For the People Season 2 premiere date, cast, plot, and everything we know so far about the return of ABC’s Shondaland legal drama [Updated]


For the People cast
For the People returns for Season 2. Pic credit: ABC

Update: For the People season 2 premieres on March 7, 2019, at 10/9c on ABC.

ABC released the trailer for season 2 on December 12, 2018.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDLm9hxuEtk

Introduction

The news that ABC was renewing its Shondaland legal drama For the People for Season 2 came as a surprise to critics, and as a relief to fans. Knowing that the series is coming back, fans want to know everything about Season 2 including when the series is coming back and who will be returning with it.

For the People struggled with below par ratings for most of its first season run, averaging an uninspiring 0.63 in the 18-19 demographic and 2.541 million viewers, although it managed to gain a dedicated following.

The poor ratings led many critics to predict that ABC would not pick up the series for Season 2. Some observers even predicted that For the People would be pulled off the schedule before all the episodes of Season 1 have aired.

Fans had also feared that For the People would not return for another season, and as the first season finale approached, many began expressing concern about the future of the series. So it came as a great relief when, on May 11, ABC announced the renewal of For the People for Season 2.

But fans who had hoped that the show would premiere in fall 2018 — after the Season 1 finale aired on May 22, 2018 — soon realized that they would have to wait until 2019 to see what happens next on their favorite drama series when the show did not appear on ABC’s 2018 fall schedule.

However, after fans were assured that they will continue seeing their favorite show beyond the Season 1 finale, speculation began about what happens next to the show characters facing tough calls in their personal and professional lives.

While fans look forward to the announcement of the 2019 premiere date of For the People Season 2, here is everything we know so far about the upcoming renewal, including premiere date, plot and returning cast.

For the People Season 2 premiere date

For the People Season 2
For the People Season 2 will premiere in 2019. Pic credit: ABC

The ten-episode For the People Season 1 premiered on ABC on March 13, 2018, and ended with the season finale aired on May 22, 2018.

Fans were delighted when For the People’s official Twitter handle announced on May 11, 2018 — ahead of the Season 1 finale which aired on May 22 — that ABC had approved the legal drama series for Season 2.

But there was no official word at the time regarding the For the People Season 2 premiere date. However, based on the fact that For the People Season 1 had premiered on ABC on March 13, 2018, many fans speculated that For the People Season 2 will premiere in March 2019.

ABC has still not yet confirmed the premiere date for the upcoming season. We will update readers as soon as the announcement is made.

For the People Season 2 renewal: The cast shared their joy with fans

For the People
For the People cast shared happy reactions on Twitter after ABC renewed the show for Season 2. Pic credit: ABC

Members of the cast of For the People were delighted to learn that ABC had renewed their show for Season 2. After the renewal announcement on May 11, several cast members took to Twitter to celebrate and thank fans for their support.

Jasmin Savoy Brown (Allison Adams), Ben Rappaport (Seth Oliver), Wesam Keesh (Jay Simmons), and Susannah Flood (Kate Littlejohn), all took to social media with happy reactions and shared their joy with equally elated fans.

They also thanked fans and well-wishers who helped to make the renewal possible.

Rappaport, who plays Allison’s boyfriend Seth, tweeted his joy over the renewal of For the People for Season 2.

Wesam Keesh, who plays Jay, shared a delightful short video.

Susannah Flood, who plays Kate, could not contain her joy.

Shonda Rhimes also took to Twitter to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the show.

For the People Season 2 details

For the People
For the People on ABC. Pic credit: ABC

For the People is created, written and co-executive produced by Paul William Davies. The series premiered on ABC on March 13, 2018, in the Tuesday 10/9c slot.

Production suffered a delay in mid-September 2017 due to a decision to recast Britt Robertson (Life Unexpected) and Jasmin Savoy Brown (The Leftovers) in the leading roles of federal public defenders Sandra Bell and Allison Adams respectively.

Robertson and Brown took over from Britne Oldford (The Flash) as Sandra Bell, and Lyndon Smith (Parenthood) as Sandra’s roommate and best friend Allison Adams.

After the script for the pilot was reworked and reshot, and the series’ second episode filmed with Robertson and Brown replacing Oldford and Smith in the leading roles, the producers decided to briefly shut down production to rework the scripts for the upcoming episodes to reflect the new dynamics with Robertson and Brown as leads.

The revised pilot was eventually aired on March 13 at 10/9c.

The producers insisted that the recast decision was taken as a result of a change in creative direction for the series and not due to race as widely rumored.

Filming of For the People Season 2 reportedly started on September 23, 2018.

Season 1 of the series had ten episodes, and fans are expecting Season 2 to also have at least 10 episodes. But the producers have not yet confirmed the details.

The series is co-executive produced by Paul William Davies, Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Donald Todd, and Tom Verica.

For the People Season 2 cast

For the People
For the People (Pic credit: ABC)

For the People Season 2 will star Britt Robertson as Sandra Bell, and Jasmin Savoy Brown as Allison Adams.

Members of the main cast expected to return for Season 2 include Hope Davis as Jill Carlan who heads the Public Defender’s Office for the Southern District of New York.  Ben Shenkman as Attorney Roger Gunn, Susannah Flood as Kate Littlejohn, Wesam Keesh as Jay Simmons, Regé-Jean Page as Leonard Knox, and Ben Rappaport as Seth Oliver.

Anna Deavere Smith is clerk of the court Tina Krissman, and Vondie Curtis-Hall as Nicholas Byrne, Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

For the People fans were excited when Deadline reported on September 6, 2018, that Charles Michael Davis (The Originals and Younger) was joining the cast of For the People as a new series regular. He will appear in For the People Season 2 premiere as Ted, the new investigator in the Public Defender’s office.

Davis appeared as Marcel Gerard in The CW’s The Originals (TV series 2013-2018)  and was a regular for the entire five-season run of the show. He also appears as  Zane Anders on Darren Star’s Younger (TV series 2015- ). He started in a recurring role but was promoted to series regular in Season 5.

He played Dr. Jason Myers in Grey’s Anatomy (TV series 2005- ) and appeared as Ben Dalton in The Client List (TV series 2012-2013). He also appeared as Liam Lupo in Switched at Birth (TV series 2011 – 2017).

Davis’ filming schedule on For the People will not interfere with his filming schedule on Younger which is moving from TV Land to Paramount Network for Season 6  in the spring of 2019. So fans need not fear that Davis will be missing from Younger. He will appear on both series.

His appearance as a series regular on For the People could help to win new fans for the ABC series.

For the People Season 2 storyline and plot

For the People
For the People is returning for Season 2. Pic credit: ABC

For the People is set in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, informally referred to as The Mother Court. The series follows the rising careers of six young attorneys who have just started their careers as public defense and prosecution lawyers.

Fans follow the new young attorneys as they confront each other on either side as prosecutors and defenders representing their clients to the best of their abilities.

They juggle the challenges of their high-stakes, high-profile cases with their intersecting personal lives. Some of them get personally involved with each other and enter into romantic relationships that sometimes interfere with their professional commitments.

The Season 1 finale promises an exciting Season 2. Fans are looking forward to seeing the characters progress with their promising careers as they take on new and exciting challenges in Season 2. Several of the characters faced tough calls and confronted major obstacles in their personal and professional lives.

Sandra represented a new client, Alice Wong, a government hydrologist accused of espionage against the U.S. Wong was accused of spying for the Chinese by downloading information from the USGS National Water Information System (NWIS) and sharing it with a Chinese scientist. Wong claimed that she shared the information only as part of a legitimate scientific collaboration.

Sandra believed that Wong was being treated unfairly and that she was being held under suspicion of spying only because she was an immigrant born and raised in China. Her confidence in her ability to handle Wong’s case was also undermined by the similarity of the new case to a previous case she lost.

The previous case involved Mohammad Fayed, an immigrant who nearly blew up the Statue of Liberty.

Allison tried to encourage and help Sandra who feared she would lose Wong’s case like she lost Fayed’s. Sandra believed that the jury would be biased against Wong because she was a Chinese immigrant.

But in the end, Sandra followed Allison’s advice and in her court argument she tried to show that Wong was not the only one who shared information from the NWIS with foreign collaborators, but she was the only one who came under investigation and was being prosecuted for it.

Her argument convinced the jury and Wong was found not guilty of spying for a foreign government.

Fans are hoping to see more of Allison on her own in Season 2. So far she has mostly played a supporting role to her best friend Sandra.

Allison also found herself caught in a love triangle and had to make a difficult choice about who wanted to be with between Seth and Toby. Seth warned Allison that there was a warrant for Toby’s arrest. He also told Allison that he still loved her, but Allison eventually settled for Toby.

However, fans are predicting Allison’s relationship with Toby will be short-lived.

Jay (Keesh) also faced the challenge of a rematch against Kate (Flood) when he defended Nancy Martin,  the PTA president at a private school in New York, who was accused of selling drugs to students. Martin insisted she was innocent of the charges and alleged that two well-connected parents, the Gallaghers, framed her because she defeated Mrs. Gallagher in the race for the PTA presidency.

But Kate was skeptical of Martin’s claims and believed that Jay was once again falling for a lie. But Kate later changed her mind when she met the Gallaghers. She became convinced that there was something fishy about them and helped Jay to investigate. Jay eventually discovered that the Gallaghers framed Nancy with the help of the school principal.

The episode ended in a touching moment when Kate told Jay that she had faith in him.

Leonard (Page) also had to make a tough choice when his mother approached him with an offer of a new job as the Solicitor General of Texas. He was undecided about whether to take the new job.

Leonard turned to Kate for advice. Kate didn’t want Leonard to take the job but he decided to take it. He eventually broke the news to Kate who was heartbroken about his decision.

With ABC having confirmed the renewal of For the People for Season 2, fans are looking forward to the new season and hoping that For the People Season 2 will provide answers to questions that the finale episode of Season 1 left unanswered.

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