We need Netflix to renew this series—which comes from the creator of ‘Scream’ and feels like a mix of ‘Yellowstone,’ ‘Ozark,’ and ‘Succession’—ASAP.

WHEN THE FIRST bits of advertising for Netflix’s The Waterfront started to come out, it was interesting that the streaming giant was advertising it as “from the creator of Dawson’s Creek and Scream.”

Now, that is a fact—both of those projects are creations directly from the mind of master screenwriter Kevin Williamson (along with movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty, and tons more). But usually projects tend to go in one direction or another; You can be either a Dawson’s Creek or you can be a Scream, but it’s not often you can be both.

Well, folks, let me tell you from first hand experience: The Waterfront is both, and then some. Williamson’s new series is both a soapy, relationship-led drama—fulfilling the Dawson’s part of the equation—and also filled with brutal violence and thrills—filling in the Scream portion. Take those bits of Williamson magic and add it to a fairly familiar story of Family Empire (think Ozark, Yellowstone, Succession, etc), and The Waterfront is a clear smash for Netflix and Williamson. Each episode is filled with drama, action, and strong characters, and with Williamson as a showrunner, the show is well paced and always knows where its going.

And the basic plot is simple enough: The Buckley family is in debt, and involved in some serious and dangerous drug smuggling operations as a result. This brings Harlan (Holt McCallany) back into the mix despite a drinking problem, a heart condition, and his own soft retirement. The season becomes a drama that is as much about the Buckley family themselves—the dynamics at play are juicy, soapy, and make you want to see what happens next—as about their criminal dealings.

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Things leave off in a particularly delicate place. While the problem of the psychopathic drug lord Grady (Topher Grace) has been solved, a whole new can of worms—in the Parker family—has been opened. And on top of that, Belle (Maria Bello) has to take control of the business in order for the Parker family to be happy. Will Harlan be happy about that? Uh, considering he told his son Cane (Jake Weary) that he always wanted it to be a father/son business, probably not.

Belle is also working with Cane and the Parker family to sell off much of the Buckley waterfront land for what will, presumably, be built up. They need the money, but Harlan is not going to be OK with that either.

“In the first season, Harlan is the patriarch of the family, and Belle has always taken her place, puppeting him and controlling what happens to the Buckley family behind the scenes,” Williamson told TV Line in an interview. “All of her little shenanigans have been done behind Harlan, and in the shadows of Harlan, and now she’s ready to shove him out of the way, stand front and center, and really take the reins.”

In any event, there’s lots to be dealt with in the fallout of The Waterfront season 1. But we don’t know just yet when—or if—we’ll be getting a second season. Here’s what we do know so far.

Stream The Waterfront Here

Will The Waterfront return for season 2?

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We don’t know yet whether The Waterfront will return for season 2, but early returns are good. The show immediately jumped to the top of Netflix’s TV Show ratings list on its first day of release, and remained there since. Word of mouth for the show also seems to be building.

Netflix sometimes renews a show right away after release if it’s a massive enough hit. But most of the time, it’s a waiting game to see how the numbers look, and whether or not the streamer wants to run it back and keep the story going.

For now, we’re still waiting to see where The Waterfront lands.

Who will be in The Waterfront season 2 cast?

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Should The Waterfront return for season 2, we can expect all of our major players to return, led by Holt McCallany as Harlan, Maria Bello as Belle, Jake Weary as Cane, and Melissa Benoist as Bree. Based on the way the first season ends, we could also expect to see Terry Serpico as Emmett Parker in a more significant manner—and possibly as the new season’s main villain.

One person we certainly won’t see again is Topher Grace as the psychopathic drug lord Grady. He got shot in the face and left to sink to the bottom of the ocean, so kind of hard to come back from that one. We’ll have to take what we got with Grace’s delightful villain turn and store it in our Waterfront memories.

When will The Waterfront season 2 come out?

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Season 1 of The Waterfront was ordered to series by Netflix in May 2024, and filmed its first season between August and December on location in North Carolina. From that, they were able to turn the show around for a June 2025 release.

Given how fast they made that happen—and the fact that The Waterfront isn’t a particularly effects-heavy show—we would guess that Williamson and company could get a second season out right around Summer 2026, should they get a season 2 renewal. We’ll be waiting!