Warning: The following contains spoilers for Season 2 of Cheer, streaming now on Netflix.
When Netflix released Cheer in January 2020, the streaming giant had another instant hit on its hands. Following the extensive training and competitive season of a decorated college cheerleading squad, Cheer is not only high-stakes but also heartwarming and packed with incredible stunts. It is also a fine look at the sport of competitive cheerleading, giving viewers insight into just how much athletes put into the sport, and how taxing it is on the human body.
Cheer mainly focuses on the Navarro College Cheer Squad in Corsicana, Texas. Coached by Monica Aldama, the Navarro Squad has won 14 National titles by the beginning of Season 2. Quite literally, Season 2 picks up at the end of the last competition season, with the Navarro squad coming fresh off their fourteenth victory. While there is cause for celebration, Coach Monica makes sure it’s back to business as usual as the team jumps right into training for the next competition season. In the world of competitive cheerleading at this level, there is only one competition per year that the squads compete in: the National Cheerleading Championship in Daytona Beach.
Season 2 of Cheer follows a similar formula to Season 1, following the different athletes on Navarro’s squad as they struggle to balance training, schoolwork and life while also living up to the impossibly high expectations that come with maintaining Navarro’s reputation. However, Season 2 also introduces a noteworthy opponent for Navarro in the form of Trinity Valley Community College’s squad coached by Vontae Johnson. TVCC is an impressive squad in their own right, with coach Vontae’s fiery style a perfect match against Monica’s calm exterior.
Season 2 bounces back and forth between Navarro and TVCC’s intense training regimes, documenting injuries, successes and rivalries between different cheerleaders throughout the ups and downs of their training season. It’s a tight race to Daytona, and at certain moments it almost seems like the pressure of achieving greatness might be too much to handle. However, towards the end of the season, both squads really hit their stride, churning out impressive routines with death-defying stunts.
Unfortunately, just on the cusp of competition, the National Cheerleading Championships were canceled out of an abundance of safety concerns over the global COVID-19 Pandemic. The pandemic rocked the sports world, eliminating the possibility of in-person competitions indefinitely, meaning that the competition both Navarro and TVCC had been training for all year would not be happening as scheduled. It’s devastating to both teams, especially seniors in the program who finish out their last year without a chance to take home the National title.
All is not lost, however, as the second half of Season 2 picks up the following year, with a new season and new rookies on both teams hungry to compete for the title after they were robbed of the chance the previous year. Both teams consist of strong cheerleaders ready to fight for victory, and their training is grueling leading up to the National Championships in Daytona during the last two episodes of the season. Tensions are high among the teams and the coaches; everyone is here to win, not only for themselves but for those that never got to compete last year.
The Championship in Daytona stretches over the course of two days, with the first being preliminary day, accounting for 25 percent of their overall score. Navarro competed with a near-flawless routine, executing every stunt, basket and pyramid almost perfectly. Trinity Valley had an impressive showing as well, but one of their star tumblers fell out of a pass across the floor, docking them a few points from their overall score. However, this was only the first day of competition, and TVCC had a chance to redeem themselves the following day.
Day 2 of the National Cheerleading Championships went less-than-perfect for Navarro’s squad, with cheerleader Gillian falling out of the pyramid in a shocking turn of events. This is a devastating blow to the Navarro squad, especially after such a perfect showing on preliminary day. To complicate matters further, TVCC has a near-perfect showing on Day 2, earning almost a 98 score out of 100 total points. Though Navarro thought they still had a great chance at the crown after their near-perfect first performance, Trinity Valley ended up taking home the title after all was said and done.
While viewers didn’t want to see either team lose, especially after getting to know them across both seasons of Cheer, it was a surprising turn of events to see Trinity Valley beat Navarro in the National Championships. While Navarro is the main focus of Cheer, with Season 2 diving further into Trinity Valley’s Squad, it provided a nice foil and a welcome new perspective from what viewers have come to know and love. Both teams are hardworking and incredibly talented, led by strong coaches, and both are equally deserving of victory.
To see Trinity Valley come out on top, Cheer Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix.
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