SPOILER ALERT: The following story contains plot details from The Drops of God Season 2, Episode 8, “The Price of Passion,” now streaming on Apple TV.
The first season of the Apple TV drama “Drops of God” ended on a high note. When Camille Léger (Fleur Geoffrier) wins a competition to find the heir to her late estranged father Alexandre’s (Stanley Weber) wine empire, she takes a crucial step toward overcoming Alexandre’s toxic emotional legacy. Camille inherited Alexandre’s entire wine collection worth hundreds of millions of dollars, but sent half of it to his disciple and rival Kazunari Tomine (Tomohisa Yamashita), only to find out that Kazunari Tomine is actually Alexandre’s son from an extramarital affair and half-brother. To the shimmering sounds of The Za’s “This Is the Day,” Issei read the note Camille had sent with the delivery, “Brothers and Sisters.”
Three years later, season 2 ended on a less celebratory note. Camille and Issei accomplished another task set by Alexandre after his death. His goal was to trace the origins of what he considered the best wine in the world: an unlabeled red wine in a wax-sealed bottle. But they did it at great expense. By the March 11 finale, Camille has become estranged from her fiancé, Thomas (Tom Wozniczka), resigned from her management position at Alexandre’s prestigious Wine Guide, and failed in her mission to preserve a mysterious wine that has led her to a Georgia home producer that has become the target of a family dispute. Issei is in a slightly better place, having forged new relationships and pulling out of Georgia Story. He is also just beginning to come to terms with his devastating loss. It is the suicide of Honoka (Makiko Watanabe), a distant and domineering mother, ashamed of her lack of connection with her only child.
Issei is orphaned, Camille is left adrift, and the brothers are forced to rely on each other. And that’s exactly where they found themselves in the final shot of season two. We stand shoulder to shoulder and stare at the sunset. “He’s opening his arms to her and saying, ‘Come on,'” Jeffrie told Variety. “For now, she only has a boyfriend, Issei. Because even though everyone has closed the door on her, she realizes he’s still here.”
Provided by Apple TV
Originally, “Shizuku of God” was planned to be a limited series. The end of Alexander’s competition also marks the end of the Japanese manga on which the TV show is based. But when Apple TV expressed interest in continuing the story, lead producer Klaus Zimmermann decided to take a chance. “That’s dangerous, because you never know how good your idea will be,” Zimmerman says. “But it’s also fun.” Creator Quoc Danh Tran, who was sought after after the success of season one, left for other projects, but screenwriter Sonia Moyersohen provided continuity between seasons behind the scenes. Zimmerman calls her “the heart and soul of the show.”
Season 1 didn’t reflect all the storylines from the manga, leaving elements like Honoka’s fate on the table. However, in order to move Kamille and Issei forward, the “Shizuku of God” team started from a new position. “Wine has become central to her life,” says Zimmerman, something Camille never expected after Alexandre left photography. (Camille had been sober for years due to intense synesthesia.) As for Issei, “he found his sister, but he ended up losing the competition. And he’s very ambitious, so he’s in a dark, dark place.”
Literally: As of Season 2, Issei takes up freediving as a hobby, which forces him to confront his fear of the dark, which seems to stem from repressed memories from his childhood. Through his work in Season 1, Yamashita had already acquired a taste for strong, deep vintage wines, especially from California’s Napa Valley. His preparation for the follow-up was somewhat intense, including a free dive of up to 15 meters in a pool in France under the supervision of his coach. Although the actor found the experience unpleasant, saying, “It was very strange. I don’t want to do that anymore,” he understood why his character was drawn to the practice.
“Freediving is up to you. It all depends on you,” Yamashita says through an interpreter. “So he needed to be alone to face his trauma head-on. Diving helped him do that.”
Provided by Apple TV
Season 2 is the opposite of its predecessor in that it focuses on Issei. “Drops of God” introduced us to the world of wine through Camille’s eyes, and Season 1 ended with her triumphant return. There’s still a lot to explore on her side, and Season 2 will highlight just how much of a daddy’s daughter Camille really is, even though she believes she’s worked through her emotional baggage. But there was more room to fill in the blanks at the end of Issei, with season 2 replacing the fantasy sequences in Camille’s mind palace with Issei’s black-and-white moonscape visions.
Geoffrey accepted the pivot. “I’m here to handle the script and the show, and the show needed to dig deeper into Issei,” she says. “It’s not about me, it’s about the story.”
As befits a show focused on terroir, “Drops of God” also introduced new characters in season two. The country of Georgia is the world’s oldest wine-producing region (8000 years ago to be exact) and the source of Alexander’s Holy Grail. “We needed a place that was hidden but where we could say, ‘This is where the best wine in the world is made,'” Zimmerman explains. Georgia also has a tradition of small-scale, non-commercial production, which lends itself to temporary products like wine, which virtually disappear by the end of the season. “Drops of God” had already become a worldwide production, with major filming locations in Japan and France. Season 2 added Central Asia, Spain, and Greece to the mix. “The ambition needed to be higher,” Zimmerman says. “We have to bring something new to the audience.”
Provided by Apple TV
Despite this, Kamille and Issei’s relationship remains a cornerstone of the show, and continuing into season 2 allowed “Shizuku of God” to explore their relationship beyond its initial stages. “We found out in season one that they were brothers,” Jeffrey says. “Season 2, they try to be brothers.” That includes not only understanding but also conflicts such as Issei’s resentment towards Camille and not heeding Camille’s advice to avoid getting dragged into the Georgia winery drama. The final moments of Season 1 were uplifting, but they didn’t represent the reality of families from different backgrounds and lives who meet each other for the first time in their 30s.
Unlike when Season 1 ended in 2023, Apple has yet to announce a renewal, but there are clear intentions to continue “Drops of God” with a potential Season 3. Both lead stars believe their characters have room to grow. Camille is picking herself up from the ground and Issei is mourning his second parent. “It’s really, really hard to lose a family member,” Yamashita says. “Getting over that loss opens a new chapter for Issei.” Jeffrie agrees, “When you hit rock bottom, the next thing is to come back up. I’m sure she’ll do that.” (She also hopes Camille and Thomas will reconcile.)
Whatever the future holds for the show, “Drops of God” is already changing principals’ relationships with wine, the show’s central theme. “It shows how personal wine is,” Zimmerman says. “No two wines in the world are the same.” Even if you don’t have a passion for fermented grapes, “Drops of God” will draw you into its world with the same charm. Camille and Issei are complex and special characters, characters that continue to grow like the vines they cling to.
