Freeform’s Cruel Summer is soon returning for its anticipated second season. The network has just dropped a new trailer and announced its June 5 premiere date. Once again, Cruel Summer will follow a tale of two teen girls whose lives are turned upside down due to a lie, but this time the series takes place in the 2000s. While this season’s theme is consistent with the first, it will feature a new cast and storyline. You can watch the official trailer below.
The trailer, set to Tommee Profitt’s cover of Linkin Park’s 2000 song In the End, sees new exchange student Isabelle (Lexi Underwood) coming to town and befriending Megan (Sadie Stanley). The two’s friendship seems to flourish as they hold hands and declare each other their “ride or die” before jumping off a cliff together. But things take a dark twist somewhere between the female bonding; when a body is recovered from a lake, the two discuss getting their story straight. The trailer then flashes the words: “there are two sides to every secret.”
Freeform’s official season two synopsis reads: “Set in an idyllic waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest, the next chapter of “Cruel Summer” follows the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship. Approaching the story from three different timelines surrounding Y2K, the season twists and turns as it tracks the early friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan’s best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward.”
Cruel Summer‘s sophomore season stars Lexi Underwood (Little Fires Everywhere), Sadie Stanley (The Goldbergs), and Griffin Gluck (Big Time Adolescence) as Luke. The series also features KaDee Strickland as Debbie, Lisa Yamada as Parker, and Sean Blakemore as Sheriff Meyer. Paul Adelstein, Nile Bullock, Jenna Lamb, and Braeden de La Garza appeared in the first season and return for this installment. The second season welcomes Elle Triedman as showrunner, while Tia Napolitano, the previous season’s showrunner, will serve as an executive producer. Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple return as executive producers under their production company Iron Ocean Productions.
Cruel Summer’s Season Two Renewal
The first season of the show premiered in April 2021 and was set in the 1990s. It followed the story of Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt), a popular high school student who was abducted. While she is missing, Jeannette Turner (Chiara Aurelia), an awkward classmate, climbs through the ranks of popularity, essentially becoming the new Kate. As secrets come to light, Jeannette seems to have information surrounding Kate’s kidnapping that she kept confidential to benefit her social status. The series ended with a twist that some viewers were hopeful would be clarified in an upcoming season. However, the series will be an anthology.
When the first season concluded on June 15, 2021, Freeform quickly announced the series would return for a second season, with Freeform President Tara Duncan saying:
“Renewing Cruel Summer for a Season 2 was an easy decision. It’s the biggest series debut in Freeform’s history, and the audience response has been overwhelmingly positive. Jessica [Biel], Michelle [Purple], and Tia [Napolitano] did a phenomenal job telling an addictive story that’s tapped into the cultural zeitgeist. I’m excited to see where they take the series next.”
Cruel Summer‘s first season is available to stream on Hulu.
The second season of Cruel Summer will premiere on Monday, June 5, with a two-episode debut on Freeform. All episodes will be available to stream on Hulu the day after they air.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
