The Creators of "Gentefied" Say That Season 2 Is Guaranteed to Make Us Cry

From Oprah Magazine

• The first season of Gentefied premiered on Netflix back in February 2020, and was officially renewed for a second season in May.

• Creators said that season 2 of Gentefied, which will consist of eight episodes, is guaranteed to make us cry.

• "Delfina," the first season's final episode, ends on quite a cliffhanger: What's going to happen to Pop (Joaquín Cosio)?

Gentefied, a bilingual dramedy set in a rapidly gentrifying Los Angeles neighborhood was written to continue. That much is obvious from the show's finale, "Delfina," which ended on about 291 cliffhangers. Fine—more like six, but we're desperate to know what's in store next for the Morales family.

Luckily for us, Netflix has officially renewed Gentefied for a second season, consisting of eight episodes. Gentefied's renewal comes at a time when TV is sorely lacking in Latinx voices. With the cancellation of ABC's The Baker and the Beauty in June, there are no Latinx-centric shows on cable.

Centering on a Mexican-American family in L.A., Gentefied is unlike any other show on Netflix—and unlike most on TV. The most apt comparison is Starz's Vida, a drama created by Mexican-American Tanya Saracho that follows two estranged sisters taking over their mother's bar in Boyle Heights. Similarly, Gentefied was written by Marvin Lemus and Linda Yvette Chavez, two Chicano first-generation writers, and executive-produced by America Ferrera. These shows are love letters to Latinx communities and are teeming with refreshing cultural specificity.

We loved spending time with the Morales cousins at their family restaurant, Mama Fina's. We could taste the tacos, and feel the warmth between everyone. We're as hungry for season 2 as customers are hungry for Carlos's taco innovations. Here's what we know about the future of Gentefied.

Will there be a season 2 of Gentefied?

And now: The answer you've been waiting for. Yes! Netflix renewed Gentefied for a second season in May of 2020, three months after the show premiered.

Typically, Netflix announces news about shows fairly quickly. Elite, for example, was renewed for a second season just two weeks after the first season dropped. For all its controversy, the pageant comedy Insatiable was renewed after only a month.

Gentefied got renewed—but no show is safe from Netflix's cancellation-happy jaws. Once known for not cancelling shows, the streaming service has developed a reputation for ruthlessness. Often, shows don't make it past a season. Take the cases of Daybreak, a clever show about teenagers weathering the zombie apocalypse, and Chambers, an innovative show about an American Indian girl and a possessed heart transplant (really). Both premiered in 2019, and both were swiftly canceled.

Another relevant comparison to Gentefied is One Day at a Time, a remake of Norman Lear's classic '70s comedy that, this time around, focused on a Cuban-American family. Fans were devastated when Netflix canceled the show after three seasons. Luckily, it was picked up by the Pop network.

When will season 2 of Gentefied come out?

Typically, Netflix shows are on the cadence of getting a new season a year. Unfortunately, given the way the coronavirus pandemic is affecting TV production, it's impossible to predict when the show will come out.

But you can hang out with the cast right now—sort of.

On May 20, the cast of Gentefied read part of the season 1 script in a table read hosted by George Lopez. The cast was raising awareness for ProyectoPastoral, a non-for-profit in Boyle Heights that has pivoted their entire organization to address the impacts of COVID-19 on the low income families and residents they serve in Boyle Heights.

Gentefied's creators are seriously amping up excitement for the show's second season

In the midst of writing season 2, creators Linda Yvette Chávez and Marvin Lemus teased us with some vague plot details—and got even more excited for the Morales family's story to continue. Chávez called season 2 "so good," and revealed that she and Lemus cried while working on it.

Next season of Gentefied may explore the cousins' relationship to their parents.

In season 1 of Gentefied, first cousins Ana (Karrie Martin), Erik (J.J. Soria), and Chris (Carlos Santos) are super close to their abuelo, Pop (Joaquin Cosío). Frankly, who wouldn't be? Pop's the best.

Aside from Ana, whose mother has an interesting storyline, the cousins' parents are mostly absent from the show.

But the season finale indicates that the cousins' parents are about to enter the picture. Toward the end of the episode, Chris's dad, up in Idaho, finally offers to pay for his culinary school.

Erik's parents will play into the story, too. In a statement to OprahMag.com, writers Lemus and Chavez indicated that season 2 could answer some questions about Erik's dad, who never appeared."We can't reveal where Erik's father is as it might play out in season 2," they said. Makes perfect sense—Erik just became a father himself. For more from Lemus and Chavez, we recommend listening to their interview on the Spanish Aqui Presents podcast.

Season 2 of Gentefied has a lot of cliffhangers to resolve.

So much happened in the finale! Mainly, Pop. What's going to happen to Pop, now that he's in the back of an ICE truck?

Martin, Soria, and Santos—the main cousin trio—will handle the devastating news differently. If renewed for season 2, they will also have to contend with another awful progression: Mama Fina's has been bought by an insufferable fixture of the L.A. art scene, who wants to convert the restaurant into a "pop-up culinary experience."

The cousins' love interests, who are practically part of the family, will have their own storylines. Will Yessika (Julissa Calderon) get back together with Ana now that she's in a state of turmoil? Meanwhile, Lidia (Annie Gonzalez) started another chapter for the Morales family by giving birth to Delfina, her child with Erik.

The people have spoken, and they want a season 2.

After finishing season 1 of Gentefied, people took to Twitter to express their hopes for season 2—especially given that cliffhanger. We need a resolution, and stat! What's going to happen to Pop?

In the meantime, there's more Gentefied to watch.

Gentefied's first form was a seven-episode web series that premiered at Sundance in 2016. America Ferrera executive-produced the web series and stayed on to produce and direct the show when it was bought by Netflix.

While Gente-fied (the name of the web series) isn't available to stream, the trailer gives a brief but fascinating glimpse into the characters' first forms. It's not Gentefied—but it's close.

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