Could 'Painkiller' Get a Second Season?
Since Netflix's Painkiller is based on real events, it has somewhat of a definitive end. Adapting Barry Meier's Pain Killer: An Empire of Deceit and the Origin of America’s Opioid Epidemic, the series tells the story of six people who are affected by the opioid crisis. Painkiller also features the prosecutors who attempted to hold Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family responsible for distributing OxyContin.
In the end of the series, Richard Sackler (Matthew Broderick) uses his power to demand a settlement with the US Attorney's office. Instead of taking any accountability for the opioid epidemic, Purdue pleads guilty to only one count of misleading the public regarding OxyContin's risk of addiction. Eventually, the Sackler family gives up ownership of Purdue and the pharmaceutical company files for bankruptcy.
Though Painkiller completes the story of the trial, the opioid crisis, of course, did not end with Purdue Pharma's billion-dollar settlements. The addictive nature of painkillers persists in America, and the opioid crisis is far from the first drug to gravely affect the country. It's entirely possible for the series to continue as an anthology, telling more stories about the individuals who were affected by drug addiction—and those in power who got away with just a slap on the wrist.
"You get to go deeper than you do on a film," executive producer Peter Berg told Esquire about the limited series. In Painkiller, he told the stories of a car mechanic (Taylor Kitsch) who becomes addicted and the federal prosecutor (Uzo Aduba) who doesn't see the case go through. He'll partner again with Kitsch on an upcoming western series titled American Primeval.
"It was an event, right? All of these deaths, all of this money, something really violent has occurred,” Berg continued. “It's a different type of violence, but it's a violent event. It's not so much that I'm interested in attacking capitalism or corporate greed. Fair enough. Corporate greed should be checked. But it's more like, just as a filmmaker, I like unpacking events. And the opioid crisis is one hell of an event.”
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