Cruel Summer Season 2 Timeline Explained: Here's How It's Different Than Season 1
The second season's timelines are far closer to each other than those in the first season, and it's for the best.
The new season of Cruel Summer offers even more mysteries, investigations, and murders that the characters face while navigating the typical everyday drama of teenage life. High school life is not so innocent either, as the new characters are jealous, scheming, and taking revenge on each other, just like in the previous season.
In season one, Kate and Jeanette are unreliable narrators, which is not the case for the new characters introduced in season two, Megan and Isabella, as their perception of events is treated as more straightforward, even if they don't always trust each other. But that's not the only thing that makes the new story different: we are presented with just two timelines that are much closer to each other.
The first season's plot followed three timelines: 1993, 1994, and 1995. The story was incredibly complex as we were shown, in chronological order, the events leading up to Kate's captivity, her complicated relationship with Jeanette, and their trial with each other.
The second season focuses on the events surrounding three new friends, Megan, Luke, and a newly arrived exchange student, Isabella. One of the friends ends up being murdered, while the other two try to uncover the truth while being the prime suspects.
All the events in season two happen between December 1999 and the middle of the summer of 2000. Thus, the overall time frame is much shorter, and we believe it makes for a far more cohesive narrative.
The shorter time frame makes it easier for more suspense to build up. July and December 1999 is the relatively short flashback period, while the summer of 2000 depicts the aftermatch without revealing the whole truth, focusing instead on what the main characters have on their minds after the murders.
This season simply shows us the horrible events' emotional impact on the characters. It also makes it easier to follow the links that emerge between the characters over a shorter period of time.
Another point is that given the previous season's multiple timelines and the huge gap between events, the writers had to work much harder to create a cohesive narrative that would fit in just ten episodes. Narrative cohesion was achieved with much less effort in season 2 because of its shorter timeframe, and it shows.
The fifth episode, titled All I Want for Christmas, will air on Freeform on 26 June.