they first meet, they instantly click. Soon after, Dorothy becomes pregnant but keeps it a secret from Parker. The two resolve to flee, but each time they do so, Parker’s family tracks them down. They eventually resolve to try one last time, but Dorothy’s father is compensated by Parker’s brother, Benedict Binswanger. Parker receives a false letter from Dorothy’s father claiming that his daughter has changed her mind. Dorothy’s father presents her with a phoney letter purporting to be from Parker.
The two lovers accidentally split up because they were unaware of it. Parker raises Tully while Dororthy attends a college in Europe to study poetry. However, after numerous visits to the Binswanger home, Dorothy only receives a response from the house assistant. Benedict eventually extends an invitation to her and pays her frequently to keep her from tarnishing the family reputation.
1974
Tully moved in with her mother, Dorothy, to a home on Firefly Lane in 1974, where they first cross paths and become friends. Although Kate and Tully don’t seem to get along at first, they quickly become close friends. It occurs when Pat, a student, rapes Tully. Since Tully has no one to turn to or confide in, she spills her heart out to Kate. The two then begin socialising together after this. Tully, in the meantime, learns that Sean is gay and decides to keep it a secret.
Tully, however, lies to Kate, which leads to a little argument between the two. Tully makes up her mother having cancer when she first meets Kate. Tully conceals the truth out of fear of criticism. Tully tries to disclose the truth afterwards, but she is never given the opportunity. Sadly, Kate learns the truth on her own and cuts off communication with her best friend. Kate is more disturbed by her mother’s affair than by Tully’s deception because she finds out about it right before Tully tells the truth. Even Kate’s father, Bud, becomes aware that his wife, Margie, is having an affair as the story goes on. Margie decides to stay with him when he gives her the chance to pick one.
After Kate receives her book back from Tully, they soon make up. Kate discovers drawings of her home and horse when she opens the books. As soon as Kate understands how much Tully values her, the two make amends. However, Tully’s situation becomes even worse when her mother Dorothy is put in jail for using narcotics. The authorities turn over Tully to her grandmother, who resides in another town, prompting the two friends to part ways.
1975
Five months later, in 1975, Tully is living with her grandmother and writing to Kate to update her on her life. While Kate is desperate for a kiss, Tully is still scarred as a result of the episode with Pat. Tully discovers a photograph of Dorothy and a different man while searching through some drawers. Kate joins Tully on her search for the man because she believes he might be her father. Tully and Kate encounter the man when they arrive at the location in the picture, but he is not Tully’s father. The two then go out to dine, but soon discover they are short on cash. The two begin to argue and point fingers at one another as the situation becomes more uncomfortable. Following Tully’s declaration that their friendship is gone, the two girls part ways.
1976
Following a year, when Dorothy is released from prison, Tully and Kate cross paths. Tully resumes attending school when the mother and daughter return to their home on Firefly Lane. When she walks into the class, she learns Lisa Karen is Kate’s new best friend. After all is said and done, the two reconcile and reestablish their friendship, which annoys Lisa-Karen. In the meantime, Dorothy makes an effort to improve by experimenting with new foods and abstaining from drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. To understand how to choose a different road and have a better relationship with Tully, she even encounters a priest named Dennis.
However, Dorothy saves Tully after Dennis becomes hostile and abusive toward her one evening. People mock and denigrate her as the plot develops. Some man tries to dominate her at a party, and when he doesn’t get his way, he calls her some strange names. In a downward spiral, Dorothy resumes smoking and drinking. Lisa is more envious of the two girls as Kate assists Tully in joining the movie club. A classmate of Eugene, Tully, and Kate approaches the former during a movie showing for the club. Tully advises him to ask Kate out instead because she is aware that Kate likes the guy. Eugene betrays Kate’s confidence by telling her about what happened when they kiss afterwards.
When Kate and Tully disagree about Eugene, they eventually make up. Tully, on the other hand, understands that she hasn’t moved over her trauma. She panics and backs out of a kiss with a nice guy. Tully notices Sean as she moves closer to her house. Tully asserts that she cannot share a bed with anybody else while Sean discusses how he and Robbie are not together. Sean wants to try and be like the other males, whilst Tully wants to feel secure while sleeping with someone else. The two decide to try having sex once to gauge the experience. Lisa Karen notices them as they do and then quietly leaves. Later, she uses it to provoke a fight between Tully and Kate, but it loses effectiveness after a while.
The two then secure summer employment at Burger Planet USA, where they discover Lisa is the manager. She is harsh with both of them because when Lisa makes up with Tully, Kate no longer considers Lisa to be her friend. Tully encounters Pat once more while they are there, and this time he is with a different girl. Tully initially freaks out but later informs his girlfriend, who writes him off as a crazy. After some time, though, Tully witnesses Pat and his girlfriend fighting, at which point the latter departs. When Pat questions Tully about the incident, Tully musters the guts to confront Pat about his behaviour.
Before the summer ends, the AV club meets at the school, and Eugene asks Kate why she stopped communicating after the kiss. Despite her inability to respond intelligently, Kate informs him that she is unwilling to date him. Before classes start up again, everyone from the AV club decided to jump in the pool and have some fun. When Tully and Kate arrive back to school, they learn that their pool images had been leaked and are consequently suspended. Eugene apologises but maintains that he had no intention of leaking the pictures. Someone at the school whom he presented the photos to later leaked them.
Following these events, Tully receives a call saying that a parole officer would visit the home to see how Dorothy is doing. While keeping all the narcotics hidden, Tully and Kate manage to clean the house. The parole officer is largely satisfied after seeing Dorothy tidy up. Later, Dorothy resumes her typical behaviour, and Tully understands that her mother’s addiction will never go away.
1980
The plot picks up again when Tully and Kate are enrolled in college and journalism classes. Chad Wiley, Tully’s professor, isn’t giving her enough opportunities to speak in class, she realises. Tully challenges the professor after receiving a C from him on her assignment as well. Chad gives her a second chance after objectively pointing out her shortcomings. Tully redoes her project as Kate spends the weekend with her family. Chad walks into the room as she is rehearsing and offers to assist her. The two begin kissing, though, and Chad walks away after realising he shouldn’t be doing this.
Tully then makes the decision to join Kate’s family, where the two girls begin to argue once more. This time, Kate wants to do something by herself without being overly dependent on Tully. Additionally, Kate tells Tully that she applied to a semester programme in London but wasn’t sure how to tell him. The latter becomes combative and asserts that Kate is free to behave as she pleases.
1982
The story continues up two years after Tully graduates from college at the news station KPOC. Kate joins the company thanks to Tully, and she develops feelings for their CEO, Johnny. Kate feels a connection with Johnny right away and works hard to win his favour. Johnny is impressed by the way Kate brings order to the pandemonium at KPOC. Kate gives up on Tully, though, after realising that Johnny might be interested in her. In fact, Tully and Johnny nearly shared a kiss one evening when high on drugs and booze.
Sean, who is now a naval lieutenant, is seen dropping by Kate and Tully’s workplace, KPOC. Sean tells Tully that he is in love with a 32-year-old fisherman and hopes their relationship will succeed. Sean wants to come out to Kate but decides against it because he is too worried about how she and their parents will respond. In the meantime, Carol, their senior, interferes with Kate and Tully’s attempts to acquire a nice story with the mayor.
Tully experiences discouragement, yet she maintains her attitude and continues. When everyone goes to the pub to unwind after the event, Kate tries to approach Johnny but becomes unsure of herself after observing the way he looks at Tully. Just then, Chad and Tully re-connect, and they begin kissing. In light of this, Johnny and Kate have quite different opinions about Chad and Tully.
1984
Tully and Kate’s jobs didn’t improve in 1984 because they hadn’t received a promotion in the previous two years. When it comes to their relationship, Tully and Chad bounce back and forth, while Kate is with Mutt. When Johnny returns from El Salvador, where he reports on actual news, he witnesses a friend being shot. When everyone gathers, things get awkward when Johnny finds that Kate is Mutt even if he likes her. Despite her continued affections for Johnny, Kate is unable to leave Mutt and choose to remain with him. The final unravelling of this web reveals Kate and Johnny united.
We also witness Sean’s marriage to Julia during the year. Sean responds that the fisherman he was in love with passed away when Tully questions him about why he’s acting in this way despite being gay. Therefore, the only option for him to be happy is to wed Julia. At his wedding, Sean and Kate’s relationship develops as well. Despite their disagreements, the two recognise their connection and come to terms with it.
Following her coverage of a heist at a general store, Tully also receives her big break in the media. Despite being shot, she recovers quickly, and her work begins to get attention. As a result, Wilson King from competing news outlet KLET meets with Tully to discuss a prospective employment offer. But afterwards, he tries to impose himself on her and insists that she sleep with him. Tully kicks Wilson as he becomes hostile and walks out of his office without turning around.
1985
Kate and Tully begin reporting on breaking news in real time from various locations, such as protests, governor elections, and more. However, Danny from a competing news outlet follows her everywhere she goes. Once they had a sexual encounter, Danny and Tully later joined the KPOC channel. The two become rivals as well as physical partners. Benedict Binswanger, a candidate for governor, is one of the major news stories being covered. When Tully raises a legitimate concern about the effects of his logging operation on the environment at a conference, the man abuses her. In addition to feeling uneasy, Tully has a bad feeling about the governor candidate. Tully and Danny attempt to put something on the man.
Tully and Danny travel to meet her after receiving a tip from a Benedict insider. It turns out that the individual is the former housekeeper for the Binswanger family, whom Dorothy had known in the past. She claims that Benedict sent his brother away, bought off injured workers, bribed politicians, and paid a woman to keep quiet about her unborn child. The maid also mentions having known Tully ever since she was a young child. Tully is confused by everything, but the housekeeper is referring to the events that took place in 1959 and 1960. We quickly discover that the maid is elderly and hence senile. She makes no sense to Danny or Tully, so they don’t believe a word she says.
On Orcas Island, PJ Pelican is a restaurant that Danny and Tully learn about. Tully expects to uncover something there after discovering a connection between the restaurant and Benedict Binswanger. However, when they arrive, all they find is a waitress who claims the owner is not present. He doesn’t appear to be interested in responding to any queries when they inquire about Benedict. The server offers Tully an aloe vera plant as she departs and promises her free oysters whenever she comes back.
Danny and Tully fight to become the weekend anchor at KPOC after discovering no information about Benedict Binswanger. The two keep up their intimate relationship even while they compete for the part and audition for it. Soon, Danny tells Tully that he pulled out of the competition because he was travelling to New York for another work. Tully is hired and appointed as the weekend anchor. But when the rating falls, she works on getting better.
In the meantime, Kate and Johnny’s romance develops but soon encounters some difficulties. Johnny doesn’t want a marriage and children, but Kate does. Thus, the two decide to call it quits, and Kate begins dating Theo. Soon after discovering that Johnny is still not over the ex, Kate and Tully start to ponder how to handle the entire scenario. Tully admits that she misses Danny during this time and phones him from a bar phone. When Danny answers the phone, Tully decides not to speak to him since she lacks the confidence to do so.
Theo asks Kate if she wants to travel to Europe with him as their relationship develops. She initially says no because she has to keep her job. However, Kate is let go because she attempted to cover up Tully’s error. Kate acknowledges that she has the chance to accompany Theo and even gives her consent. But Kate is torn between the situation and Johnny since she can’t get over him. Tully encourages her to take the trip, and as soon as she steps outside her apartment, Johnny arrives and declares his love for Kate.
1989
While Kate’s participation on the trip is unknown, we do know that she will give birth to a child in 1989. Tully tries to hang on to Kate as tightly as she can because she fears losing her best friend. In order to keep Kate and Johnny’s unborn child entertained, Tully also buys them a pet dog. Kate feels shaky at the baby shower and heads to a pub with Tully to cool off. Tully says she works at WNBC in New York but isn’t sure if she should go. The thing that worries Tully the most is being alone; without Kate, she feels bare.
Tully does not feel like travelling to New York despite the fact that she has an amazing job there. Kate’s water breaks at the bar, and the two closest pals hurried to the hospital. Tully allows Kate, Johnny, and their newborn to enjoy a moment when the baby is delivered, but she also feels more alone than ever. Tully understands she had to go when Johnny approaches her to discuss his concerns about his new family.
1993
In 1993, when Tully works for WNBC in New York, the narrative continues. She feels lonely because she hasn’t spoken to Kate much in the past year. Kate, meantime, is content with her family but longs to go back to work and pursue her profession. The reunion between Kate and Tully in New York is sweet. But Tully’s showdown with Benedict Binswanger is the most crucial event this year. Initially playing polite, Benedict quickly reveals his actual nature, leaving Tully uneasy. She experienced a similar sensation when Benedict knocked her down.
2003
The current era of the series starts in 2003. Following around 12 years, Kate is attempting to find a new job while Tully is working on her own show called “The Girlfriend Hour.” After promising the editor an interview with Tully Hart, she is made the editor’s assistant at “Seattle Digest.” Marah, Kate’s 14-year-old daughter, is struggling with adolescent issues. But most importantly, Kate and Johnny have already separated and are in the process of divorcing.
Over the course of the year, Kate and Johnny argue, get into embarrassing situations with each other, and talk about what they want to do. Johnny initially thinks Kate dumped him and that’s why they’re no longer together. Later on, he realises that Kate wasn’t being unfaithful at all; rather, things simply became too challenging for both of them. Despite the fact that the two are in love, Johnny decides he needs to take care of himself. Johnny makes the decision to go to Iraq to cover the conflict. Sadly, he is injured in a bomb and sent to Germany for treatment.
Tully is dealing with her own issues while the narrative of Kate and Johnny develops. Tully begins by stating that Dorothy, her mother, died when she was 15 years old. But soon after learning that Dorothy is still alive, the editor of Seattle Digest launches an investigation and writes a defamatory piece about Tully Hart. When confronted by Tully, her mother claims that the editor misinterpreted her words and that she didn’t make any negative remarks about her daughter. Dorothy currently works as a waitress at a café and is sober. Tully starts talking to her mother more, and although though their bond is shaky, they continue to communicate.
Additionally, Tully approaches Max about having a physical relationship but constantly shoos him away. She soon discovers she is pregnant and that the child is Max’s. She decides to marry him on a whim after giving it some thought and makes the decision to be happy. However, the joy is short-lived as Sarah experiences a miscarriage and pushes Max away once more. She makes an effort to make amends with him, but he doesn’t show up this time. Wilson King purchases the network that airs Tully’s show, which only makes matters worse. Tully rejects Wilson’s bullying tactics and decides to leave the network and the show.
2004
When Johnny returns from Germany, he discovers that he has PTSD and needs to seek counselling while his physical wounds begin to heal. Kate, who still has feelings for Johnny, is torn because of Calvin, Charlie, and other circumstances. However, they decide to speak things out, and after admitting their feelings, they reconcile. Kate and Johnny start to have open discussions about everything, which helps them grow up.
Tully learns that Wilson King is suing her for breaching the contract, on the other hand. Tully appoints a new agent who works with her to create an internet blog that quickly gains popularity. Tully is aware of her issues with men and how she frequently judges them. Tully resolves to film a docu-special about locating her father in order to deal with these difficult feelings and pain. When Tully embarks on this section, she becomes aware of the tale of Dorothy and Parker. Tully also discovers that Benedict Binswanger is her uncle, who has been ignoring her for years despite knowing her well. But most crucially, Tully learns that Parker, her father, was the waiter she had met at PJ Pelican. Parker never knew he had a daughter, and when he did, his health deteriorated and he had a stroke, which caused his death.
Tully’s loneliness hasn’t changed even after finding out about her father. One day she runs across Tully’s neighbour Danny, who has returned to Seattle. She learns that he has a girlfriend throughout their conversation, yet there is some rebuke between them. Danny admits that he occasionally has thoughts of her but refrains from trying to cheat on his girlfriend and maintains his friendship with Tully.
But following Tully’s vehicle accident while Marah is with her, the two have a very public falling out. Kate abruptly cuts off communication with her and doesn’t forgive her for what she did. Tully eventually connects with Kate on the phone after numerous failed attempts, but she is unresponsive. Tully wants to attend the burial for Kate’s father, Bud, but Kate tells her to leave when he passes away later. (Even though the show depicts Bud’s funeral in 2003 and says “Two Years Later,” the funeral actually takes place in 2004, as we see in season 2, part 1.)
2005
The show seamlessly jumps to the following year, during which Kate strengthens her ties to her family and begins attending creative writing classes. As Johnny and Kate become closer, they start to consider getting married. Johnny is upbeat but Kate is fearful that history may repeat again. When Johnny finally asks Kate to marry him, she accepts. Even though Kate misses her best friend Tully, she is obstinate in refusing to speak to her. As a result, Kate tries to make new acquaintances but fails to connect with them in the same way that she did with Tully.
Tully rebuilds her childhood home when the funeral is over. After remodelling the house, Tully relives all the memories and also experiences catharsis. She extends an invitation to Danny, his girlfriend, Dorothy, and Thanksgiving at her home. Tully gives Dorothy the house as a present because it was where they raised their children. Danny enquires about Tully’s desire to return to journalism and informs him that a documentary director may use Tully’s assistance. He tells Tully that she must spend many months in Antarctica for the documentary when they first meet. She runs into Kate as she’s having the chat, and she almost immediately agrees to work with the filmmaker.
Tully asserts that she is not acting impulsively when Danny advises her against doing so. In the meantime, Kate visits Tully after realising she has breast cancer. But Tully leaves for the airport to fly to Antarctica before Kate even makes it in time.
2015
Sean asks Johnny if he’s prepared for the big day as they both stand outside a house. Johnny shakily responds that the bride is nowhere to be found and that the wedding will begin at any moment. Then, while wearing a silky white robe, we see Tully getting ready in front of a mirror. When someone knocks on her door as she is examining her makeup, she responds that there is no rush because the day can’t start without her. While Marah is probably getting married, this could be a distraction from Tully’s likely impending marriage. Given his anxiety, Johnny might act in this manner only if his daughter is getting married.
