Everything We Know About the ‘Cruel Summer’ Season 2 Release Date
Published April 22 2022, 2:02 p.m. ET
Season 1 of Cruel Summer proved to be a massive success for Freeform when it debuted in April 2021. The one-hour drama starring Olivia Holt and Chiara Aurelia received stellar ratings on the network’s cable channel and streaming. Like all of Freeform’s original content, Cruel Summer airs new episodes on Hulu the following day.
Cruel Summer has wrapped its first 10-episode season, and after going on hiatus, the show will return to Freeform for Season 2. Here’s what we know about the second installment and when it will be available to fans.
When is ‘Cruel Summer’ Season 2’s release date?
Cruel Summer currently doesn’t have an official release date yet. However, the show’s Twitter page announced its Season 2 renewal soon after the Season 1 finale. In the tweet, the network’s admin stated Cruel Summer would be back on Freeform and Hulu “sometime in 2022.”
The first season of Cruel Summer provides time jumps between 1993, 1994, and 1995. During this era, Jeanette Turner (Chiara) becomes the most hated person in her community after Kate Wallis (Olivia) goes missing. When police find Kate, she claims Jeanette knew she was kidnapped but didn’t inform the authorities because she wanted Kate’s popularity. Jessica Biel, who executive produces Cruel Summer, also confirmed Season 2’s 2022 release.
Season 2 of ‘Cruel Summer’ has a significant cast shakeup and new showrunner.
Cruel Summer is going the anthology route and won’t include Chiara, Olivia, Harley Quinn Smith, Sarah Drew, or the rest of the Season 1 cast. Instead, the plot will switch from a popular girl and wannabe tale to a “story from three different timelines surrounding Y2K” and follow “the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship,” per Deadline.
Although some Cruel Summer fans are disappointed by the sudden changes, sources state the original cast knew of the potential anthology twist in Season 2. Additionally, the new season has several familiar faces. The Goldbergs star Sadie Stanley plays the show’s lead character, Megan Landry. Private Practice fans will also get a mini-reunion between Paul Adelstein, Kadee Strickland, and Griffin Gluck. Paul and Kadee played doctors Cooper Friedman and Charlotte King in the Shonda Rhimes medical drama, and Griffin played their son, Mason.
Stream Season 1 of Cruel Summer on Hulu.