Will there be ‘Cruel Intentions’ season 2?
Trends in fashion, culture, and entertainment tend to be cyclical which is why the 90s is having a big moment right now. Combine that nostalgia with the entertainment industry’s preference for revamping established intellectual properties instead of making original content and it is no wonder that Prime Video made a series of the same name based on the 1999 film Cruel Intentions.
The original flick was written and directed by Roger Kumble and is based on Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’. The source material dates back to 1782 but Kumble updated the premise setting it instead at an elite prep school in New York City. Young Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Reese Witherspoon lend their talents to the teen drama which has become a cult classic.
The television series released in 2024 was created by Phoebe Fisher and Sara Goodman. The pair moved the action to a Washington D.C. college but kept the affluence of the characters. After a hazing incident gone wrong step-siblings Caroline Merteuil, played by Sarah Catherine Hook and Lucien Belmont, played by Zac Burgess, need to find a way to rehab the reputation of Greek life on campus. This is where good girl and daughter of the Vice President of the United States Annie Grover comes in. Savannah Lee Smith, the actress that portrays her, is no stranger to reboots as she also played Monet De Haan in the Gossip Girl remake. If Annie pledges Delta Phi, Caroline’s sorority will be safe.
Critics did not love season one of the series partly because times have changed and the plot feels outdated under a modern lens. “This series is a monotonous retelling of a story that worked in the past but certainly doesn’t make sense today,” Variety’s Aramide Tinubu mused. The Hollywood Reporter called the series “completely pointless.”
Some felt the series did not go far enough. “The flair, the theatrics, the gall are all missing here. The show has all the ingredients that would make it obsession-worthy, but it’s too timid to make much of an impact,” Screen Rants’ Dalton Norman quipped.
With all these negative reviews, it is unlikely the series will have a second season unless streaming metrics and fans demand it. Officially Prime has not renewed the series for a second season but has also not canceled it.
Despite the uncertainty, Fisher and Goodman are making plans for future seasons. “Well, I think it’s not the end of the series. We hope it’s not,” Goodman stated to The Hollywood Reporter while explaining the cliffhanger that season one ends on. Earlier in the interview she also acknowledged that it is “such a weird world of television where you don’t know how many seasons you’re going to get, and you don’t know how many episodes those seasons are.”
While fans wait for the official ruling from Prime Video, perhaps they can obsessively stream the series in the background at work and post about it on social media. It might just tip the scales in favor of a second season.
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