‘Kevin Can Wait’ Season 2 Won’t Address Donna’s Death Amid Time Jump

“Kevin Can Wait” Season 2 won’t discuss Donna’s (Erinn Hayes) death in its upcoming episodes.

According to TV Line, the CBS sitcom will feature a one-year time jump when it premieres next month. This means that in the first episode, Donna would have already been dead for a year, and her husband, Kevin (Kevin James), has been dealing with the loss for quite some time.

While speaking with the publication, executive producer Rob Long said that Season 2 will center on Kevin coping with Donna’s death, as well as his return to work. “We haven’t addressed it in the story. For right now, it’s really a story about a family reeling without a mother and Kevin dusting himself off and rejoining the work force,” he explained.

As of late, it is still unclear whether or not Donna’s death will ever be discussed in “Kevin Can Wait” even just in passing. The series is expected to see Kevin spending a lot of time with Vanessa (Leah Remini), and there are speculations that the two of them will eventually develop feelings for each other. However, CBS hasn’t confirmed or denied this theory.

Earlier this week, Long told the same publication why they decided to kill off Donna instead of simply not writing her into the upcoming installments. “The goal was to give Kevin’s character a real drive and a real predicament involving how a family comes back together after tragedy. Also, out of respect for the character of Donna – and certainly the way that Erinn Hayes portrayed her – it seemed like the only right and fair way to treat her character,” he said.

Long added that they were very attracted to the storyline centered on Kevin being a single father and how he will rise to the occasion after Donna’s death.

In June, Hayes’ departure from “Kevin Can Wait” after only one season was announced by the network. The actress also expressed her sadness over her exit via her Twitter account. A day prior to Hayes’ axing, CBS announced that Remini will return to “Kevin Can Wait” Season 2 as a series regular.

“Kevin Can Wait” Season 2 will premiere on CBS on Sept. 25 at 9 p.m. EDT.