After an exciting and thrilling first season, I’m pretty sure we can all say that “On My Block” left us on a pretty emotional note and with so many unanswered questions; and now season 2 finally came back to give us some answers.
The long-awaited second season premiered Friday (3/29) jumping right to answering our questions, but before we get to season to let’s go back to season 1 and refresh our memory!
Season 1 Recap:
In season 1 we are introduced to the squad embarking on their journey to high school, being warned to stick together during this pivotal moment in their lives. There is Monse, the only female in the group who is often referred to as the “honey badger”/instigator due to her constant nagging of keeping the squad together. Then there is Ruby, the brains who has a way with words and is always saving the squad with his awesome persuasive and management skills. Then comes Jamal, the dorky, cautious one in the group who likes solving puzzles and investigating, yet no matter how careful he is, he always seems to be stuck in the middle of the conflict, sometimes even being the scapegoat. Lastly there is Cesar, the group hottie who is also a softy, yet we learn early on that he is in some deep shit.
It’s a couple days before the first day of high school, Monse has just returned from writing camp and finds out that Ruby and Jamal are in the outs with Cesar, yet the guys won’t tell her what happened while she was gone. Upset about the whole situation she tries to get it out of them by nagging about how they cannot go into high school without each other, but they won’t budge, at least not Ruby. Jamal on the other hand is in a mess of his own keeping a secret from his parents. Monse uses that secret to blackmail Jamal into telling her what happened with Cesar and it works! We find out that the guys got upset with Cesar because he told them Monse “let him hit it” before she left to camp!!! Upset about the whole thing she goes to confront Cesar, meanwhile the guys come out to stop and there she declares that she does not need any of them.
After the fall-out with her squad, Monse retreats to Jasmine, the over-the-top neighborhood girl who has been eager to join the squad. Except, Monse decides it’s not worth it to retreat to Jasmine and goes back to Ruby and Jamal. Later that night, Cesar goes to Monse’s bedroom window to explain himself, saying that he said what he said to protect her from his freshly released gang banger older brother, Oscar ‘Spooky’ Diaz (FYI Spooky is HOT asf!). Monse then tells him that she doesn’t need the protection, but she does. As they get it on, Monse eventually finds out that Cesar has been jumped into the Santos gang.
Now that we know Cesar’s life is at stake, the squad begins “Operation Save Cesar.” The rest of the season lays out the plot of the squad figuring out how to convince Spooky to get Cesar out of the gang, while Jamal pursues searching for some serious treasure: the Rollerworld money! Here’s everything we know about Rollerworld at this point: in the 80’s there was a huge money heist done by a couple of OG members of the Santos gang, but the money was apparently hidden and hasn’t ever been found. The whole squad except for Jamal believes that it’s a myth, but with a couple of hints from Ruby’s Abuelita, Jamal has a starting point. Meanwhile, there is also a new member in the squad, Olivia, Ruby’s “cousin” who he has a crazy crush on.
Things start getting really complicated towards the end of the season. Monse and Cesar’s relationship keeps getting more and more complex. Cesar and Olivia kiss and Cesar doesn’t really know how to break it to Ruby and Monse. Then, there is a neighborhood lockdown where the secret kiss is revealed. After that, Monse and Cesar get rolled up on, Cesar is expected to (and therefore must) kill someone, Jamal gets closer to the money, there’s a quince for Olivia, Ruby and Olivia kiss, and there’s a fatal shooting at the quince in which Ruby and Olivia both get shot!
Season 2 Review (Spoiler Alert!):
After season 1, we were left with so many unanswered questions: Did Jamal find the Rollerworld money? Who died, Olivia, Ruby, or both?! What happened to Cesar? Fortunately, we got all the answers in the first episode of the season. Yes, Jamal found the money! Olivia did not survive the shot, but Ruby did! Cesar is still not safe and is now homeless!
The squad has definitely changed since the events of last season, they were all affected by what happened at the Quince. Latrelle, the guy who killed Olivia, is out in the streets and Cesar isn’t safe from the Prophets nor the Santos (anymore), which again relaunches version 2.0 of “Operation Save Cesar.”
Season 2 was definitely different from the first. In terms of the overall feel of season 2, it was definitely more of a mature feeling. Ruby was suffering from PTSD after getting shot, Monse and Cesar were now public about their reationship, Monse left her tomboy look aside, and we learn more about Jasmine. Yet, there was also some fun parts, like a competition regarding who gets to go to the Winter dance with Ruby, a dance off at the dance where Jasmine and Ruby win, and a baby shower. Season 2 continues to shed light on what it is like to live in a broken neighborhood with no way out, no light at the end of the tunnel.
Overall season 2 was pretty good- it definitely kept the same humble feeling, mixed with some mainstream/popculture references here and there. At times it got a bit intense with scenes of Cesar confronting the Prophets and Oscar. And on top of that, it was a bit sad to see our Ruby feeling guilty for Olivia’s death, as well as seeing Monse struggling to find herself as she continues to experience different aspects of life.
The ending though, in my opinion, was a little dumb- but again it left us hanging for the possibility of a season 3!