Miranda Cosgrove on the iCarly Finale's Big 'Creddie' Cliffhanger — and How This Sets Up Season 3

Lisa Rose/Paramount+

This article contains spoilers from the second season of iCarly.

A major moment in the iCarly season 2 finale could set the stage for something longtime fans have been waiting for since the OG series.

Friday's episode sees Carly Shay (Miranda Cosgrove) pulling out all the stops to ensure her longtime friend — and one-time boyfriend — Freddie Benson (Nathan Kress) has the best birthday ever. Carly even stepped in to help Freddie's girlfriend Pearl Wallace (Mia Serafino) get it right, especially after Pearl struggled to do so. But Pearl abruptly left after failing to plan a party that her beau would enjoy.

The episode concluded with a shocking cliffhanger. Upon Pearl's return, she told Freddie: "I'm never going to know you as well as Carly does, because you and Carly are clearly in love with each other."

Cosgrove, 29, tells PEOPLE exclusively she believes this marks the beginning of another "Creddie" reconciliation in a potential season 3.

Lisa Rose/Paramount+

"I definitely think that the Pearl character coming into the mix made Carly realize she's been feeling things for Freddie for a long time. I don't know if they really make that totally clear when you're watching the show," she says. "You know that Carly's having some kind of internal struggle, but you don't fully understand why. So I do think that it gives the show somewhere to go for the next season."

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The bombshell moment also came as a surprise to Cosgrove and Kress, both of whom didn't know what to make of it.

"For the final scene, Nathan and I didn't know what expressions to make, because we don't know what's going to happen in the next season," she continues. "So, we're both like, 'What are we supposed to be feeling at the end of the scene? Is it Carly happy that Pearl leaves? Or, is Freddie going to go after Pearl?' It's just so up in the air right now. So yeah, we're as confused as everybody else and kind of waiting to find out."

In the original Nickelodeon series of the same name, Freddie had always lusted after Carly, but she never reciprocated his feelings. At one point, Carly briefly dated Freddie in season 3 after he saved her from being hit by a taco truck, but they broke up upon realizing her feelings weren't genuine.

The Paramount+ revival has sprinkled hints at Carly and Freddie's lingering feelings for each other. They were asked to be in a threesome in the show's debut season, which intrigued Freddie but Carly rejected. Carly even pretended to date Freddie in the season 2 premiere to boost her reputation after her two exes turned the internet against her.

Cosgrove says she feels "there are moments in there" where it appears that Carly and Freddie "might still have something for each other." Because of this, she has big hopes for them if the series is picked up for season 3.

Paramount+

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"I always thought on the original series it was really cute how Freddie has this undying love for Carly, and it's kind of like a puppy dog love. Ever since he was little, she's like his crush. But as the show went on and they got older, we couldn't really do that anymore because all of a sudden, we were teenagers," she says.

"But I feel like now that they're adults, it's not the same. It's like a totally different love than it used to be," she continues. "I think they'll always love each other as best friends. They're so important to each other, and they're such big parts of each other's lives. But yeah, I sort of feel like it is a good time if they are going to get together now that they're adults, because they're just in totally different places. And I feel like the way the season ends, it's more like Carly's the one pining for Freddie. It's finally switched."

Cosgrove believes it "needs" to be Carly reciprocating genuine feelings for her childhood friend this go-around "because it's always been Freddie being the one that's been putting in all the work."

"I kind of like it more," she adds. "I like the idea of coming around and realizing what's been in front of her all along."

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The first two seasons of iCarly are now streaming on Paramount+.