'Cruel Summer' Will Try to Top Its Season 1 Ending
Freeform’s teen-thriller anthology series Cruel Summer is finally set to return for its sophomore season, and fans, still reeling from the Season 1 finale, can’t wait to see what shocking twists this next installment has in store for them.
"Renewing Cruel Summer for a Season 2 was an easy decision,” Freeform President Tara Duncan told TV Line back in June 2021. “It’s the biggest series debut in Freeform’s history and the audience response has been overwhelmingly positive."
Two years on, what can viewers expect from the show's second season, which will feature an entirely new premise, cast, showrunner and writing staff? Let’s get into it.
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What is Cruel Summer Season 2 about?
Since Cruel Summer is an anthology series, Season 2 will have an entirely different premise than Season 1. Unlike the first installment, which was set in the mid-nineties, the second season will unfold on three different timelines in the Y2K era; and instead of taking place in a fictional town in Texas, it will be set in an idyllic waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest.
Plot details are scarce at the moment, but according to Freeform, the next chapter will follow another "intense teenage relationship." The official description also promises "twists and turns," a "love triangle" among friends and a "mystery that will impact all of [the main characters'] lives going forward." Vague, but intriguing!
What was Season 1 of Cruel Summer about?
Bill Matlock via Getty Image
The first season of the show, created by Bert V. Royal and led by showrunner Tia Napolitano, follows the lives of two teenage girls—popular Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt) and awkward outsider Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia)—over the course of 1993, 1994 and 1995. When Kate mysteriously disappears, Jeanette essentially takes over her life, falling in with Kate’s old friend-group and dating her boyfriend, Jamie Henson (Froy Gutierrez).
When Kate is rescued a year later, having been held captive in a basement by the school’s vice principal Martin Harris (Blake Lee), she accuses Jeanette on national TV of having seen her and failing to report anything. Suddenly dubbed “the most hated girl in America,” Jeanette sues Kate for defamation.
The series, executive-produced by Jessica Biel, was an instant hit, becoming the most-watched debut on Freeform. It was also praised for its sensitive handling of heavy subject matters like grooming, and honored with a Hollywood Critics Association TV Award for Best Cable Series, Drama in 2021.
How did Season 1 of Cruel Summer end?
Season 1 of Cruel Summer ended with quite the shocking twist. In the Season 1 finale, “Hostile Witness,” Kate's believability is called into question in court, prompting her to return to Martin's house—with Jeanette—in an attempt to jog her memory.
While there, the two realize that Mallory (Harley Quinn Smith), Jeanette's former best friend and Kate's unlikely new BFF, was the one who spotted Kate through the window—not Jeanette. (Mallory didn't reveal what she saw because she didn't want to out Kate, who'd claimed she was locked in the basement the entire time, as a liar.)
Jeanette drops the lawsuit (and forgives Mallory); and Kate publicly declares Jeanette innocent.
But that's not how the season ends. In the last minute of the finale, the audience is transported back to 1994 for a jaw-dropping twist: Jeanette may not have been the one to spot Kate through the window, but she once heard her classmate cry out for help from the basement—and she did nothing to help her. The show closes on a shot of Jeanette's chilling smile.
Who is cast in Cruel Summer Season 2?
Season 2 has an entirely new cast. Not much is known about the characters they portray, other than that the core three—Megan, Isabella and Luke—make up the show's sure-to-be-doomed love triangle. The next chapter will star:
Sadie Stanley (Megan Landry)
Freeform
Sadie Stanley previously starred in Disney Channel's live-action movie Kim Possible as Kim.
Lexi Underwood (Isabella LaRue)
Freeform
Lexi Underwood is best known for her role in the Hulu original series Little Fires Everywhere, in which she played Pearl.
Griffin Gluck (Luke Chambers)
Freeform
Griffin Gluck starred opposite Pete Davidson in the Hulu movie Big Time Adolescence.
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Other cast-members include KaDee Strickland as Debbie; Sean Blakemore as Sheriff Myer; Paul Adelstein as Steve Chambers; and Lisa Yamada as Parker.
What is the Cruel Summer Season 2 release date?
Cruel Summer Season 2 will premiere its first two episodes on June 5 on Freeform at 9 p.m. ET. Subsequent episodes will air weekly in the 10 p.m. ET time-slot.
How many episodes are in Cruel Summer Season 2?
Freeform has not revealed how many episodes are in Season 2 of Cruel Summer, but since the show's first season featured 10 episodes, it's likely that its second season will feature 10 episodes as well.
Is there a trailer for Cruel Summer Season 2?
There’s no trailer for Season 2 yet. Expect Freeform to drop one closer to the release date, and watch this space for details.
How to watch Cruel Summer Season 2
Cruel Summer Season 2 will air on Freeform and become available to stream on Hulu the next day. All 10 episodes of Season 1 are currently available to stream on Hulu.
