#hsmtmts season 2

[veryberrydreamer]

IT WAS REAL TO ME

[filmmakerdreamst]

Falling Slowly

[thisgameissonintendo]

ʜɪɢʜ ꜱᴄʜᴏᴏʟ ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄᴀʟ: ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄᴀʟ: ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ - ʀɪᴄᴋʏ ʙᴏᴡᴇɴ | ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ 2

[madlyn5ever]

One of my favorite gags of hsmtmts is Ash clapping at the wrong time.

[midgexlennyx]

this is one of the greatest love stories of our times❤️

[keeponkippenon]

Ricky's love of 'Bet on It' - Season 2

I just love seeing Ricky being his goofy, silly self, especially surrounding the musicals they were going to/are doing. I like to think that the HSM franchise have become his comfort movies, and that he listens to the soundtrack on a daily basis. As well as after stressful situations to help him feel a bit better. Which is technically canon imo, because in the first season he does just that in episode 4. (Does anyone else headcanon Ricky as some form of neurodivergent? It just makes sense to me)

Just look at him omg, just straight up cheesin'

[toomanyopinionss]

i just finished the last season of

HSMTMTS…

i have an extremely hot take, and maybe because it’s still fresh in my mind, but

This was the best season.

Y’all, it had EVERYTHING.

I think there’s a couple reasons for why it was so good in my opinion:

It felt less Disney, if that makes sense. The humor was edgier, it was more gay, it wasn’t afraid. i feel like in past seasons the show has had to hold back because of the mouse, but this was just batshit crazy, and I LOVED it

Season 4 felt so removed from the other three, and i don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing. Obviously having background knowledge and connections with the characters and the story is great, but like i said before, hsmtmts is not the same show it was when it started. I truly and honestly believe that someone could watch just season four alone and have a jolly old time, cause the story feels so… full and complete

Bouncing off my last point, the emotional beats of this season were EVERYTHING. i cried so many times. From EJ’s conversation with Ricky, which was just so mf good, to Gina’s monologue at the end, which had me in pieces, the acting was just off the charts

It was a HOT MESS. Honestly some of these plot lines were giving Glee in the best way possible:

- the cHeAtInG 🤡

- the fvcking turkey hat

- Ricky’s entire personality

say what you will, this show was one of a kind and i enjoyed my damn self

✨✨✨8/10✨✨✨

cuz i will forever be salty for what they did to EJ, so disrespectful, my baby deserved so much better.

[rickyandgina]

BEAUTIFUL KISS FOR BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE

[xxsparksflyx]

ej: yeah, it’s my first valentine’s day without a girlfriend-

*ricky in his head*: BITCH I’M RIGHT HERE PICK ME

[sparklyseblos]

i miss hsmtmts season 2 :(((

season 3 was good but like the vibes season 2 gave were just it!!

it was wholesome and even tho there was drama it was mostly external and wasn’t within the group. my silly little wildcats were happy (for the most part) and as seb said the one thing they had that north high didn’t was friendship!! which i felt like was lacked in s3 especially with the portwell-rina love triangle and the fact that seb, nini & big red weren’t there.

i’m not gonna deny the fact that there was some not-so-bright moments but i think for most of those moments there was always someone to help with that.

there’s also the fact that seblos, redlyn & portwell are my favourite ships and they were winning in s2 which is plus for me but i think one of the things i appreciated most about s2 was the friendship that came from it and the togetherness and support everyone had for one another (i’d say a good example of that was when everyone came together to give carlos the quinceañero he always wanted and deserved!)

also i feel like this was the one season where gini & rj were actually friends?? (minus the mini thing in 2x10 between gina and nini but was resolved by that absolutely iconic finale scene)

beauty and the beast was also SO GOOD (but tbh all of the productions that they’ve done in this show were incredible) and i love the friendships that came out of it like ash & ricky (which is adorable as well bc ash is big red’s gf and ricky is big red’s best friend) KOURT & SEB!! i loved their mother & son bond, carlos & gina were iconic, best choreographer duo everrr and ash & gina’s lovely sisterly bond was so sweet.

sorry ik i went on bit of a ramble here and i think you can tell from this post and my account that i just really love friendship but idk it was just really cute and i miss it. it also was the season when i started watching the show to so s2 has a very special place in my heart 🫶🏽

[sunset-bobby]

to this day i’m mad that they did not go all the way to the menkies in season 2

like i needed EJ to get that NYU scholarship for my mental health…maybe things would of went better for him

[curtsies-from-princess-ashlyn]

Season 2 in review....

Surprisingly, there was a lot that was improved from s1 when this season started, but unfortunately those improvements weren't consistent through the whole season. The character work for the leads was much better than the first season, and I do think how the story was being told (i.e. literary devices, visual and musical cues, etc.) was stepped up (shoutout to Ilana Wolpert for 2x06, which I think is the best written episode this season). I also really liked how the music from BATB was incorporated into this season, which I think was used more effectively to tell the stories of the wildcats than the music from HSM in s1. I also thought the season was better paced in the first half than s1 (up until 2x07 or so), but then it started spinning wheels in the 2nd half a bit before coming to a screeching halt in the finale. The finale doesn't even really have a narrative, technically. For that alone, this is the weakest season as a whole.

The season's tone is noticeably darker than either s1 or s3 (and presumably s4), which I think really makes it stick out. I don't necessarily think the darker tone is a bad thing, since many of the characters are experiencing some really painful things this season, and it matches the gravity of the pain and trials they face. However, it's not tonally consistent with the rest of the show, and I think the inclusion of the North High crew makes this even worse. For the most part, the North High students were the ones who provided comedic relief this season, and the rivalry plotline simply did not work. The plot did nothing to further the arcs of the main characters, so as a framework for the overall season, it just felt superfluous. At least Nini's YAC arc had relevance and moved along her and Ricky's storylines, but the rivalry helped no character move from point A to point B in their growth. I think it could've been used to challenge Ashlyn's insecurities about being a leading lady, with Lily being her foil in fitting the "ideal" (I think maybe this was the original idea?), but there was almost no conclusion to Ashlyn's storyline as Belle. In the end, I think the North High rivalry felt much more like the Vocal Adrenaline rivalry in Glee than fitting in the very meta world of HSM or HSMTMTS.

If Ashlyn's storyline was so unfinished, then how can I possibly say the character work was improved from s1? Well, the storylines of Ricky, Nini, and Gina were done very well this season. I think there was a lot more intention and vision of how these characters needed to grow this season than in s1, and the writers do honor each one of them in their storylines. Ricky is continuing to be challenged to confront changes, and the more this happens, the tighter he clings to his past with Nini. Nini is discovering her own voice for the first time in a long time, and YAC and her relationship with Ricky are showing her that she needs more freedom and space to be her true self than they both provide. Ultimately, Ricky and Nini's breakup arc is the best written storyline of the season (even if its dragged out an episode too long). Ricky's arc still can't move forward until he confronts his mom (who it all leads back to), and overall the writers hit the perfect balance with his story. He was held accountable for his mistakes, but we the audience know exactly why he's making them and can empathize with his painful struggle.

Gina is figuring out where she actually fits in at EHS, and her growing insecurity and doubting of her instincts all ties back to her uncertainty in her relationship with Ricky. This all makes sense, given he's the first friend she ever made in SLC, effectively being the tether to the rest of her relationships there. S2a focuses on her struggling to navigate these new relationships and emotionally separate herself from everyone. The performance of "Home" is her turning point, but even after choosing to stay, she still continues to question her worth to others. Her conversation with Nini in 2x12 reveals that she still has insecurities about her true self, calling herself "off-putting". The one character I can't figure out if his storyline is written with intention or ultimately fumbled is EJ's. It's clear this season is supposed to start him on his journey of finding his own story, but rather than continue down this path, his storyline shifts to focus on his relationship with Gina. It could be intentional that the writers wanted EJ to think that his relationship with Gina was his new story, allowing him to learn in s3 that his story can't be defined by his father or a girl, but maybe that's a generous interpretation. I have more thoughts on his s3 storyline later.

I really appreciated the attempt to expand the scope of storytelling to be more ensemble-focused than s1, but I don't think enough attention was given to the rest of the characters. I loved that Kourtney had a significantly larger role this season, and her stories meshed better with the rest of the cast this season than Nini's, tbh. I actually loved seeing her work with Big Red and them as scene partners. Save for Kourtney's storyline, I don't think there was enough payoff or conclusion for the rest of the characters' individual arcs this season (Ashlyn, Big Red, Carlos, Seb).

Last comment: I was incredibly impressed by Joshua Bassett's performance this season. He gave a good performance in s1, but he reached a whole new level in s2 as Ricky. I think the clarity of Ricky's character and arc this season really helps, but I was blown away at how he was able to portray all these complex emotions so sensitively and believably. Sofia's undoubtedly the best actor, but he also really held his own this season.

[hsmtmts-arrows]

can u gimme a summary of the stuff that happened behind the scenes of s2, my friend's watching it

oooo okay so 🗣️🗣️

1. season two’s filming was shut down in 2020 like literally everything else due to covid (i heard they did three episodes before covid so if u watch that episode and then episode four you will probably see a good age jump between them all 😭)

2. during that time off on the show the jolivia break up happened as we all are aware of 😃. this caused a huge problem especially after the release of driver’s license considering at the time rini were literally dating 😭

3. around the time of driver’s license’s release and deja vu’s release they were back to filming season two and it was obvious that they couldn’t keep rini together anymore because of joshua and olivia.

4. ofc they weren’t going to stay together anyways in the show as another couple is set to be endgame but it’s obvious the rini storyline was rushed and other pieces of the writing for season two was changed and rushed so we can have the rini breakup earlier on in the season

5. from what i’ve also seen there’s literally photos of olivia on set in tears while in one of nini’s season two costumes so it was obvious that tensions and so on were very high when working on it.

6. what i also gathered was while on set of season two olivia had already told tim (the creator of hsmtmts) she won’t be staying for another season fully as the same way she was for seasons one and two as they started to write a plot already for her to move away to/work in LA with gina’s brother 😭

7. also i wanna note how nini literally in season three still doesn’t have any scenes w ricky- however joshua and olivia have (kinda???) made it clear that they’re friendly again at the 2022 premier of season three (???a few photos but yh ig they’re on good terms 😀 idk i get the feeling it’s awkward as hell still)

[madlyn5ever]

Ashlyn “I get snappy when I feel threatened” Caswell and EJ “billion sorries” Caswell.

What a family

[thstarsofsilver]

i feel like when nini sang ‘granted’ in s2, it was kind of a turning point for the music in the show. up to that point, any and all of the songs had had a reason to be sung, be it an audition, a rehearsal, a dream sequence, a gift, a performance they’d put together in one night to save their teacher’s job (lol), etc. 

effectively, however outlandish or questionable it was, there was always an excuse of sorts for the characters to be singing/dancing. however, ‘granted’ was the first to be in a traditional musical style - a character singing a completely original song that is relevant to their situation while continuing to go about their daily life, and not acting as though it’s anything out of the ordinary to be singing whatever divinely-inspired song they’re coming out with. they carried that on in the series with songs like ‘around you’ and ‘second chance’, where the backing track/lyrics/choreo come out of nowhere. 

since then, the show seems to have leaned into that, especially with season 3 - ricky’s ‘finally free’ was filmed very much like a music video that was put into a show, and gina’s ‘balance’ has a similar vibe. the show seems to be pivoting away from its original very meta dedication to being a ‘real life show’, and growing into a full-blown musical where people do burst into spontaneous song and choreography (although still very meta and self-aware lol). 

anyway it’s just interesting to note how the show is evolving & changing! only noticed this because before i started watching, i asked some of my friends who’d already seen it if it was a classic musical or more like real life, and i thought it was interesting how that element has changed, especially as they incorporate more original songs, etc!

[veryberrydreamer]

some of the most precious screen caps of my lifetime🥹🥹🥹 they are so in love!! it's literally undeniable!