Dear Edward trailer promises another tearjerker from the creator of Parenthood

Television has a fascination with plane disasters: planes that go missing (Manifest), planes that crash on mysterious islands (Lost), planes where all the passengers die (Fringe). Dear Edward, the new Apple TV+ series premiering on February 3, 2023, joins a crowded field, but instead of a science fiction puzzle, this entry is “a heartbreaking, life-affirming and uplifting story about survival, resilience, connection and the examination of what makes us human.”

Based on the novel of the same name by Ann Napolitano, “Dear Edward tells the story of Edward Adler (Colin O’Brien), a 12-year-old boy who survives a devastating commercial plane crash that kills every other passenger on the flight, including his family,” reads a synopsis from the streamer. “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.”

Set to a stirring Bon Iver track, the newly released trailer for the series follows Edward (O’Brien) as he’s sent to live with his aunt (Taylor Schilling). “People meet me and they think, ‘She’s the woman whose nephew survived the plane crash,’” Schilling tells her grief group. “But they forget I’m also the woman who lost my big sister.” The grief group ends up connecting many mourners from the crash, including Connie Britton, who lost her husband and discovered he had “another life” that she struggles to piece together.

Dear Edward is helmed by showrunner and creator Jason Katims (Parenthood, Friday Night Lights), who executive produces alongside Jeni Mulein, Fisher Stevens, and Napolitano. The series also stars Amy Forsyth, Eva Ariel Binder, Brittany S. Hall, Idris Debrand, Carter Hudson, Maxwell Jenkins, Jenna Qureshi, Audrey Corsa, Anna Uzele, Ivan Shaw, and Dario Ladani Sanchez.