On the mat
Netflix's Cheer goes full out for surprise new season showcasing 2 Texas college rivals
Flip out, Cheer fans. The Netflix sensation is coming back for a second season January 12, and it's doubling down on the Texas-sized drama.
Not only will the new season of the hit cheerleading reality series return to Corsicana to follow the twists and turns of Navarro College's national championship cheer team, but it'll get on the mat with Navarro's biggest rival, Trinity Valley Community College — located just 40 miles up the road in Athens.
Netflix made the surprise announcement on December 28 and described the new season like this:
The Emmy-winning breakout sensation is back and the stakes have never been higher. As Navarro defends its championship crown against a slew of challenges, including their fiercest rivals at Trinity Valley Community College, unexpected events threaten the camaraderie of the team and the season itself.
The biggest unexpected event, as loyal fans know, was the September 2020 arrest of breakout star Jerry Harris on several federal sexual misconduct charges, including soliciting child pornography. According to Variety, which was first to report the news of a new season, “Cheer deals with the allegations against Harris up front, and in an episode that focuses on the misconduct accusations, the brothers who first came forward about Harris are interviewed."
The new season, Netflix says, will also deal with the aftermath of Navarro cheer team's newfound superstardom as "cheer-lebrities" (remember when coach Monica Aldama competed on Dancing with the Stars?) and, of course, the upending of their 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cheer became an instant hit when it debuted in January 2020, and went on to win three Emmys. The new season picks up after Navarro's 2019 victory at the national championships in Daytona Beach, Florida (the culmination of season one). Filming began in secret in January 2020, Variety reports, just before the pandemic shut the world down — and canceled the 2020 championships. Filming picked up in September 2020, just as Harris' legal troubles began. Netflix says:
Against that dramatic backdrop, the nine-episode season expands to showcase Navarro’s fiercest rival: Trinity Valley Community College. As with the Navarro team, TVCC has a charismatic coach and breakout stars whose struggles, triumphs and stories extend far beyond the mat. As both teams push for the 2021 championship in Daytona, familiar faces take compelling detours and new contenders make a name for themselves.
Season one Navarro favorites La’Darius Marshall, Morgan Simianer, Lexi Brumback, and Gabi Butler return for season two.
Viewers also will get to know TVCC's charismatic head coach Vontae Johnson, assistant coach Khris Franklin, and team members like Angel Rice, described in the trailer as "the Simone Biles of cheerleading."
Who will triumph as 2021 champion? Are are there even any other competitors? And will we finally learn what the team motto "FIOFMU" means?
Spoilers like this are easy to find, but why ruin the suspense?
Texas cheerleading is a hot TV topic right now. Cheerleaders in the small DFW town of River Oaks who were targeted by an attacker will be featured in a new crime series on Investigation Discovery TV, starting January 4.
The eyes of Hollywood also seem to be focused on Corsicana. Fruitcake Fraud, a documentary about an embezzlement at Corsicana fruitcake maker Collin Street Bakery, is streaming now on Discovery+.
The new season of Cheer begins streaming Wednesday, January 12 on Netflix. You can watch the official trailer below:
