The characters on Cruel Summer<\/em> season 2 made it through Y2K, but the end is approaching for the anthology series set in 1999 and 2000. Star KaDee Strickland<\/strong><\/a> spoke exclusively to Us Weekly<\/em> about what viewers can expect from the final episodes.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat ran through my head [reading the finale script] is, \u2018There are answers. We have an answer, thank you very much!\u2019 But what\u2019s great is they did not shoot just one ending,\u201d Strickland told Us<\/em> in an interview conducted days before the actors joined the SAG strike<\/a>. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen the final episode for that reason. I want to do it in real-time with the audience. I think that\u2019s so much more fun. And that was the experience I had with Private Practice<\/em><\/a> and particularly with something like this, I think it\u2019s so much better to savor every episode and be surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n Strickland revealed that there\u2019s been scenes cut throughout the season and confirmed that the cast filmed episode by episode instead of chronologically<\/a> despite the show being set in summer 1999, winter 1999 and summer 2000.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we watch it, there\u2019s scenes that we filmed that aren\u2019t in the show. Whether they were necessary or not, the final edit is different than what I read or filmed, sometimes,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s also great. I mean, that\u2019s part of the joy of doing this. I need to be the audience too sometimes when the story\u2019s this compelling.\u201d<\/p>\n Season 2 of Cruel Summer<\/em> follows three different timelines, documenting the relationships between teens Megan Landry (Sadie Stanley<\/strong><\/a>), exchange student Isabella (Lexi Underwood<\/strong>) and Luke Chambers (Griffin Gluck<\/strong><\/a>). (Strickland plays Megan\u2019s mom, Debbie.) Luke, who has romantic relationships with both Megan and Isabella, is found dead in the lake after New Year\u2019s Eve 2000.<\/p>\n \u201cRelationships at that age \u2014 and typically, same gendered \u2014 tend to have so much at stake. They\u2019re so deep. The dive is so deep. And then when you tease in that relationship from Isabella\u2019s past, that is really interesting to me,\u201d Strickland said, referring to Isabella\u2019s former BFF also drowning in the past. \u201cBut when you look at that character exploration and how they give the audience that food for thought of, \u2018Is she a serial deep dive friendship person who then becomes obsessive? Is this one of those relationships or is this just a typical teen relationship where everything in your life feels at stake and like it is the most valuable lesson and the most valuable relationship?\u2019 Because the intention of my character was to open [Megan\u2019s] world [through Isabella]. Particularly in the beginning, they\u2019re very at odds or Megan\u2019s very resistant. [I love] how a part of her really does flower as a result of this person coming in and exposing her to things.\u201d<\/p>\n While the \u201ckids\u201d have their own drama going on, Debbie begins dating Luke\u2019s dad, Steve (Paul Adelstein<\/strong><\/a>). The romance reunites Strickland and Adelstein as love interests after six seasons of playing Charlotte and Cooper, respectively, on Shonda Rhimes<\/strong><\/a>\u2019 Private Practice<\/em>. (Gluck joined them in season 5 as Cooper\u2019s love child.)<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s funny. We would occasionally go, \u2018Are we too Charlotte and Cooper right now? No, we\u2019re not. OK.\u2019 We\u2019d check each other because you\u2019re talking about six years of playing those characters,\u201d Strickland explained. \u201cEven if it\u2019s been a 10-year lapse that Paul and I have such an unconscious second nature way [and] the ease that is allowed is wonderful and it\u2019s rare.\u201d<\/p>\n Strickland told Us<\/em> that the two costars would spend time in Isabella\u2019s camper and \u201creminisce,\u201d telling \u201cHollywood tales.\u201d She added that it\u2019s been \u201ca strange, funny and wonderful\u201d thing to see Gluck grown up and able to enjoy cocktails with his former onscreen parents.<\/p>\n \u201cI think his work on the show is incredible. I knew when he was a kid that he was really talented, but to see that evolve as he\u2019s grown up has just been so special,\u201d she said before gushing returning to the \u201cmutual respect\u201d that she and Adelstein share from their Shondaland days.<\/p>\n She continued: \u201cHe was always so generous and protective and loving and when we had to give each other, you know, a fit, we could with full permission. And that\u2019s also been really interesting to do it [on Cruel Summer<\/em>] \u2018cause I feel like Deb and Steve have a very different energy as people. I mean, very different. So that was also really exciting to me when I found out Paul was doing the role, I thought, \u2018Oh, my God, what a great challenge.\u2019 Because we\u2019re gonna have to really craft how we behave with each other and really shift the dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n KaDee Strickland<\/span> Broadimage\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n![\"KaDee](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/KaDee-Strickland-Cruel-Summer-Season-2-Filmed-Multiple-Endings-Cast.jpg?w=700&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Sean Blakemore, Braeden De La Garza, Sadie Stanley, Griffin Gluck, Kadee Strickland, Paul Adelstein, Lisa Yamada, and Lexi Underwood.<\/span> Freeform\/Frank Ockenfels<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n