Season 2 of popular drama series Cruel Summer is coming to Freeform with a new showrunner, new plot, and new cast, as the TV series adopts an anthology structure.
According to a press release by the network, the second season will be set in an “idyllic” town in Pacific Northwest and chronicle “the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship.” Like season 1, the second season of Cruel Summer will intertwine three different timelines within the ‘2000s era. The three main players of the series will be Megan, her best friend Luke, and Isabella. Megan, played by The Goldbergs star Sadie Stanley, is a computer coder and honours student whose “long-held dreams are dashed” after events take a “tragic turn,” leaving her “wondering who she can trust.”
Luke, played by Griffin Gluck, is Megan’s “lifelong best friend from a “prominent family” who finds himself at a “crossroads” as he tries to find a place in the world “separate from his powerful father.” Eloise Payat, meanwhile, plays the “alluring and enigmatic” Isabella, the daughter of foreign diplomats who is living with Megan for a year as an exchange student.
The release adds that the series will explore “the love triangle that blossomed” between the trio, “and the mystery that would impact all their lives going forward.
Other incoming cast members include KaDee Strickland, Lisa Yamada, Sean Blakemore and Paul Adelstein. Bert V. Royal, the creator of Cruel Summer, has been replaced by Tia Napolitano after Royal’s well-documented creative differences with the network. Meanwhile, Elle Triedman has come on board as showrunner for Cruel Summer’s upcoming season.
The first season of Cruel Summer, followed the disappearance of popular girl Kate Wallis, with less-than-popular Jeanatte Turner taking over her life, status and finding herself under suspicion for orchestrating her kidnap. According to Freeform, season 1 of Cruel Summer was the most-watched show in the network’s history.
If this has got you in the mood for some original network and streaming service content, check out our guide on the best Netflix series.