Dear Edward Trailer: Taylor Schilling Tries To Find Meaning After A Tragedy

The man behind "Friday Night Lights" and "Parenthood" has already made us cry our weight in tears over high school football and complicated family relationships, and now he's back to do it again with a plane crash story. "Dear Edward" is coming to Apple TV+ next month, and the new first trailer for the show reveals it's set to be another tearjerker from Jason Katims — one that will also bring back "Friday Night Lights" alum Connie Britton. Britton stars alongside "Orange is the New Black" star Taylor Schilling, while the eponymous character is played by newcomer Colin O'Brien.

"Dear Edward" seems to be named for the copious amount of letters 12-year-old Edward receives after miraculously surviving a deadly plane crash. It's clear from the trailer that many other people didn't; Schilling's character lost her sister, Edward's mom, while Britton's lost her husband. This wouldn't be a drama without some drama, though, so it turns out the dead husband had a secret second life that Britton's character only discovers after he's gone.

Maybe it's the transatlantic flight I'm about to take, or maybe it's the fact that Apple TV+ has already proven it can make shows that test the limits of how much sadness a person can bear (see: "Five Days at Memorial"), but this series doesn't immediately strike me as an easy watch. And yet, given the fact that Katims is involved as showrunner, executive producer, and writer, there's a good chance it could turn out to be the most underrated series on television. After all, both "Parenthood" and "Friday Night Lights" were incredible, heartfelt shows that rarely got the attention they deserved. So I'm more than happy to give "Dear Edward" a chance...after my next big flight.

If the plot of "Dear Edward" already sounds familiar, it's because the show is based on Ann Napolitano's 2020 novel of the same name. According to a New York Times profile of Napolitano, the book itself is inspired by a harrowing true story. In 2010, a Dutch boy was the only survivor of the crash of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 in Libya. Napolitano's story imagines the aftermath of a similar story, in which Edward is the only person to walk away from a plane crash. According to the official synopsis, "as Edward and a diverse ensemble of others affected by the tragedy try to make sense of life after the crash, unexpected friendships, romances and communities are formed."

The first three episodes of "Dear Edward" will debut on Apple TV+ on Friday, February 3, 2023.