In Marie Claire's Meet Cute, we have a chance encounter with pop culture's latest man crush.

As I write this, Owen Thiele is getting dressed for Taylor Swift’s wedding.

The actor and podcast host admits he is “delighted and terrified” at the prospect of attending the Event of the Century™, which is the appropriate emotional combo meal for a rising star like Thiele. (“You pronounce it thee-uhl,” he says kindly when we first meet in a low-key but perfect Greek place called Kyma in Manhattan.)

Born in Texas and raised in Hollywood, Mr. Thee-uhl has the kind, firefly-bright eyes of a favorite English teacher and the wit of a Jane Austen heroine. He can speak with easy fluency about underrated pop albums, overrated restaurants, and the joy of randomly seeing your cousin at Erewhon. On TikTok and Instagram, he makes jokes about being a “diversity hire” while running circles around other online comedians. A current bit includes getting salsa lessons from Maluma; another video shows him hyping up his “outfit of the day” without knowing where any of his clothes actually come from. Whether online or on television, Thiele somehow manages to exude the vibe of someone you really want to hang out with. Celebrities like Hailey Bieber and Sabrina Carpenter and, of course, Swift herself already do. For the rest of us, there is plenty of Thiele on-screen lately.

Currently, Thiele stars as Anton, the compassionately cool goof in Adults, FX’s deadpan take on Gen Z living that’s about to release its second season. The 29-year-old Scorpio has had laugh-out-loud turns in the TV shows Hacks and Overcompensating, and wildly fun indie films like Theater Camp and Idiotka. He also hosts "In Your Dreams," a podcast on Alex Cooper’s Unwell Network that draws a rotating cast of internet-famous and Hollywood-adjacent guests. It’s broadcast from a bed surrounded by Y2K fan collages—Hannah Montana! Lizzie McGuire! Camp Rock!—and includes occasional interruptions from Jared Ellner, the celebrity stylist who is also Thiele’s longtime partner.

Through Ellner, Thiele has learned “how to chill out a little bit” and how private and public dynamics don’t need to be reconciled. “Everyone who sees us together thinks I’m the talker,” he says as we settle into a lunchtime booth. “But what you’d never know is that when it’s just us, he is the talker! I’m pretty quiet, I swear.” Ellner has also guided Thiele on how to dress for a pop mogul’s wedding (he wore a crisp black Saint Laurent tuxedo with a satin cummerbund to the Swift-Kelce nuptials) and that “the fashion world is way scarier than Hollywood.”

Thiele has something of a home court advantage when it comes to stardom: He was raised by prolific music producers; his grandfather is responsible for the 1967 hit “What a Wonderful World.” (“My middle name, Louis, is actually for Louis Armstrong, who sung the song.”) One of Thiele’s second cousins is the storied comedian Bob Balaban; another is, somehow, Jodie Foster’s child. (“We don’t really get into it,” Thiele says cheerily.) From the ages of 6 through 17, Thiele attended Crossroads, the L.A. nepo-hub that has educated all manner of elite, from the outstanding (Kate Hudson, Maude Apatow, Maya Rudolph) to the frightening (Spencer Pratt). “Am I a nepo baby, too?” Thiele asks as we devour the watermelon salad we swore we weren’t hungry enough to eat. “I mean, people call me one and maybe it’s true. But it’s also more complicated than that.”

Here’s what Thiele means by “complicated:” Adopted at birth by a white Jewish family, Thiele grew up affluent and “obsessed” with his parents. (“I think I would have literally jumped off the tallest building if I had to share my parents’ affection with anyone!” he exclaims.) Their house was also “the party house” for holidays, birthdays, and rollicking backyard barbecues, where “a revolving door of people were constantly coming in…I truly had the most wonderful childhood.”

Thiele credits his parents’ thriving social life with early training in both friendship and social graces. He also notes that they surrounded him early with “Black role models” like the punk musician Justin Warfield, and “queer role models” like his aunt Sid. Still, it’s not easy being the only Black kid at Rosh Hashanah in Beverly Hills. “Now I can laugh about it,” says Thiele, “but as a kid, I was going to a white woman in Beverly Hills and asking her for a blowout! That’s not exactly hardship, but it’s strange.”

When I ask if Thiele follows conversations about transracial adoption on social media, including adoptees who have spoken critically about separation from their families of origin, Thiele shakes his head. “I can’t speak for anyone else’s experience, but I have chills thinking about my parents, in the best way.” He speaks of a recent encounter with his mom’s best friend. “She told me, ‘Owen, I don't know if I believe in God, but once when I look at you and your parents, I believe someone's up there.’ And literally, I feel the same way. It was so meant to be, so that's the beautiful part.”

He takes a breath. “The not beautiful part is that as a kid, I was asking for a side-part in my dreadlocks and nobody was saying, ‘Hey, maybe there’s something else we can do.’” The actor says that as he got older, “I realized the full extent of being a Black man in America. I thought, ‘Oh god, I have to take this seriously…I’m not a tiny little white girl walking around my neighborhood.’ When people would look at me funny when I was walking in Beverly Hills, I realized, ‘Wait, they think I’m, like, plotting a burglary!’ Which was just so dark and sad and scary.” He admits he is “still processing this wakeup call” and the way his racial and queer identities intersect with the Hollywood world that shaped him.

Partly to suss all this out, and partly because fish-out-of-water narratives are the protein on the sitcom food pyramid, Thiele is currently developing an autobiographical Prime Video scripted series, Off Color, with Broad City co-creator Ilana Glazer. “I met her when I was still really young, like 24,” says Thiele. “I was so ready to jump into the comedy scene and she was ready to accept me.”

Before they can dig into the new material, however, Thiele has a heap of current work on his plate that would make any actor—much less “a certified NYU dropout like me!” as he gleefully exclaims—swell with pride and cower in stress. Currently, it’s trying to “promote the fuck” out of Adults, which comes back for season 2 on August 27. “In Hollywood, there’s this saying that you never know if a project is going to work until it’s done. But I swear, with Adults, you could see it on the page. [Series creators] Ben Kronegold and Rebecca Shaw are such good writers…and then once we were cast, they integrated parts of us into the show. I knew from the first day on set that it would be amazing.”

But building the Adults audience took some time, and after season 1’s debut, Thiele says he waited over six months to be called back to the Toronto set. “It was very anxiety-inducing and very emotional for us, because we wanted to be back so badly! We love each other! And I found myself questioning my instincts for the first time. I was like, ‘This show is so funny. If it didn’t hit, does that mean my sense of what’s good is just off?’”

It was not. Season 2 of Adults filmed from December 2025 to May 2026, and Thiele reports that the FX network “gave us complete creative freedom” to make the comedy they wanted to see in the world. Meanwhile, both The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter noted Thiele’s performance for its warmth and—in Gen Z parlance—yearning. In fact, one of the new season’s funniest plots focuses on Thiele’s Anton, a hyper-popular but secretly lonely city kid who can make friends with anyone, coaching a grieving boomer parent (played by Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Susie Essman) through basic Facebook etiquette. An oft-referenced season 1 storyline saw Anton become besties with a new neighbor who turns out to be a serial killer.

“This would absolutely happen to me!” Thiele admits in a fit of laughter. “But I think Anton befriends everyone because he’s really terrified of being alone, but totally unable to be vulnerable with other people. And I would do it because I’m kind of the opposite. I’m so open that I want everyone to be just as open with me!...I’m constantly trying to get other people to explain what makes them tick.” This is an easy sentence to fact check. At least four times in the span of our interview, Thiele interrupts himself to ask me what I think, how I feel, or if either of us should “just fuck it and get bangs” (no) or “just fuck it and get french fries” (yes).

That easy familiarity is also pushing Thiele’s second current project, the "In Your Dreams" podcast, into cult hit territory, as evidenced by increasingly A-list guests like Lizzo and Suki Waterhouse. He says when Alex Cooper of "Call Her Daddy" fame first approached him about doing a show, he was worried he wouldn’t have enough material. “I just rambled into the camera, and Alex was like, ‘No, Owen, put that out. Exactly that.’ I was worried it was gonna rot people’s brains because it’s just me telling stories and getting other people to tell stories. But in this age of AI, being human is the opposite of what’s gonna rot our brains. Being human is kind of the solution to that…And the big part of being human is being interested. Computers can’t be excited to hear from you.”

But Thiele cannot worry about future computer overlords because he is filming season 2 of Overcompensating, a college comedy set in 2010 about a queer athlete (Benito Skinner) coming out of the closet. Thiele plays George, an “elder” (read: upperclass) gay hot kid who tries, often disastrously, to coax Skinner onto the Yellow Brick Road. “I based the whole character on Raven Symoné in That’s So Raven,” Thiele says with a grin. “The coolest queer mentor ever on TV!” After Overcompensating, it’s on to Peaked, a comedy from Thiele’s Theater Camp co-star Molly Gordon about badly behaved grown-ups at a high school reunion.

And of course, there is the T. Swift wedding. Thiele and Ellner were invited “the old-fashioned way,” he says—meaning, “she said ‘you’re coming to my wedding’ when she cooked us a beautiful meal” of flaky white fish and rice pilaf. “She's an unbelievable chef,” Thiele insists, “to the point where Jared looked at her and said, ‘Are you hiding a chef in a closet?’ She was like, ‘No, I cooked it.’ She’s kind of one of those girls that’s good at everything, you know? Like those girls from high school?...She’s even funny, genuinely funny. And I work in comedy, so I don’t think anyone is funny. I think she can do literally everything.”

That includes talent spotting. Swift cast Thiele in two of his first-ever roles—as a pool party bestie in the 2019 music video for “You Need to Calm Down,” then again as a fellow office bro in “The Man”—before he began blowing up. “I met her at an agency party, and she’d seen Eighty Sixed, which was a web comedy I did—the only thing I’d really done!” Swift got his number and texted him about the videos, which led Thiele to believe he was getting scammed. “Yeah, right, Taylor Swift is texting me. But she was.” Thiele says he found out when the video hit YouTube because of her fans. “The tags. The mentions. My phone died.”

I ask Thiele if he would like the level of success that leads people, one day soon, to track his own friendships with the zeal of a parasocial executive secretary. “Oh gosh, no,” Thiele says, and his eyes say he really means it. “I think of fame as Lindsay Lohan; always getting chased and having to be so intentional about finding your peace.” He mentions that last year, Hailey Bieber came on "In Your Dreams," “and two days later, there are still paparazzi outside of my house looking for her. She handles it all with such grace. I…would not.”

I ask Thiele what he means. “Well, first of all,” he says conspiratorially, “I would ask the paparazzi’s names. Then I would make them sit down with me and explain how they became a paparazzo. If it was affecting their mental health. Why they wanted to take pictures of famous people, you know? They wouldn’t get anything done. I would just keep them talking.”

In a busy year for new coming-of-age shows, Sterling Point is the biggest surprise on this side of the pond. (Shout-out to The Other Bennet Sister). Created by My Old Ass filmmaker Megan Park, the new Prime Video hit is a soapy yet heartfelt drama about a pair of sisters who discover life-changing secrets about their family—including each other's existence—during an idyllic Muskoka summer.

Since its debut on August 5, Sterling Point has become a word-of-mouth hit, with critics penning rave reviews and fans begging for Annie and Ramona's stories to continue. Thankfully, Park already has ideas for where the series could go next. Read on for everything we know about Sterling Point's future so far.

Everything We Know About 'Sterling Point' Season 2

Has 'Sterling Point' been renewed for season 2?

Time to book your flight to Cabin Country! Just two weeks after Sterling Point premiered, Prime Video renewed it for a second season. Deadline announced the news and shared a statement from creator Megan Park. "It’s been an absolute joy to see the appreciation and love for the show," she said. "We worked so hard to make the show as authentic as possible and to see audiences respond to that has been thrilling. We cannot wait to dive deeper into these characters and deliver the best second season ever."

Co-showrunners and executive producers Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage also shared a joint statement. They said, "It’s been incredible to watch audiences fall in love with Sterling Point in the way we did while making it...It’s truly a testament to Megan Park, our amazing cast, crew, Amazon, and all of our partners, who put so much of themselves into the show. We can’t wait to be back in Muskoka and for everyone to see what we have in store for Annie, Ramona and the rest of the crew for season 2."

With its high score on Rotten Tomatoes, word-of-mouth success, and viral TikTok fame, it makes sense that more episodes were quickly ordered. That's not to mention that Park had hoped to continue the story. While speaking to the Los Angeles Times before the show was officially renewed, she said, "I have a whole bunch of ideas left, so we shall see."

The series creator added, "There’s a lot between these two young women having now experienced each other’s lives fully that is going to be really interesting to explore and pick up, hopefully, if we get the chance to." We're so glad that they've gotten that chance—and that we'll get to watch more, soon enough!

When will 'Sterling Point' season 2 be released?

A season 2 release date has yet to be announced. However, it's worth noting that even though Prime Video has a packed YA slate, it seems to move quickly on production. For instance, Every Year After season 2 is currently in pre-production after its late-June renewal, and Off Campus started filming its sophomore season just days after its May debut.

In general, shows like Sterling Point do tend to have a quick turnaround for filming. According to IMDb, season 1 was filmed between late June and early October 2025, before its August 2026 premiere. However, there's also the cast's schedules to consider. Notably, Ella Rubin is already set to star in Netflix's TV adaptation of The God of the Woods, which is currently filming in upstate New York.

Knowing all of the above, viewers may have to wait a bit before new episodes of Sterling Point land on our screens—especially if it continues to be set during the summer. While Park may have ideas where season 2 would go, the team will still need to write what's next, and may not enter production until next spring. Everything is still up in the air, though, so we'll keep an eye out for potential production timelines.

Which of the cast members will return for 'Sterling Point' season 2?

The entire main cast will likely return for a season 2. This includes Ella Rubin (Annie Jacobson), Amélie Hoeferle (Ramona), Keen Ruffalo (Connor Jacobson), Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie (Ellis), Daniel Quinn-Toye (Rory), Bo Bragason (Oona), Mabel Strachan (Maple), Nikko Angelo Hinayo (Sully), Missi Pyle (Denise), Jay Duplass (Steven), and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Joe).

Though it's still very early days, Park has revealed that one minor character from season 1 could get a bigger role in new episodes. Speaking to Deadline, Park said that she'd love to do more with Clem, Annie's New York friend from episode 5, played by Ginny & Georgia star Katie Douglas.

"The whole day I was like, if we do a season 2, we have to bring this character back. She’s so good, and their dynamic was hilarious, and [Katie] could really improv spar so well with Ella," Park told the outlet. "So much of that stuff in the bathroom was just them doing their own thing. It was so funny, but she was incredible. I was just blown away by her, and I’m dying to work with her on, if not a season 2, something else. She’s so talented."

Is 'Sterling Point' based on a book?

Sterling Point is an outlier among Prime Video's beloved teen dramas. Unlike The Summer I Turned Pretty, We Were Liars, and other shows, Sterling Point isn't a book-to-TV adaptation. The new hit is an entirely original story from the mind of Park, who was inspired by her personal upbringing, from her childhood summers in Muskoka to her relatives' experiences with adoption.

"I thought it was an interesting idea to explore, nature versus nurture," Park told the LA Times. "I come from a family where there’s a lot of adoption, and I had also never really seen a character like Annie where they were adopted and they didn’t have the desire to seek out their biological family, and that was just something they were fine with. That’s been an experience of a lot of people in my family. Oftentimes, [we see] stories about you know people wanting to find their biological family. Both of them exist, but I hadn’t seen the latter in a lot of things. I was excited to explore that."

What will 'Sterling Point' season 2 be about?

Sterling Point ends its first season with some big changes for the Jacobson family. Newly discovered sisters Annie and Ramona have essentially switched lives, with Annie deciding to stay on the fictional island while Ramona moves to N.Y.C. to spend time with her biological dad, Steven. Meanwhile, after searching for his birth family behind Annie's back, Connor learns that his birth mother is willing to meet him. Viewers are left wondering whether Connor will tell Annie about their mother, whether Annie or Ramona will eventually decide to sell Sterling Point after all, and who the romantic endgames are among the cast. (Romance isn't central to Sterling Point's story, but come on, it's still a teen show.)

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Park teased the many cliffhangers and mysteries that the show could explore in season 2. "There’s a lot of mommy and daddy issues being threaded throughout the show. There’s a lot there," she said.

"Season 1, you do spend a lot of time setting up the world, and then I do almost feel like if you get a season 2, it’s when you relax and go deeper," Park continued. "[Ramona and Annie] switch lives, so there’s a lot for a second season to come back to. And then there’s also the whole thing about when Ramona turns 18, what’s gonna happen with the property?"

Park has also revealed that Sterling Point may include a time jump, in the vein of shows like TSITP that pick up every summer. However, it's not set in stone; the creator told The Wrap that she still had to discuss it with co-showrunners Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage

"It’s such a great summer show—it’d be fun to pick it up like the following summer and kind of see…what these young women have gone through in the past year," she told the outlet.

Fall may be just around the corner, but Sterling Point has us dreaming of an epic lakeside summer. Prime Video's new series from My Old Ass writer/director Megan Park is a coming-of-age drama centered on the titular small Canadian island. When N.Y.C. twins Annie (Ella Rubin) and Connor (Keen Ruffalo) inherit an idyllic cottage from their estranged grandfather, Annie sets out to visit Sterling Point, which was her late adoptive mother's favorite place in the world. But once she arrives, Annie finds that a secret sister (played by Amélie Hoeferle) is just the start of an avalanche of secrets surrounding their late mother.

Since its debut on August 5, Sterling Point has won the hearts of critics and fans, becoming the streamer's latest beloved word-of-mouth hit. The eight-part original series may have viewers wondering when they can book a seaplane to the small-town island. Below, read on for a guide to the filming locations of Sterling Point, from the stand-in for the titular island to the show's surprising connection to Heated Rivalry.

All About the Real 'Sterling Point' Locations

Where Was 'Sterling Point' Filmed?

According to star Ella Rubin, Sterling Point was filmed entirely in southeastern Ontario, Canada, "half in Toronto and half in Muskoka." The latter is a district two hours north of Toronto that comprises multiple villages and towns, as well as over 1,600 lakes. While Muskoka has plenty of rentals for visitors, most cottages are privately owned, especially ones that have been maintained for decades by the same families.

As seen on Sterling Point, Muskoka is part of "cottage country," one of Canada's most popular summer enclaves for wealthy families. (If that doesn't give you Hamptons vibes, Summer House's Canadian spinoff will be set in Muskoka.) The region regularly hosts celebrity couples from David and Victoria Beckham to Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, so Oona’s Kaia Gerber name-drop in episode 1 actually wasn't that far off.

Another reason that "cottage country" may sound familiar? Heated Rivalry put the vacation locale on the map late last year, as the cottage (of "I'm coming to the..." fame) is a real-life Muskoka rental property.

As for specifics, the Prime Video series was filmed in several locations around the region's three major lakes: Lake Muskoka, Lake Joseph, and Lake Rosseau. Per Streets of Toronto, some of the local haunts featured include the family-run Mortimer's Marina and the Sparrow Lake Camp, a real-life summer camp that also offers nightly tent stays.

Is 'Sterling Point' a Real Place?

The town of Sterling Point may be fictional, but it's based on personal history. Creator Megan Park was inspired by her own childhood summers in Muskoka in the '90s while writing both Sterling Point and her 2024 coming-of-age film My Old Ass. Park explained to CBC that the series is a love letter to the rapidly-changing region.

"There is tension up there that's very real with people who have had these cottages in their families for [generations], and new people coming in...environmental challenges," she told the outlet. "Muskoka is stunning, and I'm so glad that the world gets to see it."

There's also a sweet connection hidden within the show's name. According to a blog from the rental company Jayne's Cottages, one of their properties, a "century-old traditional cottage," was the filming location for Elliot's childhood home in My Old Ass. The name of the cottage? Sterling Point.

Sports-romance is certainly having a moment—and not just on #BookTok. As romance book-to-series adaptations have started to take over our streaming services, the subgenre has proven particularly popular in the pipeline, with hits like Heated Rivalry to Off Campus.

There's certainly no shortage of romance books worth getting the on-screen treatment—but if you've been hoping for more LGBTQ+ love stories, you can get excited because one of the most popular sapphic soccer romances is headed to Prime Video. In spring 2026, the streamer confirmed that it will soon release a TV series based on Meryl Wilsner’s Cleat Cute. The 2023 book about two female soccer players who have tension on the field and even greater sexual tension on the sidelines marked Wilsner's third queer novel and has since become a TikTok hit and USA TODAY bestseller.

The series, retitled Playing the Field, will center on the Cleat Cute leads Grace and Phoebe, but also expand into an ensemble comedy. Wilsner, who is among the executive producers, has expressed how they're championing whatever is to come. "As a consumer, I can't stop thinking how lucky we are to get multiple versions of queer stories across different media," they wrote in an April 2026 Facebook post. "I'm so excited to see where [they take] my favorite fictional soccer lesbians!"

Read on for everything we know about the Cleat Cute adaptation Playing the Field so far.

What is 'Cleat Cute' about?

Cleat Cute unfolds as a classic rival-to-lovers story about a veteran national soccer team star named Grace and her new teammate, Phoebe, who just took her spot on the field after an injury. It’s all fun and flirtation between the two of them until Grace has recovered enough to get back on the field, where she’ll be competing against her new situationship for a spot on the World Cup roster. Both women will have to decide what's really important to them—and what they're each willing to give up.

According to Deadline, the TV adaptation will use the couple’s tension-filled relationship as the “anchor” to the show, which will showcase the “sexy, messy, and exciting” lives of four different players on the soccer team.

Who is involved behind-the-scenes of Prime Video's 'Cleat Cute' TV adaptation 'Playing the Field?'

When Deadline confirmed an adaptation was in the works in April 2026, the outlet revealed Sarah Tapscott—who previously wrote and produced on hit series like New Girl, The Sex Lives of College Girls, and more—will lead Playing the Field as showrunner, executive producer, and writer.

"When I tell you this could not be in better hands, I mean it," Wilsner gushed of Tapscott via a post on Facebook. "Within five minutes of meeting her over Zoom, I knew she was our showrunner. She's fucking hilarious, to put it mildly."

There are a few thrilling names beyond Tapscott, as well. Bringing the professional athlete expertise are former WNBA player Sue Bird and former USWNT soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who both serve as executive producers. Wilsner also sung praises of them, writing, "I mean come on, Megan and Sue...Everyone working on this project is fantastic."

Additional producers include Wilsner themselves, Jeff Wachtel (Murder in a Small Town, Good Cop/Bad Cop), Jared Berenholz (Murder in a Small Town), Camille Bernier-Green, and Emily Rasenick.

What has Meryl Wilsner said about the 'Cleat Cute' TV adaptation 'Playing the Field?'

Wilsner has made it clear to fans that while they are an executive producer of the show, they're very open to any liberties that Tapscott may take with their work. "Cleat Cute is one of my favorite books I’ve written, but that’s what it is. A book,” they explained in a Facebook post. "Playing the Field is not my baby. As a creator, I love seeing someone else’s take on the characters, and I can’t emphasize enough how great [Tapscott] is."

When will the 'Cleat Cute' TV adaptation 'Playing the Field' be released?

There is no release date for Playing the Field. It might be a while before it hits streaming, too. Wilsner has described the timeline as "vague."

"There are many, many, *many* steps to making a TV show," they wrote to fans in April 2026. "The basics of the show—script, outline, general vibe—are being established. This is a very fun stage, but it’s not the same as being in production."

Considering it's still early days for the series and casting hasn't begun (more on that below!), the finished product might not hit our screens until at least 2028.

Why is the name changed from 'Cleat Cute' to 'Playing the Field?'

The Cleat Cute title has notably been changed to Playing the Field for the TV show (not unlike Prime Video's decision to shift Every Summer After to Every Year After for its Carley Fortune adaptation). Wilsner opened up about the change, explaining that it only allows for the series to grow.

"This is a TV show, not a movie, so the story needs to be expanded instead of whittled down," the author wrote on Facebook. "Cleat Cute was specifically the story of Grace and Phoebe falling in love, and Playing the Field is an ensemble comedy."

And we already know how the show plans to expand beyond the book's horizon. As its logline teases, the on-screen version will focus on several players and their love lives. While it's way too early to say how long Playing the Field will run, it certainly seems ripe for a different focus each season à la Off Campus.

Who has been cast in the 'Cleat Cute' adaptation 'Playing the Field?'

No casting decisions have been made yet (“I don’t know who will play Grace or Phoebe," Wilsner admitted when the adaptation was announced). However, the writer is certainly interested in who her readers would like to see, asking on social media, "Who do y’all have in mind?"

While nothing is confirmed, several names have already popped up on social media, with fans nominating stars like Liv Hewson (Yellowjackets, Santa Clarita Diet) or Ella Purnell (Fallout, Sweetpea) as Phoebe and Charlotte Austin (Petrichor) or Sophie Thatcher (Yellowjackets) as Grace Henderson.

On the press tour for Elle, Prime Video's series imagining the high school origin story of Legally Blonde's Elle Woods, newcomer Lexi Minetree has been paying faithful homage to the original Delta Nu and eventual Harvard Law School graduate, Reese Witherspoon. Working with stylist Molly Dickson, Minetree has sourced Witherspoon's personal archives for both her premiere outfits (like a Marc Jacobs midi) and some of Elle's original costumes (like a sequin Dolce & Gabbana dress, tried on a fitting-room scene during the 2001 film). "I knew that I really wanted to pay respect to Elle Woods and her style," Minetree told Marie Claire, "because she is a fashion icon".

Between the red-carpet callbacks and a teaser trailer full of hot pink bikinis, peony feather pens, and '90s back issues of Cosmopolitan, viewers may expect Minetree's outfits on Elle to be just as faithful to the source material: all fuchsia and sequins, all calling back to Elle's anti-Ivy League wardrobe from the movies. By Elle's palette in the pilot, it's clear anyone who thinks orange is the new pink is definitely disturbed. But as series costume designers Sophie de Rakoff and Sara Byblow shared in an interview with Marie Claire, the wardrobing goal was never to exactly replicate Legally Blonde's outfits.

"Everyone is very, very familiar with the Legally Blonde aesthetic and the universe," says de Rakoff, who designed costumes for both the original Legally Blonde and its 2003 sequel. "So you don't need to put a hat on a hat. Our approach to [Elle's styling] always was: only if it works for the character, and if it helps propel the narrative, as opposed to just putting things in for the sake of it."

"We didn't want to replicate," Byblow agrees. It wouldn't make sense for a high-school junior version of Elle to pack the same clothes for law school a few years later, after all. (One constant is that Elle is a certified shopper—so aside from a few special pieces, her closet would naturally evolve.)

Set aside expectations that the series will perfectly encapsulate '90s Bel-Air style, too. "Sophie and I both were so adamant from the beginning that we are not a documentary. We're not saying that we're based specifically in the '90s," Byblow says. "We are living in our own Legally Blonde universe, so it was more so about finding pieces that felt like our character." Meaning: While there are a few vintage pulls here and there, Elle's final edit mixes up archival finds with custom-made pieces and items from right now.

If exact '90s collections and Reese Witherspoon's original wardrobe weren't the starting point for imagining Elle as a teen, what were? The costume designers say they spent hours mood boarding, thinking of women who would inspire Elle's nearly-unwavering optimism and her sense of style: Goldie Hawn for comedy, Claudia Schiffer for modeling. "The biggest thing was always just building out the world around her before we ever touched any piece of clothing," Byblow says.

Once the costume designers had a sense of Elle's starting point, they could begin exploring how her wardrobe would evolve. The script provided a roadmap: After a litigious mishap at her father's plastic surgery practice, Elle and her parents move from Bel-Air to Seattle. It's an outsider versus insider set-up that's made all the more stark when Elle arrives for her first day of school with a pink Gucci backpack and matching mini dress. Obviously, she's sticking out in a sea of grunge plaid shirts and baggy cargoes.

Pay close attention to the shades she's wearing. "The soft pink satin that we see on the first day of school reflected that vulnerability and being that fish out of water in Seattle," Byblow says. "Elle has her own moments of changing and evolving throughout, [which] you'll see through texture and color."

The centerpiece of the series, however, isn't saved for Elle's move to Seattle. It's the first full look viewers see: a hot pink mini dress for Elle's Sweet 16 birthday party, set with a giant, baby pink bow on the neckline. "[We] put so much thought and intention and love into this one particular costume, because it was a proof of concept of so many things for us," de Rakoff says.

Pink in any shade is shorthand for "Elle Woods"; this pink shows the character in her element. At home in Bel-Air, "She is her most confident, grounded self. Having her in this texture and this hot pink really was supposed to sell the fact of that confidence," Byblow says. "That color tone, specifically at the start of the show, was really important to us in telling that story."

The day Lexi Minetree tried on Elle's birthday party dress is the day de Rakoff and Byblow knew their costuming approach captured the essence of everyone's favorite lawyer-in-training—even with their tweaks and re-imaginings for the prequel.

"I remember when we were doing the camera tests, and [Lexi] walked onto the stage with the perfect camera makeup, the dress, the shoes...it really was a moment," de Rakoff says. "It reminded me of doing the camera test with Reese, when she had when she came out in the Jackie O outfit [for Legally Blonde 2]. You could see it in the camera lens, who that character is." No objections.

Throughout her Forbidden Fruits press tour, Lili Reinhart embodied Y2K dressing—and she's not done just yet. To attend Prime Video's inaugural Obsessed Fest on June 27, the actress and producer channeled the '90s and early '00s with a custom Cult Gaia silk chiffon gown that's incredibly dreamy.

Per a press release, the Cult Gaia gown was an exclusive creation for Reinhart, and was "inspired by the effortless femininity of the '90s and early 2000s." The pink dress was created "from layered chiffon in multiple tonal shades," which was designed to create "dimension and fluid movement as each panel catches the light differently."

Reinhart's gown features a corseted bodice and a thigh-high leg split, along with side cowl detailing, a subtle train, and "a custom brass dandelion at the shoulder strap."

The Riverdale icon accessorized her unforgettable gown with a pair of René Caovilla's Erin Crystal-Embellished Sandals and jewelry from Logan Hollowell.

Reinhart attended Prime Video's Obsessed Fest in support of her forthcoming movie, The Love Hypothesis, based on Ali Hazelwood's book of the same name. She posed with her onscreen love interest, actor Tom Bateman, on the red carpet, which likely made fans of the novel extremely excited about the upcoming adaptation.

Shop Outfits Inspired by Lili Reinhart

Jennifer Lopez is an icon who easily straddles the worlds of music, fashion, and film. As a result, the Office Romance star regularly finds herself referenced on screen. Case in point: that moment in the first season of Prime Video's Off Campus, in which Allie (Mika Abdalla) is seen dancing to "On the Floor" while wearing a dress very reminiscent of J.Lo's unforgettable green Versace look.

On Saturday, June 27, J.Lo majorly surprised Off Campus fans at Prime Video's very first Obsessed Fest in Los Angeles, when she took to the stage to perform "On the Floor." For the special moment, Lopez donned a fluffy fur coat, which she shed to reveal a skintight nude bodysuit, which was emblazoned with a graffiti-like design and adorned with rhinestones. The bodysuit was an exclusive design created by TTSWTRS for their debut couture show.

Along with her sheer TTSWTRS catsuit, the "Get Right" singer wore Jimmy Choo x Jean Paul Gaultier's Tattoo Leather Over-the-Knee Boots to perform alongside a troupe of dancers.

Prime Video's inaugural Obsessed Fest brought together creators and stars from some of its most popular projects, including Off Campus, Overcompensating, Every Year After, the forthcoming Legally Blonde prequel Elle, and The Love Hypothesis, which stars Lili Reinhart.

While J.Lo regularly performs in sparkly catsuits and thigh-high boots, it's clear that Obsessed Fest attendees were treated to a high-octane performance from the star.

Shop Sheer Catsuits and Bodysuits

No one loves a romance novel quite like Prime Video. Over the last few years, the streamer's been on a roll—pouncing on the buzzy titles scrolling across your #BookTok FYP and snapping up their adaptation rights.

In the last five years alone, the platform has released series adaptations of Jenny Han's sun-drenched The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy, Elle Kennedy's over-10-year-old hockey romance series Off Campus, and Carley Fortune's splashy Every Summer After novel, re-titled Every Year After. There are a handful of best-sellers on Prime Video's book-to-screen docket, from this September's STEM romance The Love Hypothesis to the long-awaited Fourth Wing series—but fans of Irish novels and love triangles have another to look forward to: The Boys of Tommen.

Author Chloe Walsh's The Boys of Tommen series delighted readers with six novels' worth of steamy romance, charming athlete tropes, and top-tier yearning—which means excitement's at a fever pitch to see all those details come to life on the screen. Read on for everything we know about The Boys of Tommen TV series adaptation so far.

What is 'Boys of Tommen' about?

Written by Irish author Chloe Walsh, The Boys of Tommen series follows a team of rugby players at the elite school Tommen College in County Cork, Ireland, as each athlete navigates love, rugby, and growing up. With six books already released and at least a few more forthcoming, each coming-of-age sports romance explores the relationship between one of the players and their love interest.

"It’s just an unbelievable constellation of characters, but it’s also got such a specificity for place and the time," Prime Video's International Content Chief, Nicole Clemens, told Deadline in February 2026, when the adaptation was announced.

Though originally published in 2018, the series experienced something of a renaissance online in recent years—like its older American-hockey-playing brother, Off Campus. Fans have praised the books for how they explore heavy emotional topics, including addiction, abuse, and trauma. The renewed interest stirred enough buzz to catch the eye of Prime Video, which announced the series adaptation via an Instagram post in February 2026.

What 'Boys of Tommen' books are being adapted in season 1 of the TV series?

Prime Video has announced that the first season of the show will feature eight episodes that explore the first two books in the Boys of Tommen series, Binding 13 and Keeping 13. The duology focuses on the forbidden love story of star rugby player Johnny Kavanagh and shy new girl Shannon Lynch. "Both teenagers are hiding secrets; Johnny, a potentially career-ending injury, and Shannon, a troubled and violent home life," the show's logline describes. "Through their secret and highly charged connection, the two teens from opposite worlds battle against the odds and find a way to save each other."

Though future seasons have yet to be confirmed, should they be greenlit, viewers can expect them to follow the subsequent books: Saving 6, Redeeming 6, Taming 7, and Releasing 10.

Who is involved behind the scenes of the 'Boys of Tommen' TV show?

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder alum, Poppy Cogan, takes the helm as the show's lead writer and executive producer. She shares the latter title with author Chloe Walsh.

Prime Video's International Content Chief Nicole Clemens teased that "Poppy's scripts capture the intensity of Johnny and Shannon's powerful romance and dive into the rich constellation of characters to explore the themes of mental health, bullying, and resilience with the same authenticity that fans love in Chloe's books."

Also behind the series are the production houses Drama Republic (One Day), Temple Hill (Twilight), and wiip (The Summer I Turned Pretty). Irish filmmaker Brendan Canty—known for directing Hozier's "Take Me To Church" music video—is also attached to direct.

Who has been cast in the 'Boys of Tommen' TV show?

We already know many of the Tommen College coeds! In late May, Prime Video announced that Nancy Surridge and Conor Sánchez will lead the first season as Shannon and Johnny. While Sánchez already has a few acting credits under his belt—including Power & Glory, One Night, and Invertigo—Boys of Tommen will be Surridge's breakout role.

James O'Donoghue and Sophie McGibbon were also cast as Joey Lynch and Aoife Molloy, the romantic leads of the third and fourth Boys of Tommen books. McGibbon will appear later this year alongside Daisy Edgar-Jones as Miss Grey in the forthcoming Sense & Sensibility movie adaptation. O'Donoghue, meanwhile, can be seen in Fair City and A Witch's Tale.

“We searched far and wide, receiving over 3,000 casting suggestions from across the U.K. and Ireland, but from the moment Nancy, Conor, James, and Sophie walked into the room, it was clear we’d found something beyond special," director Brendan Canty said in a statement via a Prime Video press release. "Each of them brings the spirit and emotional depth this story demands, and I couldn’t be more excited to bring Chloe’s world to the screen with this extraordinary young cast.”

Beyond the leads of books 1 through 4, a handful of supporting cast members (and potential eventual stars) were announced in late June 2026. According to Deadline, Amelia May (Wild Cherry) will play Claire Biggs, and John Hewson—the youngest son of Bono from U2—will have one of his first major roles as Gerard Gibson. As readers will know, Book 5 turns its focus to Claire and Gerard's romance. The leading characters of Book 6, Claire's brother Hugh and Lizzie Young, have also been cast: Indy Lewis (Industry) will take on Lizzie, and Irish racecar driver Alex Dunne will make his acting debut as Hugh.

In July, Variety revealed up-and-comer Jamie Schneider will be the show's Patrick Feely, whom book fans know as Player 12, and will be the upcoming lead of the yet-to-be-published books 9 and 10 (Feeling 12 and Trusting 12). The outlet reported that the show also found its Pierce O’Neill—who dates Lizzie before Hugh—in rising actor, James Craven (who has had small roles in House of the Dragon and Doctor Who).

Other members in the ensemble include Eoin Macken (Merlin, La Brea) and Róisín Gallagher (How to Get to Heaven From Belfast) as Shannon's parents, Teddy and Marie Lynch, Amy Huberman (Finding Joy) as Johnny's mom, Edel Kavanagh, Dixie Egerickx (The Secret Garden) as Katie Wilmot, theater actress Daisy Jacob as Bella Wilkinson, rising Irish actor/filmmaker Jonathan Heed as Cormac Ryan, and newcomer Cathal Ó Síocháin as Ronan McGarry.

When will the 'Boys of Tommen' TV series be released?

Though the series got the green light from Prime Video earlier this year, it'll still be a while before our screens transport us to Cork. With the casting of the leads complete, we can assume that the show may be ready to move into production later in 2026. If that's the case and filming goes smoothly, it's possible we could see episodes in late 2027 or early 2028.

Fingers crossed we get more information soon; we'll keep this story updated as more details become available.

Today's romance fans have no shortage of ships to swoon over, but it hits a bit harder when the actors' chemistry can even be seen off set. In Prime Video's latest book-to-TV adaptation, Every Year After, rising stars Sadie Soverall and Matt Cornett portray an irresistible second-chance romance. Former childhood besties Percy (Soverall) and Sam (Cornett) spent every summer together in Barry's Bay, until their building romance was interrupted by an irreparable mistake. When Percy returns to mourn a loved one's death, old feelings reemerge and threaten to upend the life that Sam has built without her.

In honor of the series' streaming debut, Soverall and Cornett sat down with Marie Claire to test their friendship with a game of How Well Do You Know Your Co-Star?. The pair quickly proved how much they've learned about each other while making the show, as they guessed each other's favorite romance tropes, childhood celebrity crushes, and must-have snacks and sweet treats. Most tellingly, Cornett confirmed that the cast-mate he'd text first—minus Michael Bradway, who he considers his "brother" on- and off-screen—was Soverall. After all, he assured, he's "such a big Sadie Soverall fan."

Watch the full challenge above, then head to Prime Video to watch Every Year After, streaming now.

Once again, a buzzy summer romance show has arrived on Prime Video and made a cohort of fans fall in love with it. Based on Carley Fortune's 2022 debut novel, Every Summer After, Every Year After follows Percy Fraser (Sadie Soverall) and Sam Florek (Matt Cornett), who reunite in the picturesque Barry's Bay a decade after a mysterious betrayal torpedoes their teenage friends-to-lovers romance. Alongside the pair's second-chance encounter, the show's eight episodes flesh out some of the original book's supporting characters, from Percy's best friends Chantal (Aurora Perrineau) and Delilah (Abigail Cowen) to Sam's older brother Charlie (Michael Bradway).

Although Percy and Sam's time in the spotlight has seemingly come to an end, fear not: Fortune has written another book set within the Every Year After universe, so there's ample source material to pull from.

If you've already torn through the first season and are itching to return to Barry's Bay, you're not alone. Keep reading to find out everything we know about a potential Every Year After season 2 so far, including which character is poised to become the show's new romantic lead.

Has 'Every Year After' been renewed for season 2?

Summer isn't over yet! In late June 2026, at Prime Video's Obsessed Fest, the streamer confirmed a season 2 renewal for Every Year After. Not only that, Prime Video confirmed that the upcoming episodes will adapt the next book in Fortune's Barry's Bay series: One Golden Summer. Considering that major cliffhanger (more on that below!), book fans had speculated as soon as they binged season 1 that the next novel was bound to be adapted.

Showrunner Amy B. Harris also shared a statement about the good news in a press release. She said, "The response to Every Year After has been truly extraordinary, underscoring the universal appeal of Carley Fortune’s storytelling and the deep connection audiences have formed with the world of Barry’s Bay."

Peter Friedlander, Head of Global Television, Amazon MGM Studios, added, “We’re incredibly grateful to Carley, Amy B. Harris, our exceptional cast and creative team, and the passionate fans who have embraced this series around the globe. We’re excited to return to Barry’s Bay and bring audiences another deeply emotional and unforgettable chapter.”

What's more? Harris has also alluded to the show running long past season 2. Of course only a second installment is on the table right now, but it's possible there's more to come down the line. "I see five seasons," she told Entertainment Weekly when season 1 hit streaming. "Obviously, there’s another book that’s connected to Barry’s Bay that I think will be a very exciting blueprint for us for a potential season 2."

Which Carley Fortune book will 'Every Year After' season 2 adapt?

Every Year After season 2 will adapt Carley Fortune's 2025 book, One Golden Summer. The romance novel, also set in Barry's Bay, follows Sam's brother, Charlie (Michael Bradway). Meaning, that's right: He does, in fact, survive season 1's shocking cliffhanger!

Over the course of One Golden Summer, Charlie falls in love with photographer Alice Everly, who returns to Barry's Bay years after taking a photo there that changed the course of her life. And yes, that photo just so happens to be the snapshot of Charlie, Percy, and Sam that Charlie sees at the end of the season 1 finale.

During a recent Teen Vogue interview, Bradway teased that the cast and crew crafted his character's season 1 storyline with One Golden Summer in mind. "There were definitely things that we did in the first season that we were intentional about," the actor told the outlet. "[We] made sure that Charlie acted a certain way [in relationships] because we knew that Alice was going to be coming next season."

What will 'Every Year After' season 2 be about?

While Charlie and Alice's romance will drive season 2's plot, Harris also plans to continue fleshing out the stories of the rest of the Every Year After characters.

"We intentionally built out the ensemble because I think we can tell lots of stories with our main characters," she told Deadline. "Obviously, Sam and Percy are our love story, the one we were following this season, but to me, the love triangle between Jordie, Chantal, and Delilah has much more to explore."

During an interview with Elle, Harris pointed out that this broader interest in the show's ensemble is part of what inspired the choice to rename the show rather than use the original book title, Every Summer After. "The book is obviously Every Summer After and takes place during the summer, and the first season does take place in the summer," she said. "But what I was intrigued by is that it isn't just every summer that [these characters] have been...dealing with the ramifications of their behavior. That doesn't just affect your summers...I've been thinking a lot about the next season [of the show], and wanting there to be a fall, a winter, a spring."

Which cast members will return for 'Every Year After' season 2?

You can expect all of season 1's major players to return, including Michael Bradway as Charlie, Sadie Soverall as Percy, Matt Cornett as Sam, Aurora Perrineau as Chantal, Abigail Cowen as Delilah, and Joseph Chiu as Jordie.

Although Elisha Cuthbert's character, Sue, died in season 1, she could still appear in flashbacks.

Meanwhile, season 2 will introduce a major new character: Alice Everly, the show's new female romantic lead and Charlie's eventual love interest. The word is still out on who will play her, so start your fan casts now.

When will 'Every Year After' season 2 come out?

It's unclear when season 2 will premiere. However, we can look at the season 1 timeline for an idea; the show was originally ordered in summer 2024, and by mid-summer 2025, the series was cast and began production. Season 2 was renewed in late June 2026—though the showrunner seemed to have an idea that it was a possibility and a plan for what to bring to the screen next. So, if the writers get back to work ASAP, it's possible filming could pick up in time to shoot before the summer weather is totally through. But a more likely timeline may be for filming to begin next spring. Depending on production timing, hopefully we'll be back in Barry's Bay sometime in 2027.

We'll keep this story updated as more information becomes available. In the meantime, you can get the show's source material, Every Summer After and One Golden Summer, on Bookshop.

This article contains major spoilers for season 1 of Every Year After. Like many buzzy romance shows, Prime Video's Every Year After started as a book. More specifically, the first season is an adaptation of author Carley Fortune's 2022 debut novel, Every Summer After.

Both versions follow Percy Fraser (Sadie Soverall) and Sam Florek (Matt Cornett) across two timelines. One tracks how the childhood best friends became each other's first loves over several summers. The other takes place a decade later, as the two reunite after a mysterious period of estrangement has derailed their relationship.

Although many of the story's major plot beats are the same, Every Year After also makes some adaptive changes to flesh out Barry's Bay, the picturesque lake town that Percy and Sam call home. Read on as we break down the major differences between Every Year After and the original book.

Why is the title of 'Every Year After' different from the book, 'Every Summer After?'

Although Every Year After adapts Fortune’s 2022 novel Every Summer After, the show title is obviously different.

During a recent Variety interview, Fortune shared that there were “a lot of conversations” about the decision. “There were a lot of conversations about it,” she said. “The feeling was that Every Year After opened it up to live beyond the book. And it was one of those things that in an adaptation, things just change when other people come into the mix.”

Although it's too soon to say, here's to hoping that means many more seasons could be in store.

How does Barry's Bay from 'Every Summer After' to 'Every Year After?'

Both the show and movie are set in the idyllic Canadian lake town of Barry's Bay, although the setting differs slightly from the page to screen. Fortune famously writes her love stories in her native Canada, and in the book, Barry's Bay is supposed to be in Ontario's cottage country—and is, in fact, a real place. However, in the Prime Video series, it's been fictionalized to be on the opposite side of the country in British Columbia. To account for the switch-up, Percy also hails from Seattle, Washington, not Toronto. (In real life, the show was shot on Bowen Island, an island outside of Vancouver.)

How does Percy's job in 'Every Year After' differ from the book?

In the book, adult Percy works alongside her best friend, Chantal (Aurora Perrineau), as a senior editor at a home decor magazine. However, in the show, she finds herself writing local obituaries.

“[It’s] one of the few things newspapers still need writers for,” she says in the series premiere. “It pays the bills.”

Percy’s death-centered job takes on a more personal note when she discovers that her former parental figure, Sue Florek (Elisha Cuthbert), has died.

How was Percy and Sam's first kiss changed from the book in 'Every Year After?'

In Every Year After, Percy and Sam’s first kiss is a little later in the story’s timeline. The book characters kiss in summer 2013 after watching The Blair Witch Project during a sleepover, prompting a terrified Percy to open up about her crush on Sam.

Meanwhile, in the show, the duo don’t kiss until the next summer, while Sam is teaching Percy a steamy anatomy lesson.

Is the love triangle between Jordie, Chantal, and Delilah in 'Every Year After' in the book?

Chantal barely appears on the page in Every Summer After, since the book's Percy returns to Barry’s Bay solo. However, in the show, a recently engaged Chantal accompanies Percy to the lake town for Sue’s memorial. There, she finds herself falling for Sam’s best friend Jordie (Joseph Chiu). At the same time, Percy’s childhood BFF Delilah (Abigail Cowen) is also harboring feelings for him (while in a less-than-happy marriage with Sam's brother Charlie).

No matter which couple you’re rooting for, we’re in uncharted territory, since Jordie, Chantal, and Delilah’s love triangle is entirely a show invention.

How does Delilah change from 'Every Summer After' to 'Every Year After?'

Many of the book characters are expanded on-screen, including Percy's childhood best friend Delilah who's changed extensively. In the book, she attends the same college as Sam but is not a part of the present timeline, as she and Percy have drifted apart. In the show, however, she's changed to wound up in an unhappy marriage (resulting in a show-original affair with Charlie). Her being a wealthy, local fixture is also unique to the series, and leads to her want for The Tavern—none of which happens on the page because it doesn't continue her storyline into adulthood.

Her character is changed in the past, as well. The arc about her becoming pregnant and having an abortion as a teenager is only in the show and comes up as Percy reflects upon their youth.

Why were flashbacks involving Sue added to 'Every Year After?'

Although Sue’s death is the inciting incident that sends Percy back to Barry’s Bay in the adult timeline, she’s not a present character in Every Summer After. Yet in Every Year After, she’s a major character in the flashback timeline, playing a major role in Percy’s adolescence.

Showrunner Amy B. Harris told Deadline that casting Canadian actress and '00s icon Elisha Cuthbert as Sue inspired her and the other writers to expand the character’s role in the series. “We weren’t sure how much we would use [Sue] until Elisha signed on,” Harris said. “At first it was going to be touches, and then once I knew we could get her, I was like, ‘Oh, good, I get to write really meaty material,’ because she’s here for it and can do it.”

Why was Percy inheriting The Tavern added to 'Every Year After?'

Once Percy arrives back in Barry’s Bay, she’s given a reason to stay when she discovers that Sue has left her local business, The Tavern, to her. Harris told Deadline that this show invention came from Every Year After’s writers fleshing out Percy and Sue’s relationship.

“I added the stuff about The Tavern, and what I kept thinking about when we were coming up with that storyline was that Sue really understood Percy,” she said. “That scene with the tiara and the tutu, when Percy says, ‘I don’t know if I can handle the crown,’ and Sue says, ‘You’re going to need to learn, because my boys aren’t going to want to'—to me, that was as much about the tavern and this life in Barry’s Bay that her boys weren’t necessarily going to hold on to. She knew that, but I think she also understood Percy really needed that.”

What did Percy do to hurt Sam in 'Every Summer After' vs. the show?

It's eventually revealed that Percy and Sam became estranged after Sam discovered that Percy slept with Charlie (Michael Bradway) during a tumultuous period of their relationship. In the book, Charlie tells Sam and Sue about his hook-up with Percy mere months after it happened.

That’s not the case in the show, in which Sam doesn’t learn the truth until years later. During episode 5, Sam attempts to rekindle his relationship with Percy in the adult timeline—and only then does he discover what went down between her and his brother.

How does the 'Every Summer After' book end in comparison to 'Every Year After?'

As it turns out, Every Year After doesn't necessarily adapt all of Every Summer After. It leaves fans swooning just enough and seems to tease that there's more to come from Percy and Sam's story—which is what's left on the page at the end of the book. Both the novel and drama pick up a year after Sue's memorial. The show hints that the former flame has spent months apart, but now they're both in better places, and may be open to exploring a new chapter. Whereas on the page, the time jump has led the two to being in a relationship and living together in Toronto. With Percy and Sam's will-they-won't-they wide open, we definitely have reason to believe there's more to come between them.

Not only that, the final cliffhanger involving Charlie—in which he has such a strong reaction to looking at an old photograph that he appears to have a medical emergency—isn't in Every Summer After. The incident occurs in One Golden Summer, the sequel, which follows his romance. The show certainly implies it hopes to adapt that love story next, but we'll let you pick up the book in the meantime to know Charlie's fate before then.

From The Summer I Turned Pretty to Off Campus, Prime Video has become the go-to streamer for the next big book-to-screen romance series. This summer is no exception, as viewers can look forward to a brand-new second-chance romance tale—courtesy of Every Year After.

Based on Carley Fortune's 2022 novel Every Summer After, the series follows childhood best friends Percy (Sadie Soverall) and Sam (Matt Cornett) as they become each other's first loves, only to be torn apart for the next decade. When they finally reunite, old feelings and past secrets surface in the picturesque vacation town of Barry's Bay.

Before you dive into the show, which premieres on June 10, here's everything to know about the cast of Every Year After.

Sadie Soverall as Percy Fraser

As a teenager, Every Year After heroine Persephone “Percy” Fraser spends her summers in Barry’s Bay. Over the course of several years, her friendship with boy-next-door Sam Florek (Matt Cornett) blossoms into young love. Years later, an adult Percy returns for Florek family matriarch Sue’s funeral, forcing her to reconnect with Sam years after a mysterious, devastating breakup tore them apart.

Sadie Soverall, 24, is a British actress best known for playing Beatrice in the Netflix series Fate: The Winx Saga. You might also recognize her from her role as one of the ex-lovers of Jacob Elordi’s character, Felix, in Emerald Fennell’s 2023 thriller Saltburn.

Sadie Soverall's Instagram: @sadiesoverall

Matt Cornett as Sam Florek

Every Year After leading man Sam Florek had a formative, ill-fated summer romance with his best friend, Percy, as a teenager. Today, he’s a doctor grieving his mother and dating a pediatric surgeon. Sparks between Percy and Sam inevitably fly when she returns to Barry’s Bay, but will they end up back together?

Matt Cornett, 27, came to fame as perfectionist theater kid E.J. in Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Other acting credits include Zombies 3, Summer of 69, and Minimum Wage.

Matt Cornett's Instagram: @mattcornett

Aurora Perrineau as Chantal

Chantal is Percy’s best friend in adulthood. A straight-laced lawyer, Chantal’s decision to accompany Percy back to Barry’s Bay might help her find herself outside of her demanding job.

Aurora Perrineau, 31, is an actress and model best known for playing Shana in the 2015 live-action film adaptation of Jem and the Holograms. Perrineau has also appeared in the horror-thriller Truth or Dare, as well as shows like Westworld and When They See Us.

Aurora Perrineau's Instagram: @auroraperrineau

Abigail Cowen as Delilah

Delilah is Percy’s childhood best friend.

Abigail Cowen, 28, previously appeared alongside Soverall in Fate: The Winx Saga, playing protagonist Bloom Peters. The actress told Teen Vogue that working together on a previous show helped them capture Delilah and Percy’s close-knit dynamic. “[Sadie is] like a sister to me, which was cool to play because Delilah and Percy were like sisters when they were young,” Cowen said. “When they’re young, Delilah’s this firecracker, free-spirit girl, and Percy’s more internal and quiet. Delilah pushes her outside of her comfort zone. And in adulthood, Percy actually pushes Delilah out of her comfort zone to eventually confront her own demons.”

Cowen can also be seen as Vicki in Stranger Things and as Dorcas in Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

Abigail Cowen’s Instagram: @abbeycowen

Michael Bradway as Charlie Florek

Charlie Florek is Sam's older brother. After befriending a teenage Percy, Charlie later follows his dying mother's request to reach out to her, prompting her long-awaited return to Barry's Bay.

Michael Bradway, 27, previously portrayed Jack Damon on the NBC drama Chicago Fire. Additionally, he can be seen in Marked Men and Safe House.

Michael Bradway’s Instagram: @michaelbradway_

Joseph Chiu as Jordie

Jordie is Sam’s best friend. Although he also grew up with Percy, Jordie initially pretends not to know his BFF's ex when she returns to Barry's Bay. How's that for friend loyalty?

Joseph Chiu, 24, booked his first major role as Spider in the 2025 Netflix horror film Fear Street: Prom Queen. Although he’s still a relative newcomer, he’s already booked TV appearances in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and The Miniature Wife.

Joseph Chiu's Instagram: @josephchiu0812

Elisha Cuthbert as Sue Florek

Sue isn’t just Sam and Charlie’s mom. She’s also a key figure in young Percy’s teenage years. When Sue dies of lymphoma, it’s her death that prompts Percy to return to Barry’s Bay and reconnect with the Floreks years later.

Elisha Cuthbert, 43, rose to fame as a scream queen with roles in 2000s horror films like Captivity, House of Wax, and The Quiet. More recently, she played Abby Phillips in four seasons of the Netflix comedy The Ranch.

Elisha Cuthbert's Instagram: @elishaphaneuf

If you love Every Year After and can't get enough of the Barry's Bay world, you can buy Every Summer After at Bookshop.

According to Elle Kennedy's Off Campus books, Ella Bright's role as Hannah would take the leading lady slot in the first season of the hockey romance series' Amazon Prime adaptation. But her on-screen best friend Allie, played by Mika Abdalla, couldn't help it: The Gen Z trends in her surprisingly relatable college outfits made her the main character in my mind. Season 2 (which follows Allie's love story) can't come soon enough.

Hannah's on-campus costumes felt a touch too modest for my taste. My college closet looked a lot more like Allie's, which features a boho-chic blend of prints, oversize outerwear, and flirty after-hours 'fits. Us musical theater girls also share a flair for the dramatic, though my Halloween take on Jennifer Lopez's famed Versace naked dress wasn't nearly as spot-on as Allie's. (I didn't have a costume designer like Charlene Akuamoah to sculpt the 2000 Grammys look from scratch.)

What I envied most about Allie's personal style was her ability to make Gen Z hero pieces her own. Right away in Episode 1, her sold-out bomber jacket samples the strawberry red color trend. It steals the show while the attention is technically supposed to be on Hannah, who's gathering the courage to talk to her crush, Justin Kohl. Later on in the season, Allie pulls off multiple cut-out-heavy tops, including a cult-collected long-sleeve from Diesel. She pairs it with equally sporty track pants in the same not-quite-tomato shade of red.

I see a lot of myself in Allie—and not just because her bangs have been on my mood board since pre-graduation. If anyone could bring my college style back to life for summer 2026, it's this fictional character. Ahead, join me in shopping the best of Allie's outfits in Off Campus Season 1. Then, book it to your local Malone's.

Allie's Strawberry Red Jacket Outfit

Allie's Season 1 style starts strong, thanks to a denim jacket from Lioness. (That's the same Australian label in Lady Gaga and Elsa Hosk's closets, as well as Selena Gomez's Only Murders In the Building archives.) She stacks the strawberry bomber and its white stitching atop a micro-mini little black dress. Her exact Lioness zip-up sold-out months ago, right around the time strawberry sprouted on Givenchy, Chanel, and Alaïa's spring runways. Late last month, Hailey Bieber's campaign with Mango delivered an almost-identical option.

Allie's Jennifer Lopez-Inspired Outfit

Off Campus Episode 2 belongs to Allie and her scene-stealing take on J.Lo's iconic Versace dress at the 2000 Grammy Awards. The maxi's plunge bodice and tropical-printed chiffon would've started Google Images, if Lopez hadn't beat her to it decades ago.

According to Mika Abdalla, it was "built from scratch" to her exact measurements. "One of my first fittings was starting from the leotard down, draping fabrics, pinning...I had like four or five fittings," she told Us Weekly last week. "At the end of the day I just had a layer of skin come off my body...The pain of being J.Lo. I'll take it." Thankfully, there are ways to reimagine the fashion moment without body tape.

Allie's Snakeskin Jacket Outfit

No one has ever looked so cool during a break-up conversation as Allie did in Episode 4. She confronts her soon-to-be ex, Sean, in straight-leg jeans, a chocolate brown tank top, and the sleekest leather snakeskin jacket. The cropped, sold-out style would fit right in with my favorite VIP fashion girls, including Rihanna, Dua Lipa, and Miley Cyrus.

Allie's Cut-Out Top Outfit

Did you really experience college if you didn't style a cut-out top to class, the cafeteria, and a frat party or two? Allie says, "No." For her, showing skin beneath a Diesel-branded shirt seems like an every day occurrence. She styles it as effortlessly as Hannah did a baggy graphic tee. Take it from Allie: Cut-outs are a fun way to spice up basics like her black long-sleeve.

Allie's Track Pants Outfit

Allie endorses the track pants trend in that same Episode 8 outfit. The elasticized bottoms were just oversize enough to channel the low-rise look Bieber loves so much. (In fact, her whole athleisure look bared a striking resemblance to Bieber's take on track pants last March.) It's unclear where Akuamoah found the bright red pair—singular white stripes confirmed they weren't Adidas. While you wait for the brand reveal, shop similar Allie-approved styles below.

Allie's Sports Jersey and White Skirt Outfit

Sure, Episode 8 is the pinnacle of Hannah's storyline. It also happens to spotlight some of Allie's best-dressed moments. A few scenes later, she trades track pants for an equally-sporty football jersey. (As soon as fans learned the crop top was $20 on Dolls Kill, it disappeared within minutes.)

She offsets its tomboy-ish feel with the winning white skirt trend—a Spring 2026 staple among Zoë Kravitz, Barbara Palvin, and Katie Holmes. Finally, Allie gives the poplin piece the Olivia Rodrigo treatment with black, knee-high leather boots. Rodrigo and similar Dr. Martens took center stage in Barcelona last month, but all eyes were on her babydoll dress. (IYKYK.) I could see Allie rocking a Rodrigo-looking babydoll next season, couldn't you?

There's a new It girl in town, fresh from Prime Video's Off Campus. Meet Ella Bright: the actress playing girl next door Hannah Wells, one-half of the breakout book-to-TV adaptation's leading power couple. Before returning to Briar University to film Season 2, Bright declared herself a style star to watch in a little lemon yellow dress on May 21.

Bright had plenty of fashion moments as Hannah in Season 1, ranging from a recreation of Elle Woods's Playboy bunny costume to a satin slip dress in the closing scene. In New York City, stylist Aimée Croysdill helped the actress flex her personal fashion muscles. Bright watched a New York Knicks game with her on-screen boyfriend, Belmont Cameli, but her sleeveless mini dress stole the show. Her courtside set couldn't have been more different than Kylie Jenner's Knicks uniform.

Croysdill sourced Emilia Wickstead (perhaps an homage to her client's London girl roots) for a fitted, four-figure style sculpted from silky-smooth moiré fabric. The wavy optical illusion added lots of texture to an otherwise-timeless silhouette. Plus, it brought a signature summer 2025 color trend back for round two.

The sunshine-y shade of Bright's shift was almost blinding, in a way that canary or butter could never be. It seems she's picking up where Hailey Bieber left off last summer, when she claimed butter yellow was "played out." The Rhode founder offered lemon yellow as a worthy replacement, inspiring the onslaught of lemon looks on Spring 2026 runways from Akris, Celine, McQueen, Issey Miyake, Loewe, Dries Van Noten, and more.

By styling her LLYD (little lemon yellow dress) with black accessories, Bright made the moment more approachable. To finish, she accessorized with patent leather, block-heel pumps, the matching Mini Charlie Crossbody Bag from Tory Burch, oversize hoop earrings, and slim sunglasses.

In Off Campus, Hannah is always borrowing clothes from her best friend, Allie, played by Mika Abdalla. That's right: Elle Kennedy's Off Campus books gave not one, but two fashion girls their sartorial wings onscreen. Something tells me these two actors will make major waves on the fashion front. Bright already got a head start, but Abdalla, it's your move now.

Shop Little Lemon Yellow Dresses Inspired by Ella Bright

When Off Campus arrived on Prime Video on May 13, the steamy hockey romance pulled off a surprise no one expected. Based on Elle Kennedy's book series of the same name, the romance adaptation's debut season was expected to solely focus on musician Hannah (Ella Bright) and team captain Garrett (Belmont Cameli), the leads of book one, The Deal. However, season 1 sneaks in a secondary couple that quickly stole viewers' hearts: actress Allie (Mika Abdalla) and ladies' man Dean (Stephen Kalyn) from book 3, The Score.

In the week since the show's debut, Dean and Allie have become an iconic couple with a co-sign from genuine rom-com royalty. Now Mika Abdalla, who plays Allie, has viewers around the world wondering who's that girl stealing scenes on TV's biggest romance of 2026 so far. Read on for everything to know about Mika Abdalla, from her child-star roots to her hopes for Allie in Off Campus season 2.

Mika Abdalla is a former teen actress with rom-com experience.

Mika Abdalla was born in Plano, Texas, on May 13, 2000. (In fact, Off Campus debuted on her 26th birthday!) She started as a child model at 6-years-old, before appearing on an episode of Barney & Friends. After appearing in shorts and indie films, she landed her breakout role as a teen spy on the Netflix series Project Mc², earning her a 2016 Young Artist Award nomination.

Since then, Abdalla has mostly held small roles in series like S.W.A.T., The Flash, Suits L.A., and The Pitt (where she shared the screen with her eventual Off Campus co-star Jalen Thomas Brooks!). She also starred in the coming-of-age films Snack Shack and Sex Appeal.

Mika Abdalla channeled her college days at UCLA while filming 'Off Campus.'

As a young star preparing to transition to adulthood, Abdalla decided to take a hiatus from her career. She enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2017, after graduating from high school a year early. In a Her Campus interview, Adballa explained that she "dabbled in being a kid" during her time at school.

"I had five roommates in my dorm at UCLA," she recalled of her early college days. "I went to a big UCLA-USC game [and] I got punched by a very drunk USC sorority girl. We were walking towards the stadium. She saw me, and she did not like the UCLA of it all. And she gave me a good, solid punch in the arm. So that was fun!"

Though Abdalla returned to working after the pandemic, she eventually graduated with a degree in philosophy and film, seven years after enrolling. Speaking to Her Campus, she credited it to the discipline she learned in her childhood days in equestrian sports. "I wanted to get [my] degree to honor that part of my life," she said.

Mika Abdalla was previously engaged to a fellow child actor.

Like Allie, Abdalla is entering her single-girl era after a long-term relationship. Three weeks after Off Campus's premiere, US Weekly revealed that the actress had split from her fiancé Jake Short after five years of dating.

"Due to recent interest in Mika’s personal life it would feel remiss to not address that her and Jake are no longer together," a rep for Abdalla told the outlet. "They continue to support each other and remain on friendly terms, and kindly ask for privacy and respect."

Abdalla and Short—a former child actor best known for a ubiquitous meme—first met as co-stars on Hulu's 2022 teen comedy Sex Appeal, where they played childhood besties who enter a friends-with-benefits/sexual-discovery situation. (Of course, Short's character is secretly in love with Adballa's the whole time.) The pair got engaged in May 2025, according to an Instagram tribute.

Mika Abdalla inspired Allie's onscreen look before she even auditioned.

Abdalla has been vocal about her deep connection to her character, and it turns out there was a bit of fate behind her casting as Allie. The actress initially auditioned for the role of Hannah, though she admitted to Her Campus that she "would not consider myself a singer or a musician." But even before Abdalla landed the audition, series creator Louisa Levy had already connected her to Allie.

Levy revealed to Her Campus that she and her co-showrunner, Gina Fattore, had unknowingly included Abdalla in their pitch for Off Campus, on a mood board evoking Allie's energy. "I found Mika and a lot of her photos in Snack Shack, and her Instagram page…she just felt like Allie to me," Levy told the outlet. And so we have this fake Instagram profile for Allie that is Mika, and it was well before she ever came to audition."

Abdalla elaborated on her connection to Allie in an interview with Numero Netherlands. "I see a lot of myself in Allie, but simultaneously, she is nothing like me. Her energy is at a pretty consistent 10/10. I like to say she’s me when I’m having the best day ever. I was really excited to explore a part of myself that doesn’t always show."

Mika Abdalla knew that her J.Lo-approved jungle dress would be a hit.

One of the buzziest scenes of Off Campus season 1 is Allie and Dean's meet-cute, which takes place on the dance floor of a costume party. For the scene, Abdalla wears a recreation of Jennifer Lopez's iconic Versace jungle dress from the 2000 Grammys. The moment was such a hit that it even made it to J.Lo's timeline; the multi-hyphenate reshared the clip on X/Twitter, adding the note, "love this shooooww."

Speaking to PEOPLE, Abdalla recalled her intuition that the scene would be a hit. "I had a feeling, especially because it happened so early on," she told the outlet. "When we were getting close to the dress being finished, and I saw what it was going to [look like], when we were shooting it, I was like, 'Huh, I think people are going to like this.'"

Abdalla also told Betches UK about the work it took to feel secure in the dress that inspired Google Images. "It was unreal. [The dress] was built from scratch," she said. "My first fitting was like, put on this nude leotard and we're going to cut it up and pin all this shit to you. It was five fittings. It was insane, I was so taped in. I was ready to dance the night away."

Mika Abdalla is excited to portray "deep emotional turmoil" Allie will go through in 'Off Campus' season 2.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Abdalla opened up about her hopes for Allie in the show's already-confirmed second season. Though she hinted that she's "not excited" about the challenges Allie will have to face in the future—which book readers will be well aware of—Abdalla is prepared to stretch her acting muscles.

"I am excited about it as an actor," she said. "I am excited for the deep emotional turmoil that Allie is going through, because I think that'll be a lot of fun [to play], and that's not really something I got to play around with too, too much this season."

She added, "I am excited to see the inner workings of her. It's really fun to play such a vibrant, larger-than-life character who also has these extremely deep feelings about herself and the world around her. It's such a balance. I'm excited to do the puzzle of Allie."

Once again, a steamy hockey romance has taken over the internet. Prime Video debuted Off Campus on May 13, 2026, bringing Elle Kennedy's book series of the same name to life. Set at Briar University, the new series is centered on the stars of the school's famed hockey team, with each player getting their own love story a la Bridgerton. In season 1, team captain Garrett Graham (Belmont Cameli) and musician Hannah Wells (Ella Bright)'s fake-dating arrangement brings the swoon-worthy drama.

It's no surprise that the highly anticipated show was an instant hit, with the romance adaptation getting acclaim from critics and fans. Luckily, Prime Video has already fast-tracked Briar U's spring semester. Below, read on for every update and clue on Off Campus season 2 so far, including which couple from the Off Campus cast will lead the new episodes.

Everything We Know About 'Off Campus' Season 2

Has 'Off Campus' been renewed for season 2?

Yes! Prime Video confirmed that Off Campus will return for season 2 in February 2026, three months before season 1's debut. The early renewal seems to have been a good call; official viewership numbers for Off Campus won't come out for a few days, but season 1 quickly took over the streamer's Top 10 list (as well as most social media feeds) upon release.

"Off Campus captures the kind of emotionally charged, character-driven storytelling that truly resonates with our global Prime Video audience,” said Peter Friedlander, Amazon MGM Studios head of global TV, in the renewal announcement. “We have great confidence in the way Louisa has mastered this adaptation, and we’re excited to give fans even more of the romance, friendship, and heart that define the series.”

When will 'Off Campus' season 2 be released?

Viewers won't have to wait too long to return to Briar University! Thanks to that early renewal, the Off Campus team has already gotten a head start on season 2. Speaking to Variety on the day of the series premiere, creator Louisa Levy revealed that "all eight scripts are written" for the upcoming season. Meanwhile, stars Ella Bright and Belmont Cameli confirmed that they were scheduled to begin filming season 2 just days after the season 1 premiere.

Filming for season 1 took place from June to October 2025 in Canada, before the episodes arrived on Prime Video in May 2026. If season 2 follows the same schedule, the hockey romance's spring semester could begin in May 2027.

Which Elle Kennedy book will 'Off Campus' season 2 adapt?

Get ready for a shake-up. After moving up Dean (Stephen Kalyn) and Allie (Mika Abdalla) to become season 1's secondary love story (the Scott and Kip of the season, if you will), the minds behind Off Campus have confirmed that season 2 will continue the couple's romance. This means that the rest of The Score, the third book in Elle Kennedy's series, will likely be adapted in Off Campus' second season.

Fans assumed as much while season 1 was airing, and then Prime Video confirmed that Hannah and Garrett are passing the baton to Allie and Dean in late May. The streamer shared a swoon-worthy clip and charming photos of the stars to celebrate, along with the cheeky caption, "One couple made a deal. The next one is keeping the score. ❤️‍🔥🏒 From Garrett & Hannah to Dean & Allie — the Off Campus love story continues in Season 2."

Showrunner Louisa Levy also shared a statement in a press release. She said, "We are so excited to continue Allie and Dean’s story as our primary romance of season 2 after kickstarting their romance in season 1."

She also put fans at ease, ensuring we'll still see more of our beloved season 1 leads, adding, "But if you fell in love with Hannah and Garrett, don’t worry—they will still be an integral part of our robust ensemble."

"We’re looking forward to telling the next chapter of everyone’s story. There's a lot for fans to look forward to!” her statement concluded.

For non-readers, The Score mostly follows the same setup featured in the back half of season 1: Aspiring actor Allie Hayes breaks up with her longtime boyfriend, Sean, because he doesn't support her dreams. After a night out, Allie ends up commiserating over the breakup with the womanizing Dean Di Laurentis. (They hook up that same night in the book, while the show stretches out their flirting.) Dean becomes hooked on Allie, and though she turns him down for a while, they eventually become friends and begin secretly hooking up, even spending Thanksgiving together.

Thanksgiving is when Off Campus takes a completely different direction than The Score, with Allie deciding that she and Dean should sleep with other people (because she's lowkey catching feelings). She goes through with it, hooking up with Hunter Davenport (Charlie Evans), a freshman hockey player who has beef with Dean. Off Campus season 1 ends with Dean and Hunter fighting in a cliffhanger twist that shocked fans of the book. (In The Score, Dean and Hunter have a sweet mentor-mentee relationship; Hunter later gets his own book in the Briar U spinoff book series.)

Though Off Campus includes many major plot points from The Score, there's still more to adapt in season 2. Dean and Allie both have individual storylines that aren't mentioned in season 1. These include Allie struggling to figure out her path after college (she's a senior in the book); Allie's dad's declining health; Dean's feud with his once-again coach Frank O'Shea, and his backstory with his high school girlfriend. Then there's the devastating turn that Dean and Allie's romance takes after tragedy strikes. (No spoilers, but if season 1 made you fond of Dean's football-playing bestie Beau Maxwell, maybe grab some tissues for season 2.)

We'll have to see how Off Campus fits in all of the above, plus the new drama with Hunter. (Not to mention a possible new secondary love story...)

Will 'Off Campus' season 2 also adapt 'The Mistake?'

While Dean and Allie will take the spotlight in Off Campus season 2, that still leaves the question of what will happen to the stars of the second book in Elle Kennedy's series, John Logan and Grace Ivers. Logan (Antonio Cipriano) plays a significant role in both season 1 and its source book, The Deal; he has a secret crush on Hannah, who, of course, ends up with his best friend Garrett. Grace only gets a brief mention in Off Campus season 1, but the show has already cast India Fowler to play Grace in season 2.

If season 2 follows a pattern of Off Campus exploring an upcoming couple as a secondary love story, then Grace and Logan's romance could fit in perfectly. Avoiding spoilers, Book 2, The Mistake, picks up right after The Deal; Logan, who is a junior, almost freshman Grace Ivers, before "a thoughtless mistake pushes her away," per the synopsis. When they return to Briar U as a senior and sophomore, respectively, Logan is determined to win Grace back, and she plans to make him work for it. The Off Campus team hasn't confirmed anything, but it would be very cute if season 2 features Grace and Logan's failed hookup before season 3 focuses on their second-chance romance.

Who in the 'Off Campus' cast will return for season 2?

Prime Video has confirmed the season 2 cast for Off Campus, and the show's main cast will return, including Mika Abdalla (Allie Hayes), Stephen Kalyn (Dean Di Laurentis), Antonio Cipriano (John Logan), and Jalen Thomas Brooks (John Tucker). The streamer has yet to confirm whether Khobe Clarke (Beau Maxwell) and Charlie Evans (Hunter Davenport) will return, but it seems likely—especially Evans, considering that finale cliffhanger.

We're also set to see more of Ella Bright (Hannah Wells) and Belmont Cameli (Garrett Graham) in Off Campus season 2. Series creator Louisa Levy confirmed to TV Guide that she's interested in "continuing where each of them have left off" in the next installment, as they try to figure out their futures after college and navigate their relationship.

Unfortunately, it seems that Off Campus will lose one of season 1's actors. Levy revealed that Josh Heuston won't return to play Justin Kohl in season 2. However, she added, "I love Josh, and I would not write him off if I can find a way to bring Justin back at some point. We never got a chance to meet Stella, who is the person he ends up with in the book. So maybe we'll find a way to fold him into a future season. We don't have him [available] next season, but never say never."

Who are the new cast members joining 'Off Campus' season 2?

It's almost time to meet Grace Ivers! Two weeks before Off Campus' premiere, Prime Video revealed that Fear Street: Prom Queen alum India Fowler would join the cast as a series regular. The star behind Logan revealed the news to Fowler in a social media clip where Antonio Cipriano invited her to join the Off Campus production in Vancouver.

Meanwhile, with Allie and Dean coming more into the fold, that means we'll meet more people from their respective worlds. It seems Allie won't be quieting her theater kid side anytime soon, as Prime Video has announced that Hamilton and Doctor Odyssey alum Phillipa Soo will play "Scarlett, a theatre artist who is guest-directing an original play in the college’s drama department." And as for new additions in Dean's life, we'll be introduced to his younger sister. In August 2026, the streamer confirmed Summer is joining the ensemble with a cheeky video featuring Stephen Kalyn participating in a social media challenge with newcomer Shay Rudolph. "Double it and give it to Season 2," reads the caption. "Everyone say hi to Shay Rudolph as our Summer DiLaurentis ☀️."

Fans may recognize the 20-year-old rising actress from The Baby-Sitter's Club. On the hit Netflix series, she played Stacey McGill, and she's also appeared in Lethal Weapon and can soon be seen in the comedy She Keeps Me Young.

Devout book fans will already be acquainted with Summer. She appears in the more recent spinoff series, Briar U, about coeds a few years behind the main cast. If you thought her being his kid sister could perfectly set up a complicated “brother’s best friend” forbidden-romance, you would definitely be onto something. (In the meantime, you can read The Chase for all the tea.)

Only a few months after Heated Rivalry took the world by storm—and sent sales surging for the Rachel Reid-penned book series the show is based on—another one of our hockey romance obsessions has followed in its footsteps, jumping from page to screen. Season 1 of the long-awaited TV series adaptation of Elle Kennedy’s beloved and best-selling Off Campus books debuted on Prime Video on May 13, with plans for each season to follow a different book in the series.

Each novel in the romance series centers on a love story between a hockey player and a fellow student at fictional Briar University, filled with enough spicy scenes and tried-and-true romance tropes to keep your heart fluttering and feet kicking throughout. For example, the first book, The Deal, which serves as the inspiration for the first season of Off Campus, follows team captain Garrett and music student Hannah on a fake-dating plot that—surprise, surprise—is jeopardized when a certain campus bad boy catches real feelings for his not-so-real girlfriend. Hannah and Garrett stick around the rest of the series, as each book follows the romantic escapades of Garrett’s close friends and teammates.

If you’ve already binged the first season of Off Campus and desperately need more Briar U in your life, or if you want to know what’s coming in future seasons of the show, read on for a guide to Kennedy’s book series. Below you'll find everything you need to know about the individual novels, how to read them in order, the multiple spinoff books, and series that are still expanding the broader Off Campus universe.

'Off Campus' Book 1 — 'The Deal' (Hannah and Garrett)

The first of Elle Kennedy's books set at Briar U—originally published in 2015 before it took off on #BookTok—follows a scheme between studious Hannah and hockey-obsessed Garrett. The two agree to very publicly fake-date when Garrett is in serious need of a tutor to help his GPA, and Hannah is looking for a way to make her crush jealous. The pact marks a major step forward for Hannah, who’s understandably guarded around all things sex and romance after surviving a traumatic incident in high school. Their relationship (inevitably) gets even more complicated when the two discover the decidedly not-fake chemistry between them.

In the TV version of their love story, Hannah is played by Ella Bright, while Belmont Cameli steps into Garrett’s skates. Season 1’s eight episodes include plenty of fake-dating, opposites-attract, forced-proximity goodness, from a semi-awkward Only One Bed situation to an intense hometown visit.

'Off Campus' Book 2 — 'The Mistake' (Grace and Logan)

Second-chance romance lovers, this one’s for you. The second installment in Kennedy’s series centers on another Briar U hockey star, John Logan (who, as one of two Johns on the team, goes by his last name), and his own headstrong love interest, Grace. Their lore runs deep: When Logan was a cocky junior and Grace a shy freshman, they started hooking up but stopped due to a careless mistake on Logan’s part. The following school year, he’s desperate to end his college career on a high note and make things up to Grace, who’s back on campus feeling much more confident for her sophomore year.

We’ve already met Logan in the first season of Off Campus, played by Antonio Cipriano. The show hasn't necessarily been unfolding book-by-book—for instance, Allie and Dean's romance from The Score is heavily featured in season 1—but we have reason to believe some or most of The Mistake will unfold in season 2. An April 2026 casting announcement named India Fowler as the on-screen Grace, so we suspect she'll be at least one of the leads.

'Off Campus' Book 3 — 'The Score' (Allie and Dean)

Next up on the roster is Dean, a ladies' man whom senior Allie has selected as the perfect target for some one-night-stand rebound sex once she gets her heart broken. Afterwards, Allie is perfectly content to move on with her life and get back to fretting over what she’s going to do after graduation. Dean, on the other hand, finds it difficult to leave their time together as just one night and move forward as friends. Let the chase begin!

As a member of the Briar U hockey team, Dean is also introduced in the first season of the Off Campus TV show, played by Stephen Kalyn. Allie’s there, too, since she’s best friends and roommates with The Deal’s Hannah; The Pitt alum Mika Abdalla brings her to life. Quite a bit of their love story plays out in season 1—though it ends on a major cliffhanger, leading us to believe it'll continue in season 2, as well. (And thank goodness: Some fans have swooned even harder over their fling than Hannah and Garrett's!)

'Of Campus' Book 4 — 'The Goal' (Sabrina and Tucker)

The final entry in the core four Off Campus books stars the other John (yes, his name really is John Tucker, but this one’s not a serial cheater). After a single, sexy hookup with aspiring lawyer Sabrina, the pair end up parents-to-be. Though Sabrina is determined to juggle her impending motherhood and career goals all on her own, the very sweet Tucker—who’s also the product of a devoted single mother—is equally determined to break down her walls and start building a life together.

On screen, Tucker is being played by another The Pitt star, Jalen Thomas Brooks. Sabrina is the only character among the main Off Campus couples who isn't cast yet, but that hasn't stopped the fancasts. Some readers have said they can see actresses such as Savannah Lee Smith, Isabella Briggs, and Sydney Park in the role.

'Off Campus' Book 5 — 'The Legacy'

Technically a compilation of four novellas, the fifth and final book in the Off Campus series checks in with all four couples from the preceding novels, three years after college graduation. They’re all still together, thankfully, and between them are a wedding, a proposal, an elopement, and a pregnancy. We'll keep it spoiler-free, though, so you'll have to dive in to find out exactly which couple is going through which major life event.

Will there be another book in the 'Off Campus' series?

Unfortunately for fans clamoring for even more love stories from this particular iteration of the Briar U hockey team, Kennedy seems to be done with the OG Off Campus series. The five aforementioned books were published between 2015 and 2021, with the final installment serving as a “where are they now”-type epilogue to wrap up the series.

That said, Kennedy has stayed plenty busy since putting out the original Off Campus books. She’s published many more romance novels, both standalones and entries in other series, including multiple set in the same universe as Off Campus. More on those below…

Are there any other books set in the 'Off Campus' universe?

Yes! Kennedy has written several books inspired by the Off Campus universe. First to follow the original series was Briar U, which she published between 2018 and 2020. The four-book collection is about the romantic dalliances of a new set of Briar University hockey players, a few years behind Garrett and the gang. There are plenty of overlaps between the two series: For example, the female main character in the first Briar U book, The Chase, is none other than Dean’s younger sister Summer (which, by the way, sets up a perfectly tangled “brother’s best friend” forbidden-romance situation).

There are more Easter eggs and romance tropes where that came from. So, after The Chase, you can dive into The Risk, The Play, and The Dare.

In fact, fans already deep in the book lore were surprised to see a character from The Play make his on-screen debut in Off Campus season 1. The character Hunter Davenport appears as the show diverges from Hannah and Garrett to focus on Allie and Dean. Charlie Evans portrays him, but he's not introduced as Hunter. He's first known as "Carter St. James V," the name on his fake ID, which is what Allie knows him as when she meets him at the campus hangout, Malone's, and Allie decides she's interested in pursuing another guy. They kiss and eventually hook up—the same night Dean confesses his love for Allie. (Yikes.)

Hunter's appearance is a major change from the books to the show. And as the series reveals, Dean and Hunter—who is really a freshman recruited to the team by Logan when Garrett is suspended—have bad blood because Hunter and Dean's sister Summer were classmates. This shift is stark from the books, in which they have a mentor-mentee relationship. It also certainly sets up conflict for season 2, which those showrunners have already teased. Although it remains to be seen if Hunter's romance with a character named Demi will make it to the screen eventually, as well.

Hunter's early introduction also implies the show is pulling from Kennedy's wider universe, and even more changes, Easter eggs, and cameos may be in store—all the more reason to get reading.

The characters may not make their on-screen debut any time soon, but, in addition to Briar U, Kennedy started yet another spinoff series, Campus Diaries, in 2023. These three books (The Graham Effect, The Dixon Rule, and The Charlie Method) are also set at Briar, also feature players from the hockey team, and also include cameos from some very familiar characters—20 years after the events of Off Campus. In a very fun continuation of the OG series, the main character of The Graham Effect, the first Campus Diaries book, is none other than Garrett and Hannah’s daughter, Gigi. She's following in her dad’s footsteps by serving as captain of the Briar U hockey team…and by getting caught up in her own deal-based romance. The next two main characters aren’t second-gen, but there are still plenty of Off Campus echoes throughout their stories, too.

Meanwhile, a double helping of second-gen romance can be found in Kennedy’s latest standalone book, Love Song. The novel arrived in March 2026 and details the steamy summer romance between Grace and Logan’s daughter, Blake, and Hannah and Garrett’s son, Wyatt—Gigi's twin brother—who have known each other for years but have never been able to get their feelings for one another in sync.

With XO, Kitty currently in renewal limbo and Heated Rivalry season 2 nearly a year away, fans are hoping Prime Video's new show, Off Campus, can fill the romance-shaped gap in their TV schedules. Based on the Off-Campus book series by Elle Kennedy, the series brings the drama of college and the sexual tension of hockey together, and to say fans are already obsessed would be an understatement.

In case you're unfamiliar, Off Campus is a beloved romance series comprised of five books—The Deal, The Mistake, The Score, The Goal, and The Legacy. Each book focuses on a different couple at Briar U, with the leading men all playing on the school's hockey team. Some stories are more interconnected than others, and though Off Campus has already been renewed for season 2, co-showrunner Louisa Levy has confirmed that the show won't follow the exact timeline of the books, which means fans could get glimpses at their favorite series couples in season 1.

This means it's especially important that you get to know the Off Campus cast and their characters ASAP. Otherwise, you might miss the beginning of a new romance. Here's your guide to who's who in Off Campus, with a hint about what fans can expect from future seasons.

Ella Bright as Hannah Wells

Hannah Wells is a music major at Briar University who finds herself in a classic rom-com fake-dating scenario after she strikes a bargain with star hockey player, Garrett Graham. He promises to pretend to date her to help her catch the eye of her real crush, Justin, as long as she tutors him. But what begins as a simple exchange becomes complicated when the two actually start to catch feelings.

Ella Bright, 19, might be new to American audiences, but she's been appearing on stages and screens in the U.K. for years. She broke out in 2020 with the lead role in Malory Towers, a British TV show, which ran for five years. She also previously appeared as a Young Kate Middleton on The Crown, but Off Campus will be her first major U.S. role.

Ella Bright's Instagram: @ellabright__

Belmont Cameli as Garrett Graham

Garrett Graham is a junior at Briar University, captain of the hockey team, and star forward—but his dreams of playing in a professional league are in serious jeopardy due to his failing grades. To get his GPA up and remain on the team, he agrees to pretend to date Hannah in exchange for tutoring. What could go wrong?

Belmont Cameli, 28, is, according to his Instagram, a “Poet. Vigilante. Meatball Connoisseur.” He's also an actor and no stranger to romance adaptations. He starred as Eli in Netflix's Along for the Ride, but is best known for playing Jamie Spano in the criminally underrated Saved by the Bell reboot.

Belmont Cameli's Instagram: @belmontcameli

Josh Heuston as Justin Kohl

In the original book, Hannah has a major crush on Justin, a football player. For the show, Justin is getting a bit of a makeover. He's no longer a jock, but a musician and lead singer in his college rock band, which makes him the artsy opposite of Garrett.

Josh Heuston, 29, is an Australian actor who has appeared in Thor: Love and Thunder, Heartbreak High, and is currently in HBO Max's Dune: Prophecy series. He might not get the girl in Off Campus, but Heuston might soon get his chance. He's one of the actors rumored to be circling the role of Xaden in Prime Video's Fourth Wing TV show.

Josh Heuston's Instagram: @jheuston

Mika Abdalla as Allie Hayes

Allie Hayes is Hannah's ride-or-die. She's fun, smart, and also happens to be the daughter of a former hockey player. Who would have guessed it? Though she mainly supports Hannah's journey in The Deal, the TV series moves up the timeline of Book 3 of the Off Campus series, The Score, which gives Allie her own love story—with Garrett's teammate Dean Di Laurentis.

Mika Abdalla is a 25-year-old actress from Texas, best known for her leading role in Netflix's children's series, Project MC². She also appeared in season 1 of The Pitt and Suits LA.

Mika Abdalla's Instagram: @mike.abdalla

Stephen Kalyn as Dean Di Laurentis

Dean is, you guessed it, yet another stud from the Briar U hockey team. Charming and rich, Dean has a reputation as a playboy. He's also been aged up for the show and will be a senior in season 1. As stated, he and Allie strike up a casual (to eventually passionate!) relationship in the third installment, The Score, which is heavily featured in season 1 and will continue in season 2.

Fans of college TV dramas might recognize Stephen Kalyn, 28, from a guest spot on Prime Video's Cruel Intentions reboot, or his recurring role on Gen V. In addition to being an actor, Kalyn is a lifelong hockey player, so he knows what he's doing on the ice.

Stephen Kalyn's Instagram: @stephenkalyn

Antonio Cipriano as John Logan

John Logan, A.K.A. Logan, is Garrett's best friend and teammate. He's easy-going and sweet, but that doesn't mean he can't harbor a crush for his BFF's fake girlfriend. Things get even more complicated for Logan in book two, The Mistake, which delves into his complicated home life. Oh, and he has to figure all this out while navigating a relationship with Grace Ivers?

Antonio Cipriano is a man of many talents. At 25, he's already appeared on Broadway in 2019's Jagged Little Pill and on multiple television shows, including National Treasure: Edge of History and Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin. It also looks like he'll be among the leads of Off Campus season 2, as the show announced it cast India Fowler as Grace.

Antonio Cipriano's Instagram: @antoniocipriano_

Jalen Thomas Brooks as John Tucker

Rounding out the Briar U hockey friend group is John Tucker, A.K.A. Tucker. Though he's been aged down for the TV show, Tucker is still very much a core member of the team, and not just because he's the resident chef. In the books, Tucker takes center stage in book 4, The Goal, when he falls for Sabrina James, Dean's academic rival. Sabrina does not appear in season 1 of Off Campus, so fans should look forward to seeing their love story play out in later seasons.

If you watched any TV in the last two years, odds are you'll recognize Jalen Thomas Brooks. The actor, 24, currently plays nurse Mateo on HBO's hit medical drama, The Pitt. Before that, Brooks appeared on shows like Walker and Animal Kingdom.

Jalen Thomas Brooks's Instagram: @jalenthomasbrooks

Julia Sarah Stone as Jules Logan

The TV adaptation of Off Campus introduces a new original character in Jules Logan, Logan's younger sister, who also attends Briar U. When she's not serving as a quippy, observant younger sister to Logan and his roommates, she runs a popular fan page for the Briar Hawks.

Julia Sarah Stone has been acting her entire life. After getting into theater in elementary school, the Canadian star began landing indie and TV roles and racking up accolades like a Young Artists Award and a TIFF Rising Star honor. The now 28-year-old is best known for The Killing, Wet Bum, Weirdos, and Honey Bee.

Julia Sarah Stone's Instagram: @reel.jss

Khobe Clarke as Beau Maxwell

Beau Maxwell is the quarterback of Briar U's football team, but he spends more time around the hockey boys and his bestie, Dean. (Briar is a rare school where football isn't the star sport.) As readers know, Beau will have a big impact on the second half of Allie and Dean's love story.

Though he plays a football star in Off Campus, Khobe Clarke grew up playing hockey in Calgary. The 25-year-old made his TV debut in the first few seasons of Yellowjackets, and went on to appear in Firefly Lane and V.C. Andrews' Dawn. His first major role was Scott Russell in Prime Video's Cruel Intentions reboot.

Khobe Clarke's Instagram: @khobeclarke

Steve Howey as Phil Graham

Phil Graham, Garrett's father, is a former pro hockey player who wants his son to continue his legacy at all costs. In the books, Phil is both verbally and physically abusive, which, to put it lightly, puts a lot of strain on his relationship with his son.

Steve Howey has been a staple of American television for over two decades, starting with his breakout role in Reba, continuing on Shameless, and, most recently, on High Potential.

Steve Howey's Instagram: @stevehowey

Charlie Evans as Hunter Davenport

In its most surprising deviation from the source material, Off Campus season 1 introduces Hunter Davenport, a freshman hockey player who doesn't appear in the books until The Score (and who goes on to have his own romance in the Briar U spinoff book series). Avoiding spoilers, Show Hunter will have a much more contentious relationship with Dean than their mentor-mentee bond in the books.

Charlie Evans will be a familiar face to sci-fi fans, as he spent the past two years portraying Jeremy Bradford in Hulu's Paradise. Before that, the 22-year-old Australian actor/musician played Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke's son in the 2023 film adaptation of the disaster novel Leave the World Behind.

Charlie Evans's Instagram: @charliebluejay

India Fowler as Grace Ivers

In the books, Logan uses Grace to help get over his crush on Hannah, but when he realizes that his hookup might be the real deal, he must earn the chance to date her.

We already know that rising British actress India Fowler, 22, will play Grace. You may recognize her from Netflix's teen horror flick Fear Street: Prom Queen, or Showtime's spy thriller series, The Agency.

India Fowler's Instagram: @_indiafowler

It's a truth universally acknowledged that a new Jane Austen adaptation must top the watchlist of any historical romance fan. Among the many projects making their way to screens this year—including Netflix's Pride & Prejudice and the Daisy Edgar-Jones-starring Sense and Sensibility film—I'm most excited for an entirely new take on an unexpected Austen heroine, courtesy of The Other Bennet Sister.

Based on Janice Hadlow's beloved novel of the same name, The Other Bennet Sister moves Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy to the background, instead focusing on Mary (Ella Bruccoleri), the plain-faced, book-loving middle child of the family. As her sisters focus on romance (and the events of the source novel), Mary leaves Longbourn for London to find her own purpose in the world. Of course, her journey of self-discovery could lead to an epic love story of her own.

Since its March debut on the BBC in the U.K., the 10-part period drama from creator Sarah Quintrell has gotten rave reviews from both critics and viewers. Thankfully, there are already plans to bring the series stateside. Read on for everything to know about tuning into The Other Bennet Sister.

How many episodes does 'The Other Bennet Sister' have?

The Other Bennet Sister is streaming in the U.S. on BritBox. According to TellyVisions, the Anglophile streamer will release three episodes on Wednesday, May 6, 2026, followed by one episode each Wednesday until the finale in mid-June.

Here's the full release schedule for The Other Bennet Sister:

• Episodes 1-3: May 6, 2026
• Episode 4: May 13, 2026
• Episode 5: May 20, 2026
• Episode 6: May 27, 2026
• Episode 7: June 3, 2026
• Episode 8: June 10, 2026
• Episode 9: June 17, 2026
• Episode 10 (finale): June 24, 2026

Where can you watch 'The Other Bennet Sister' in the U.S.?

If The Other Bennet Sister is your first introduction to BritBox, the streamer offers a seven-day free trial, after which a subscription starts at $11 a month. Viewers can also add BritBox as a channel on Prime Video for $10.99 per month after a seven-day trial. (In addition to The Other Bennet Sister, BritBox is adding essential Austen viewing like 2005's Pride & Prejudice, 1996's Emma, 2007's Becoming Jane, and 2001's Bridget Jones's Diary in April.)

Or, if all the clips on TikTok have made you impatient, all episodes of The Other Bennet Sister are currently streaming for free on BBC iPlayer. If you don't have a VPN, you can use one like Nord VPN.

Who is in the cast of 'The Other Bennet Sister?'

The Other Bennet Sister cast is led by Bridgerton season 3 alum Ella Bruccoleri as Mary Bennet. Joining her in the titular family are Poppy Gilbert as Lizzie, Maddie Close as Jane, Molly Wright as Kitty, and Grace Hogg as Lydia, as well as Ruth Jones as Mrs. Bennet and Richard E. Grant as Mr. Bennet.

Other actors appearing in the series include Richard Coyle as Mr. Gardiner, Mary's worldly uncle; Game of Thrones alum Indira Varma as Mrs. Gardiner; Sex Education's Tanya Reynolds as Caroline Bingley; Dónal Finn as Mary's romantic interest, Mr. Hayward; and Laurie Davidson as Mary's other romantic interest, Mr. Ryder.

Is there a 'The Other Bennet Sister' trailer?

In case you need an extra push, the full trailer for the series is out, as well as its spoiler-free logline:

"The new drama brings Mary Bennet—the oft-overlooked middle sister in Pride and Prejudice—into the spotlight. The Other Bennet Sister’s story begins at Longbourn, the Bennet family home, where Mr. and Mrs. Bennet preside over a lively household of five unmarried daughters: Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. As society’s pressures mount, the Bennet sisters navigate the glittering yet precarious world of Regency England, where marriage is both aspiration and necessity. While her sisters pursue romance and social triumph, Mary embarks on a very different path. Leaving Longbourn behind, she travels to London to live with her aunt and uncle, Mr and Mrs Gardiner, in their elegant home on Gracechurch Street. There, Mary begins a journey of self-discovery, stepping out of the shadows and into her own story. Iconic settings from Pride and Prejudice, include the Meryton Assembly Ball and the Netherfield Ball, where fortunes and futures are decided under glittering chandeliers."

If you've been on the lookout for a new action flick led by fierce female leads, then Pretty Lethal should be your next watch. Prime Video's new thriller from the minds behind Atomic Blonde and Bullet Train stars five American ballerinas—Bones (Maddie Ziegler), Princess (Lana Condor), Grace (Avantika), Zoe (Iris Apatow), and Chloe (Millicent Simmonds)—who get stranded on the way to a life-changing competition in Budapest. When they check into a menacing inn run by Devora (Uma Thurman), the rivals have to use their high kicks and fierce dedication to fight their way out alive.

In honor of the movie's streaming release, Ziegler, Condor, Avantika, Apatow, and Simmonds sat down with Marie Claire to test their friendship with a game of How Well Do You Know Your Co-Star?. With the help of an offscreen interpreter for Simmonds, the young stars got competitive as they guessed each other's first jobs, first concerts, hobbies, favorite childhood books, and food pet peeves. It soon became clear that weeks of filming (and a month of "ballet-fu" trending) helped the quintet get extremely close.

Watch the full challenge above, then head to Prime Video to watch Pretty Lethal, streaming now.

In 2023, Jury Duty became a word-of-mouth comedy sensation with a mind-bending premise. The Prime Video series followed an unsuspecting man named Ronald Gladden as he served as a juror, without knowing that the entire trial was fictional and everyone involved was a paid actor. Gladden's kind and earnest reactions to the bizarre shenanigans made Jury Duty a surprise hit; now, three years later, the Emmy-nominated show's back for another installment.

In the second season, titled Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat, the show follows its non-actor "hero," Anthony Norman, as he starts a temp job at the fictional family-run hot-sauce business, Rockin' Grandma's. He's "hired" to help facilitate the annual company retreat to participate in a documentary about small businesses. In addition to the retreat devolving into chaos, the workers must grapple with the company's future as a private-equity firm comes into the picture.

To bring the Truman Show-esque production to life, Jury Duty season 2 recruited a cast of veteran improv actors and rising comedy stars, who may be more familiar to culturally-savvy viewers than the unsuspecting Anthony. Below, read on for everything to know about the cast of Jury Duty Presents: Company Retreat.

Anthony Norman as himself

Department: Temporary worker, retreat assistant

Anthony Norman is the oblivious normie at the center of season 2's workplace production. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, the 25-year-old (at the time of filming) introduces himself in the season 2 premiere as a dedicated worker who's "always giving it 100 percent" at his temp jobs.

In an interview with the LA Times, producer Todd Schulman recalled how Norman stood out among 10,000 applicants for "what they believed was a documentary project about a small business." Schulman said of Norman, "You could just tell there was a warmth to him and a real comfort in his own shoes. He knew who he was, and he wasn’t going to be rattled or thrown off his game in any way by the stuff we were going to put him through."

Instagram: @anthony_norman

Alex Bonifer as Dougie Jr.

Department: The Boss’s Son

Character Bio: "A well-meaning but directionless stoner suddenly entrusted with the future of his father’s company."

Alex Bonifer, 37, is a California-born actor and comedian who played football for the University of San Diego before pursuing an entertainment career. In addition to being a Main Company member of the famed improv and sketch comedy troupe The Groundlings, he has also appeared in the TV shows Superstore, No Good Deed, and Kevin Can F**k Himself.

Instagram: @alexbonifer

Blair Beeken as Marjorie

Department: Oak Canyon Ranch Activities Manager

Character Bio: A former Corporate Hospitality Exec at the most luxurious—and demanding—resorts on the western seaboard that burned out of that world. Oak Canyon Ranch is her chance to readjust that work-life balance.

Blair Beeken is a comedy actress who hails from Chicago and is best known for playing junior trader Karen in Black Monday and Deborah in Mr. Throwback. She also has appeared in small roles on numerous TV shows, including Superstore, Dead to Me, PEN15, Hacks, and Pluribus.

Instagram: @blair.beeken

Emily Pendergast as Amy

Department: Customer Relations

Character Bio: A diehard Swiftie who just had a pretty big birthday, so she’s thinking about doing something.

Emily Pendergast, 39, is an Ohio-born actress, writer, and dog lover. Veep fans may recognize her as Beth, Jonah Ryan's wife/ex-step-sister/actually half-sister. Pendergast is also a Main Company member of The Groundlings, and she has appeared in shows including Love, Miracle Workers, White House Plumbers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Common Side Effects, and Leanne.

Instagram: @ependergast

Erica Hernandez as Kate

Department: Sales & Marketing

Character Bio: Type-A, smart, good at her job, and will tell you all three of those things upon meeting her. Not to be confused with “extremely uptight.”

Erica Hernandez is an actress, comedian, and alum of the improv school Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB). In addition to her role as Maria Ruíz in the short-lived CBS series True Lies, she has appeared in small roles in dozens of shows, most notably High Maintenance, The Other Two, Search Party, New Amsterdam, Murderville, Three Women, and 9-1-1. (Also, she's roommates with her co-star Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur.)

Instagram: @erica.herndz

Jerry Hack as Doug

Department: The Boss

Character Bio: A lovable papa bear with Big Dad Energy who cares deeply about the company he’s built and the people that work for it.

Jerry Hauck, 70, is an actor, writer, and producer with over 90 IMDb credits throughout his 40-plus-year career. Some of his most notable projects include the films Moonlighting and Saving Mr. Banks, and the shows Seinfeld, The Bold and the Beautiful, ER, Six Feet Under, House, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder, True Detective, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Most recently, he played a Graceland tour guide in Paradise season 2.

Jim Woods as Jimmy

Department: Warehouse Manager

Character Bio: A man who’s battled some serious demons and come out the other side. New Jimmy has the best intentions, even if the virtue signaling can get a little tiresome.

Jim Woods is a comedian and improv performer who has appeared in shows including How I Met Your Mother, The Office, Reno 911!, Superstore, and Tacoma FD. He's a longtime improv actor who has studied at theaters like UCB and Boom Chicago; he now co-owns the World’s Greatest Improv School in L.A. He was also a staff writer on Tracy Morgan's series The Last O.G.

LaNisa Frederick as Jackie

Department: Distribution/Logistics

Character Bio: Working mother of three who really, really, really could do with a break. Just for five goddamn minutes.

LaNisa Frederick, 45, is a Cincinnati-born stage, screen, and voice actress who's an alum of theaters like Second City Chicago, Steppenwolf, and Singapore Repertory Theatre. She's a co-creator of the Webby Award-winning Instagram sketch series Hashtag Booked, and she co-hosts the podcast Black and CULTivated. Before Jury Duty, she appeared in Mom, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, A Black Lady Sketch Show, and 9-1-1.

Instagram: @lanisafrederick

Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur as PJ

Department: Receptionist

Character Bio: A bubbly and gossip-loving friend to all people—the perfect person to welcome folks into the building.

Marc-Sully Saint-Fleur is a Haitian-American actor, writer, singer, and stand-up comedian who is nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns. They have appeared in shows like The Good Place, Space Force, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and Home Economics.

Instagram: @marcsullysaintfleur

Rachel Kaly as Claire

Department: IT/Web Designer

Character Bio: An indoor cat forced to come outside for Doug’s last retreat. Would not describe herself as a people person. Also: BONES aficionado.

Rachel Kaly, 28, is a stand-up comedian, actress, and writer who was born and raised in N.Y.C. She's a member of Vulture's The Comedians You Should and Will Know In 2023 cohort, and she's the former co-host of the podcast "Too Far with Rachel Kaly and Robby Hoffman." In television, she's best known as a writer on the animated shows Digman! and Universal Basic Guys.

Instagram: @rachel.kaly

Rob Lathan as Other Anthony

Department: Assistant Sourcing Manager

Character Bio: Idiot savant, tall, also called Anthony. Works in a stationery cupboard for his own safety.

Rob Lathan is a longtime improv comedian, writer, and UCB alum. Before his television breakout on Jury Duty, he appeared in small roles on Broad City, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and Inside Amy Schumer.

Instagram: @rob.lathan

Ryan Perez as Kevin

Department: HR Manager

Character Bio: Think of him as your cool uncle who can totally hang, and also please make sure you send your timecards to him as requested, and remember that personal emails should not be written during business hours, even though they’re totally hilarious and he definitely gets the jokes. Excellent singer.

Ryan Perez is another UCB alum who got his start as a writer on Saturday Night Live, before going on to write for Moonbeam City, The Break with Michelle Wolf, and The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He has also appeared onscreen on The Break With Michelle Wolf, John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA, and the movies Swiped and The Napa Boys.

Stephanie Hodge as Helen

Department: Accounting

Character Bio: The straight-talkin’ mother hen with a wild past of her own, she’s been with the company from the beginning.

Stephanie Hodge is an actress and stand-up comedian who began her Hollywood career in the late '80s, per IMDb. She held major roles in the '90s shows Nurses, Muddling Through, and Unhappily Ever After before appearing in series like BONES, Scandal, Perry Mason, Young Sheldon, and NCIS. She's also set to appear in the currently-airing third season of The Comeback.

Instagram: @stephaniehodge68

Warren Burke as Steve

Department: Sales & Marketing

Character Bio: The other half of Team Skate (Steve & Kate)—a confident salesman who plays the calmer ying to Kate’s high-strung yang.

Warren Burke is a Chicago-born actor and comedian who's best known for playing Greg on BET+'s Bigger and Uncle Daniel on Netflix's Family Reunion. His other notable credits include Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Neighborhood.

Instagram: @warrenslburke

Wendy Braun as Elizabeth

Department: Private Equity Director, Triukas

Character Bio: The public face of private equity—charming, urbane, hears your concerns, and wants nothing but the best for everyone. Especially her investors.

Wendy Braun is a prolific actress who has appeared in shows including The West Wing, Lost, BONES, General Hospital, iCarly, The Doctors, Grey's Anatomy, This Is Us, and Atypical. She's also an in-demand voice actress, best known for portraying Gianna Parasini in the Mass Effect video-game series.

Instagram: @mswendybraun

Dr. Kay Scarpetta isn’t done tracking down killers. The brilliant forensic pathologist who has starred in 29 of Patricia Cornwell’s thrilling crime novels is now the star of her own murder-mystery series, which premiered in March 2026 and is already coming back for more.

Prime Video’s Scarpetta features Nicole Kidman as Kay alongside an A-list cast that includes Jamie Lee Curtis, Bobby Cannavale, Simon Baker, and Ariana DeBose. And because the season 1 story unfolded across two timelines—adapting Cornwell’s first Scarpetta novel, 1990’s Postmortem, and 2021’s Autopsy—a younger ensemble (including Rosy McEwen and Jake Cannavale) played the same characters in 1998.

Season 1 ended with two mysteries solved. In 1998, Kay, the newly installed chief medical examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, tracked down a serial killer with the help of cop Pete Marino (Jake Cannavale) and FBI profiler Benton Wesley (Hunter Parrish). (It was a 911 operator who chose his victims by the sound of their voices.) And in the present, Kay and Pete hunted down another murderer whose crime scenes resembled the ones in the 1998 case. That perpetrator winds up being a cop who was obsessed with Kay, but when he goes to her home and attacks her, she violently beats him with a baseball bat—just as someone comes to the door and catches her in the act.

Fans will have to wait to learn what comes of that cliffhanger, and what’s next for Kay & Co. In the meantime, here’s everything we know about Scarpetta season 2.

Has Scarpetta' been renewed for season 2?

Yes, and it was from the start. Prime Video announced in September 2024 that Scarpetta had been given a two-season order, so the cast and creative team knew early on that a second season was already in the cards.

When is 'Scarpetta' season 2 coming out?

You might not be held in suspense for very long. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published around the show's initial release in March 2026, showrunner Liz Sarnoff said her writers’ room has already penned seven episodes for next season. Not only that, but filming was already underway in Nashville. According to the report, production was scheduled to continue into the summer.

With that timeline, it's possible the detective series could return to Prime Video around this same time next year. So, mark your calendars (tentatively, at least) for spring 2027.

Which book will 'Scarpetta' season 2 be based on?

Make that books, as in plural. Like season 1, which adapted two mystery-thriller books from Cornwell’s canon, season 2 will also weave together two Scarpetta novels.

“We do two books a season—season 1, we did Postmortem and Autopsy, and this year we’re doing Cruel and Unusual and The Body Farm,” Sarnoff explained to THR. “So the stories definitely start to pick up, and murders happen. Cruel and Unusual, [set] in the past, is a story that involves a prisoner who’s executed, so it gives us a different setting to roll into at the top of the season.”

Published in 1993, Cruel and Unusual follows an investigation in which fingerprints belonging to an executed killer are found at another crime scene—after Kay has already performed the dead man’s autopsy.

The Body Farm, which hit bookshelves one year later, centers on Kay traveling to North Carolina to investigate the murder of an 11-year-old girl, in a case that has parallels to another investigation in Virginia.

What will 'Scarpetta' season 2 be about?

You don’t have to be an ace investigator to deduce that Scarpetta season 2 will once again unfold across both the past and present. We can assume that one book will serve as the basis for the 1998 timeline, and the other will inform the current day.

Then there are the threads we still need to pull at from season 1. Obviously, there’s the question of who caught Kay mercilessly beating Officer Ryan (David Hornsby) after he attacked her in her home. Interestingly enough, Sarnoff confirmed to THR that it’s a character we already know. Then there’s Kay’s fraught relationship with her sister, Dorothy (Curtis); her strained marriage to FBI agent Benton Wesley (Baker); and her close ties to her longtime colleague Pete (Cannavale), who is also Dorothy’s husband. We also still don’t know who pulled the plug on niece Lucy’s (Ariana DeBose) AI version of her late wife. And there’s still that mysterious cover-up of Cammie Ramada’s (Brittany Belt) murder in season 1—why was her death marked down as an accident?

“The way I sort of think about the show is that, in the past [timeline], we really embrace the procedural storytelling a little bit more and stay with the case a little bit more, and then in the present, we take some departures as far as their emotional lives and the lives of the family and all that,” Sarnoff explained in an interview with Collider. “So, we are picking up right where we left off in [the season 1 finale] in the present day at the top of season 2 to show all the mysteries we left behind, but by the end of the episode, we're fully into another case, which is a child abduction, so it's super exciting.”

Who in the 'Scarpetta' cast will be back for season 2?

Double the timelines, double the returning actors. Prime Video has confirmed that all principal cast members across both timelines will return for Scarpetta season 2. This includes Kidman, Curtis, Cannavale, Baker, and DeBose in the present; and McEwan, the younger Cannavale, Hunter Parrish (Benton), and Amanda Righetti (Dorothy) in the past.

Are there any new cast members in 'Scarpetta' season 2?

Get ready to keep track of new faces. Prime Video has revealed several actors joining Scarpetta's second season, from veteran TV star David Arquette to Cobra Kai alum William Zabka to Emmy winner Holland Taylor to even rapper Michael "Killer Mike" Render.

Other new cast members include Jodi Balfour, Kim Dickens, Troy Garity, and Jerod Haynes. The series will also continue to be a family affair; after the father-and-son Cannavales, Simon Baker's daughter Stella Baker is set to join her father on the series.

All new character details are under wraps, so we’ll have to wait to see what twists and turns are in store. In the meantime, fans have plenty of questions to turn over—and two books to pore over for clues.

There's no shortage of detective shows, but some certainly stand out from the rest. Prime Video’s Cross, for instance, is one of them. The thriller TV series, based on James Patterson’s popular series of mystery-thriller novels, stars Aldis Hodge as the titular Alex Cross, a Washington, D.C.-based homicide detective and forensic psychologist who delves into the minds of serial killers to track them down.

In season 2, Cross is in pursuit of a mysterious, ruthless vigilante who is hunting down corrupt billionaires. The sophomore installment ran throughout winter 2026, leading up to a propulsive finale. While fans got to watch all of the season’s twists and turns unfold, there’s still one more mystery to solve: will Cross return to crack another case? Read on for all the clues we have about Cross season 3.

Everything We Know About 'Cross' Season 3

Is 'Cross' renewed for season 3?

Get ready for some more covert action because Cross has officially been renewed for season 3. Prime Video confirmed the renewal via a press release when the season 2 finale aired in mid-March.

To celebrate, Peter Friedlander, Head of Global Television, Amazon MGM Studios, shared a statement about the forthcoming eight-episode installment. “From the beginning, Cross has captivated audiences with its layered characters, pulse-pounding suspense, and emotionally grounded storytelling,” he said. “Aldis has delivered a definitive portrayal of Alex Cross, anchoring the series with depth, intelligence, and heart. We’re thrilled to continue this journey with Ben, our collaborators at Paramount Television Studios, and the rest of the incredible cast to bring even more of James Patterson’s iconic world to our global Prime Video audience.”

The thriller has been a runaway hit for the streamer: Season 2 immediately became one of the Top 10 most-watched shows on Prime, upon its winter 2026 release, and season 1 was its third most-watched show in 2025.

What’s more? Creator Ben Watkins told The Hollywood Reporter in 2024 that he has already thought through four seasons of the show. “We want this thing to go for 10 seasons, but in my head, I had already made a four-year plan, and it’s based on some things that I want to do to mine and pay homage to the characters that are in the Alex Cross book series,” he said. “Even though I’m doing new stories, I want at some point for there to be a dovetail between these characters, so I’ve been planting these seeds.”

We’re looking forward to seeing those seeds grow with season 3!

When will 'Cross' season 3 come out?

A release date hasn’t been announced for Cross season 3, but filming is underway. According to a Deadline casting report (more on that below), shooting started in mid-April. And based on comments from author Patterson in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, it seems as though the scripts were written even before season 2 hit the air. So, if production goes smoothly and runs through the summer, it's possible new episodes could arrive in the first half of 2027.

That would be aligned with the show's typical release schedule. Cross season 1 debuted in November 2024 and season 2 aired between February and March 2026, meaning there was a little more than a year between them. If that schedule holds between season 2 and season 3, we could be looking at a summer 2027 release.

What will happen in 'Cross' season 3?

It’s too early to say, but the first two seasons have not been adapted from specific Alex Cross books; instead, as Hodge explained in a 2024 interview with TV Insider, the series is “based on the foundation of Alex Cross” and uses Patterson’s novels as a “bone structure.” So while we can’t point to any one specific book for ideas about what’s to come, we can expect to continue seeing the source material and its characters being fleshed out on screen.

In this season, Cross and co. are tasked with investigating threats against a business mogul (Matthew Lillard), after he’s sent two severed fingers in the mail. But he’s not being targeted by your average serial killer (if there is such a thing): rather, a woman (Jeanine Mason) and her associate (Wes Chatham) are hunting down wealthy, powerful, and corrupt individuals to deliver justice for their crimes. She’s driven by vengeance: Her targets all have ties to her mother’s murder after she tried to expose a human trafficking ring running under Durand’s watch.

There were more than a few twists by the end of the season, especially as the vigilante killer, Rebecca Luz, learned her aunt’s (Michelle C. Bonilla) connection to the corrupt operations and her mother’s death. While, before her death, Luz tasked Cross with exposing the trafficking ring involving billionaires and high-powered politicians that she was trying to take down, his plans are thwarted by the FBI. Still, he’s able to tell a senator, who takes the information public—but seeing the government’s willingness to cover up such heinous crimes, Cross turns in his badge.

There’s no doubt that Cross will continue to fight for justice—we’ll just have to wait and see how he plans to do so going forward, and what case he feels compelled to pursue. Hodge spoke to this in a conversation with TV Insider. He said, “I think Cross made an intentional choice, not necessarily to give up, but to walk away from a system that he could not fix…He still, in his mind, represents what he thinks justice is. He’s going to find a different route to represent said justice.”

While the series doesn’t directly adapt the books, as TV Insider points out, Cross returns to working at a private psychology practice after leaving the FBI in the novels—but eventually returns to D.C. as a consultant on various cases. So, we’d bet that will unfold in season 3.

Who in the 'Cross' cast will be back for season 3?

Cross will, of course, continue to star Aldis Hodge as Alex Cross, even if he faces an uncertain future after turning in his gun and badge because he’s fed up with working within a broken system. As we said, we can assume that inevitably he’ll begin pursuing justice on his own terms.

Similarly, we would likely expect to see returning cast members like Isaiah Mustafa (John Sampson), Juanita Jennings (Regina “Nana Mama” Cross), Caleb Elijah (Damon Cross), Melody Hurd (Janelle Cross), Samantha Walkes (Elle Monteiro), Alona Tal (Kayla Craig), and Johnny Ray Gill (Bobby Trey Abellard).

And what about season 2’s newcomers? Donnie (Wes Chatham) did not survive this season: He was killed by Luz’s Aunt Clare (Michelle C. Bonilla) to hide her own involvement in the case, which included setting up Luz’s mother to be murdered.

But it remains to be seen if we’ll get more of Lance Durand (Matthew Lillard) in a potential next season: It almost seems like he’ll get away with all the crimes he committed because of his wealth and powerful ties, until they’re all publicly exposed by Sen. Ashford (Josh Peck) using evidence given to Alex by Liz (Mason). And speaking of Rebecca…while she’s presumably dead after jumping off a dam to avoid capture, there’s always a chance she survived, and we could see more of the character going forward.

Are there any new cast members joining 'Cross' season 3?

This is one of the best things about a detective series: There are always new cases to solve, which means new victims, new suspects, new witnesses, and new experts. Fans received the first hint of one of those in April 2026 when Deadline confirmed the first new cast member in season 3. According to the outlet, Ethan Embry, a former heartthrob known for starring in beloved '90s and '00s movies like That Thing You Do, Can't Hardly Wait, Empire Records, as well as more recent TV shows like Grace and Frankie, has joined the ensemble.

We also know who he'll be playing. Embry stars as Frederick, "a charismatic sobriety coach known for leading with tough love. Strong, resilient, and generous with his time, he is widely admired for making others feel seen."

In July, another major casting announcement followed. Former Head of the Class star Robin Givens is among the new recurring stars. The actress (who also appeared in shows like Batwoman, Harlem, and Riverdale) will play "intellectual conservative" Senator Mulrooney. According to Deadline, the character is "overbearing both as a parent and a partner. She is the wife of a doctor and the mother of a son, whose problems the Senator keeps a closely guarded secret." Intriguing!

Other newcomers include longtime action/voice actor Ron Perlman (Hellboy, Sons of Anarchy), who will play a cop who's referred to seeing Cross after several work-related incidents. According to Deadline, he's described as "a cop first and everything else second," and there might be more to him than meets the eye. "As Cross digs deeper, he realizes Zamora may be concealing something far more troubling than PTSD," according to the outlet.

Curtis Lum (Siren, Prison Break), meanwhile, joins in a guest role as F.W. Jung. The character description doesn't reveal much about the plot, but it sounds like F.W. may be a fixer of sorts: "Jung provides discreet, ever-changing services for powerful clients, solving problems with meticulous planning and quiet efficiency. Pragmatic and unemotional, Jung views every situation as a problem to be resolved. By the time he speaks, the outcome is already in motion."

We'll have to wait and see how the new cast members (A.K.A. potential suspects) fit into the Cross universe. Right now, there are so many possibilities, but concrete evidence will present itself soon enough.

After solving cases in 29 books spanning more than three decades, Dr. Kay Scarpetta, the heroine of Patricia Cornwell’s series of page-turning crime novels, finally received her own thriller series adaptation.

In the Prime Video show, Scarpetta, Nicole Kidman stars as Kay, the chief medical examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, who uses forensic techniques and her brilliant mind to track down killers and get justice for victims. Season 1 of the murder-mystery unfolds across two timelines, taking inspiration from two of Cornwell’s books: 1990’s Postmortem, and 2021’s Autopsy.

How these two stories connect, and the big cliffhanger it leads to, is all part of the mystery Kay has to contend with—both in the past (in which Rosy McEwen plays her) and present. Read on for a breakdown of the Scarpetta season 1 ending.

Who killed Gwen Hainey and Cammie Ramada in 'Scarpetta?'

Kay—with the help of her longtime investigative partner (and now brother-in-law) Pete Marino (Bobby Cannavale and Jake Cannavale in the present and past, respectively)–was able to connect the murders of Gwen Hainey (Emma Massalone) and Cammie Ramada (Brittany Belt) to the same killer.

The identity of the perpetrator, however, isn’t revealed until the season finale, and it’s someone Kay has known all along. It was Officer August Ryan (David Hornsby and Austin McMains), a cop she encountered during her investigations dating back to the Lori Petersen case in 1998.

Ryan was one of the first cops on the scene after Lori (Kassia Conway) was killed, and seeing her body unlocked something from his childhood: His uncle was a rapist who brought the young Ryan along while committing his crimes. He was given a penny to try to flatten on nearby train tracks as a distraction, which is how that became his signature to leave behind at his own crime scenes.

The officer became obsessed with Kay and, when she returned to the Virginia medical examiner’s office at the start of the series, began committing murders inspired by the ones she investigated years ago. This is all revealed when Ryan comes to Kay’s home at the end of the series, planning to strangle and kill her next. Thankfully, she’s able to resist and takes him down by beating him mercilessly with a baseball bat.

And who was the killer from the 1998 timeline in 'Scarpetta?'

The 1998 case came down to some good, old-fashioned detective work. Pete initially pegs Lori Petersen’s husband, Matthew Petersen (Graham Phillips and Anson Mount), as the prime suspect, but Kay disagrees: If this were a case of “the husband did it,” why would he also kill the other women in the same gruesome manner?

One breakthrough came via one of the strange coincidences that tied the cases together: a mysterious substance on the bodies that sparkled under a black light. That turned out to be a byproduct of a powdered soap the killer used to wash his hands, which he did frequently to cover up a medical condition (if you were curious, “maple syrup urine disease” is indeed a real thing) that gave him a distinct body odor.

Through tracking down the brand of soap and deducing that the killer chose his victims by the sound of their voice, Kay and Pete conclude that this man must do a job that requires him to be on the phone. That suspicion proves correct: The serial killer is a 911 operator named Roy McCorkle (Martin De Boer), who answered calls made by the victims.

How was Matt Petersen connected to Gwen Hainey in 'Scarpetta?'

One of the big questions hanging over Kay and Pete throughout the present-day investigation is why Matt Petersen’s fingerprints were linked to the Gwen Hainey case. If he were involved, that would mean that they got the wrong guy in the 1998 murders—and the case that made Kay’s entire career was built on a lie.

Turns out, Matt really just was a man grieving his murdered wife, though he winds up taking that in a weird (and potentially unsettling) direction. Now, 30 years on, he’s refashioned himself as a spiritual guru helping people deal with grief on a farm he operates as a kind of commune. He did meet with Gwen, but not to kill her: He’d read articles about her work at a bioengineering firm that was experimenting with 3D-printing synthetic human organs, and chatted with her about it after recognizing her out at a bar. So he had no interest in wanting Gwen dead and lots of reasons to want her alive. (Namely, so he could clone his dead wife. Like we said, unsettling!)

Also, what’s the deal with the whole space plotline in 'Scarpetta?'

And you thought the 3D organs were weird! Thor Laboratories, the firm where Gwen worked, was also conducting experiments on growing human organs in space. One of the astronauts on that orbiter was colluding with Gwen to sell the company’s trade secrets to the Russians, and murdered his colleagues before jumping off the ship onto another vessel. The dead men and the orbiter then crash into some poor man’s farm, making it a very active FBI scene investigated by Kay’s husband, FBI agent Benton Wesley (Simon Baker in the present, Hunter Parrish in 1998), and his partner.

This plotline is a red herring of sorts, because it seems for a moment like Gwen’s death could have been tied to her corporate espionage—but it also reveals that Benton knows more about the Gwen investigation than he’s telling his wife.

Who hacked Kay’s computer in 'Scarpetta?'

In both the past and present, Kay faces harsh professional scrutiny from the press and especially from her bosses, who balk at a woman holding the chief medical examiner position. At one point, someone sets her up to be fired by making it look like evidence from the Lori Petersen case was mishandled, potentially compromising the entire investigation. However, she insists her methods are solid, and Pete backs her up.

Someone also tried to hack into Kay’s computer in 1998, seemingly looking for information on the Petersen case. That call also turned out to be coming from inside the house: It was Dr. Reddy (Alex Klein), who had an ax to grind because Kay was made chief over him, and remains hostile to her in his present-day role as health commissioner. This revelation came via Kay’s assistant, Maggie (Georgia King and Stephanie Faracy), who, throughout the series, was painted as an adversary working with Reddy to take Kay down. Now, though, she’s ready to help expose her boss’s shady dealings, which probably includes why he covered up Cammie Ramada’s murder by pushing for it to be ruled accidental. Presumably, we’ll get into more of this cover-up in season 2.

What’s the secret Kay and Pete are keeping in 'Scarpetta?'

Kay and Pete’s relationship—as professional investigators, as family through marriage, and the fact that he may or may not be in love with her—includes a massive secret they’ve both been keeping about the night they tracked down Roy McCorkle in 1998.

When Kay identifies Roy as the killer, she tells Pete, and they plan to meet at his home to stake him out. But when Kay gets there, she hears screaming from inside the house and goes to investigate. That’s when Roy attacks and goes to strangle her like he did his other victims—until Kay grabs a piece of a broken ceramic plate and jams it into his neck, killing him. Pete arrives on the scene and covers for Kay by shooting Roy repeatedly, then claiming she was never there. When Kay does the autopsy, she lists his cause of death as gunshot wounds, making their lie the official record.

Where do things leave off between Kay and Benton in 'Scarpetta?'

These two kept big secrets from one another—including the truth about Roy’s autopsy. After Kay’s chaotic, drama-loving sister Dorothy (Jamie Lee Curtis and Amanda Righetti) drunkenly blabs to Benton that his wife has kept something major from him, the two wind up having a scorched-earth fight on their property, where Benton had been interrogating an FBI suspect without his wife’s knowledge.

Benton also has his own demons to contend with, stemming from dark and obsessive behaviors his mother identified in him as a child that he’s still trying to contain. As they’re having it out, he asks Kay for a divorce.

And what about Dorothy and Pete by the end of 'Scarpetta?'

After lots of tension because of Pete working alongside Kay—compounded by Dorothy’s over-the-top personality and worries about the closeness between her sister and husband—Dorothy and Pete wind up moving out of Kay and Benton’s home, where they had been staying while their house was undergoing renovations, and settle into a nearby Airbnb to regroup. Despite Kay saying she needs Pete’s help, he chooses to go with his wife, but things still seem uneasy between them. Dorothy’s fears about her husband being in love with Kay won’t go away that easily.

What happens to Lucy at the end of 'Scarpetta?'

Poor Lucy (Ariana DeBose and Savannah Lumar) has gone through it all season—essentially being raised by Kay as a teen when her mother was absent, and as an adult spending her days talking with an AI version of her dead wife, Janet (Janet Montgomery), while living in Kay’s guest house.

A lifelong tech genius, Lucy lends her talents to her aunt and stepfather’s investigation and becomes close to Blaise Fruge (Tiya Sircar), one of the cops also working the case. But there’s also a lot of fretting about how Lucy is coping: whether she’s too dependent on her aunt, spending too much time with her AI Janet, or both.

By the series’s end, someone has destroyed the AI Janet—it’s not clear who—leaving Lucy even more heartbroken. The final episode leaves her seeking solace at Matt Petersen’s grief commune.

How does 'Scarpetta' season 1 end?

The mystery-thriller series ends with a big new mystery. As Kay is bashing Officer Ryan’s head in with a baseball bat, someone opens the front door and catches her in the act. Who is it? And will they come to Kay’s aid, or try to blackmail her over what she’s done? We’ll have to wait until season 2 to find out.