In the modern tradition of new seasons of TV suddenly popping into existence, “Cruel Summer” Season 2 (Mondays, Freeform) has had its two-episode premiere. Again, it’s a discussion-worthy guilty pleasure … but you shouldn’t feel too guilty.
At first blush it looks similar to Season 1’s kidnapping mystery, which was set over three summers and chronicling Gen-X teens in the mid-’90s in Texas. Season 2 takes place over Summer 1999, Winter 1999 and Summer 2000, chronicling millennial teens in Washington state.
The age of invention (and reinvention)
Main character Megan (Sadie Stanley) has that generic white teen girl look, and – the reason for the “Haven’t I seen this before?” aspect — is hard to distinguish from Season 1’s Chiara Aurelia and Olivia Holt. (Those actresses were intended to look similar, as Jeanette aimed to take over Kate’s status.)
“Cruel Summer” Season 2 (2023)
Mondays, Freeform
Creator: Bert V. Royal
Starring: Sadie Stanley, Lexi Underwood, Griffin Gluck
Stanley’s wholesomeness is a starting point for the transformations that teen girls go through – at least on TV. Megan goes from overalls-wearing dockside sweetheart to fashion-conscious queen of the school to goth girl hacking into the Matrix.
The actress infuses Megan with pathos despite playing out the same path as Jeanette. Granted, Stanley’s future-star quality is similar to Aurelia’s (I imagine they cross paths in many casting lobbies), but the three-“role” structure of “Cruel Summer” should allow Stanley to distinguish herself.
Meanwhile, Megan’s exchange-student frenemy, Isabella (Lexi Underwood), goes from exotic new girl to popular to beaten-down, as she stays in Megan’s family’s trailer. It’s in “Cruel Summer’s” tradition that we don’t know (so far) what sparks the transformations for Megan and Isabella.
“Cruel Summer” could be annoyingly hard to follow, but creator Bert V. Royal and his team compensate with the changes in the girls’ looks and the color filters. The show-makers light and colorize Summer ’99 like a traditional teen drama, Winter ’99 in cold blue and Summer ’00 in envious green.
Edge of the millennium
Season 2 features a harsher puzzle – a murder instead of a kidnapping – but looks like it will remain steeped in the moral issues of teens using each other to get ahead socially. It has some work to do, though. Season 1 rapidly set up its creepy narrative where Kate was being groomed by an adult admirer, and it’s not clear yet what Season 2’s point will be.
In Season 2 we have millennials instead of Gen-X, and a shift from the lost innocence of Kate and Jeanette to the arrogance of Megan and Isabella. They’re just wise enough to not be labeled ignorant, just decent enough to not be labeled cruel. The needle-drops shift from Nineties to Aughts, so we get rap-pop like Lit and Sugar Ray. It’s annoying yet nostalgic, paralleling how the girls are self-centered yet sympathetic.
Underwood has that “new girl” intrigue that of course draws the attention of Luke (Griffin Gluck), Megan’s platonic (or so they insist) friend – and our suspicions. Isabella mentions her off-screen best friend Lisa a couple times. Is Lisa central to the mysteries and motivations?
As Luke, Gluck is a scrawny nerd type rather than a boy I’d expect to have success with the ladies – more of a diversity-minded 2023 casting choice than a 1999 one. The idea that Megan notices him as boyfriend material only once Isabella categorizes him that way is accurate. But I wonder: Is Luke somehow manipulating things behind the scenes to draw female attention?
Let the theories begin
While the murder (the mystery of Summer ’00) is a familiar whodunit, the Summer ’99 mystery is confusing. At a party hosted by Luke’s successful dad, Steve (Paul Adelstein), a sex tape of Luke and a girl plays on the projector screen instead of the planned Christmas film.
This incident doesn’t merely raise questions of why and who, but also “Who cares?” and “What’s the point?” I don’t think that’s what the writers intend. The pool-party-centered second episode dips into the theme of reputations: Whoever the girl is on the tape will be labeled a “slut.” I find this thread cliched, and even worse, clunky. The identity of the girl with Luke is clear, but the writers tiptoe through machinations wherein some people know it’s Megan, and others think it’s Isabella.
On the plus side, we can peek along pathways by which people circling Megan, Isabella and Luke might have motivations to spill sex tapes or kill someone. I have my eye on Megan’s kid sister Lily (Jenna Lamb), going through her own self-invention in the background. Not for any hard and fast reason, granted – but that’s how this show has to be parsed in the early going.
So far, Season 2 doesn’t have the edge or focus of Season 1, but it treats its teens as individuals and features able young performers. It’s notably more grounded than another ’90s-set teen potboiler, the off-the-rails “Yellowjackets.”
There’s one more way “Cruel Summer” Season 2 harkens back to the turn of the century: It airs weekly in the old-school fashion. It’ll be a fun multi-mystery to talk about around the (now virtual) water cooler.