Following the stories of student athletes at Navarro College near Dallas, Texas, the docuseries Cheer debuted in January 2020 to critical acclaim.

The show documents the lives of college cheerleaders as they are pushed to their limits in hopes of winning the Daytona Collegiate National Championship. It features breathtaking routines and stunts from competitions that had audiences speechless.

Season two is set to drop on Netflix January 12, and fans everywhere are buzzing about what to expect. In addition to grueling training and astounding routines, the newest season will reportedly also focus on the effects that fame has had on the collegiate athletes.

Cast members of Cheer have had to navigate overnight fame, talk show appearances, and influencer deals in the interim since the first season. Like the rest of the world, the cast was not spared from the Covid-19 pandemic, which made attending competitions difficult. Instead of the coherent, competition based framing of the first season, the second season misses that crucial aspect.

The series must also tackle the fallout from a scandal that broke months after the release of the first season. Fan favorite, Jerry Harris, was arrested for producing child pornography. He's been charged with several counts, including the solicitation of sex and lewd photographs from minors, and has since pleaded "not guilty". Harris is reportedly still featured in some of season two, up until an episode titled "Jerry", where they address the allegations.

Perhaps because of the scandal, season two will focus less on the individual lives of the cheerleaders, and more on the affect of fame and cheer industry as a whole. Some critics claim that this misses the youthful, feel-good nature of the first season. But like the subjects, the series must also evolve.

Cheer premieres on Netflix Jan.12!