Where We Left The Core Four At The End Of On My Block Season 1

Fans have been in agony waiting for the return of Netflix’s hit coming-of-age series about Latino and Black teenagers in East Los Angeles. On My Block season 1 ended in a heartbreaking cliffhanger and luckily, the streaming platform finally announced that the second season of the comedy drama drops on March 29, almost a year after the freshman season debuted.

Fans of the show immediately connected with On My Block for its portrayal of a group of friends trying to tackle the pressures of high school and growing up in the fictional, dangerous inner-city town of Freeridge. The teens’ neighbourhood is run by two gangs, The Santos and the Prophets, who are just two of the many issues they face daily.

Although the first season was filled with many heartfelt and hilarious moments — the latter mostly from Jasmine’s (Jessica Marie Garcia) inability to read a room — the final seconds of “Chapter Ten” left two lives hanging in the balance. In case you need to refresh your memory before binging the season 2 of On My Block all in one night, we’ve broken down where we left each of the characters the night of Olivia’s (Ronni Hawk) quinceañera.

Throughout the 10 episodes of the first season, Cesar (Diego Tinoco) struggled with having to follow the path his family set for him and join The Santos. In the last two episodes, Cesar’s brother Oscar, who also goes by Spooky, tells him he must kill a rival gang member named Latrelle after he threatens Cesar’s life. But, since he doesn’t want to be in a gang and can’t bring himself to take someone’s life, he lets Latrelle go. In season 2, Cesar will have to deal with the repercussions of Oscar and the rest of the gang finding out that he didn’t kill Latrelle. On the relationship side, Cesar and Monse finally made their relationship public by kissing at Olivia's quince after hiding their feelings for each other all season (and only after Olivia ended things with Cesar).

While Monse (Sierra Capri) had to fight her feelings for Cesar, she was also dealing with some major family drama. In the first few episodes of season 1, we learn that Monse’s mother left her and her father when Monse was very young. Later, Monse discovers her mother actually only lives a few towns away, in Brentwood, and Monse uses a fake name to babysit for her. Although Monse never gets confirmation that the woman really is her mother, the audience sees her mother realize that Monse is her daughter. Season 2 will determine if Monse’s mother reaches out to her and if her relationship with Cesar will last.

Jamal’s (Brett Gray) fake injuries and inability to keep a secret were definitely highlights of season 1. His main storyline involved his obsession with proving the validity of RollerWorld, a seemingly fictitious neighborhood story about thousands of dollars being hidden somewhere in Freeridge. Jamal’s belief in RollerWorld eventually leads to some tension with his friends (and a an argument with Monse) that causes him to skip Olivia’s quinceañera. But, all of Jamal’s digging (literally!) was worth it because “Chapter Ten” ends with him riding his bike and carrying a duffle bag full of money. Hopefully now that Jamal has proved RollerWorld to be true, he can reunite with his friends.

Olivia’s quinceañera and “Chapter Ten” took an unexpected turn when Latrelle crashed the party and fired a gun at the group of friends, shooting Olivia and Ruby. She is last seen lying on the ground, with a bullet wound in her chest, calling out to Ruby. The moment is especially sad considering Olivia and Ruby just shared their first kiss a few scenes earlier. Olivia had a pretty rough first season. Partly because she dated Cesar even though he wanted to be with Monse, and mostly because her parents were deported which forced her to move from Texas to Freeridge with Ruby’s family. Her parents tried to FaceTime her as she lay on the ground covered in blood.

Poor Ruby (Jason Genao), after trying to make Olivia’s quinceañera absolutely perfect and having a not-so-subtle crush on her the entire first season, his party is a success and Olivia thanks him by kissing him. Ruby and Olivia are dancing and everyone is having a good time when Latrelle arrives with a gun. Ruby spots Latrelle, calls out to Cesar, and tries to shield all his friends. He is shot in the back and is left gasping for air as the screen fades to black. Luckily, Netflix already spoiled Ruby's fate in the On My Block season 2 trailer and in the clip from the premiere above (watch at your own spoilery risk). We’ve waited long enough to know if the self-described smartest member of the group is going to survive, and apparently Netflix wanted to throw fans a bone.