Cruel Summer
Cruel Summer Review – Lies, Lies Are No Fun (1×06)
A new deposition threatened Jeanette’s case on Cruel Summer Season 1 Episode 6.
In 1995, Jeanette’s lawyer informed her that Tanya, Tennille’s mother, was threatening to take her down with some damning evidence, but Jeanette didn’t seem concerned and assured her that Tanya wouldn’t be a problem.
And by taking care of it she meant threatening to expose Tawny’s big secret, which likely wouldn’t be received well if people found out, but honestly, Tanya had it coming.
While it’s a well-known fact that Martin Harris was a bad guy, but he wasn’t the only one in town!
Tanya’s sins weren’t half as bad, but through flashbacks, we found out that she forced a reluctant Martin Harris into dinner after which she went back to his house and tried to seduce him by any means possible.
Following his death and Kate’s rescue, Tanya decided to speak out on live television and accused him of doing all the things she did to him instead.
Jeanette, who snuck into Martin’s house prior to their arrival, witnessed the whole thing and knew she was lying.
Now, this revelation does put a big question mark on Martin’s character. As I said, he was reluctant to go on a date and felt highly uncomfortable by Tawny’s advances. All of those things fall in line with him being a decent human.
And I feel like the series keep flipping between making us think Martin was a good guy and then convincing us he was a sorry excuse for a human. Which is it?
Kate may not remember who Annabelle is, but I’m confident she knows that she was held captive by Martin.
Maybe the reason he was pushing Tanya away is cause he already has his sights set on Kate?
While hiding out in the closet, Jeanette heard Tanya confess to taking child support money from a man who wasn’t Tennille’s father.
She held onto that secret until it came in handy, and she blackmailed Tanya into keeping her mouth shut and not speaking out against her.
If Tanya went through with her deposition and placed Jeanette at Martin’s house, she would surely lose the trial.
Lying was a huge theme throughout the episode as Jeanette’s mother, Cindy, attempted to figure out if her daughter was capable of hurting Kate Wallis.
Her motherly intuition told her that Jeanette wasn’t being completely honest, and when she found a key hidden under Jeanette’s jewelry box, she knew it proved her theory correct.
She didn’t even need to go to Martin’s house to check if the key fit.
When she confronted Jeanette about it, she was giving her a chance to be honest and come clean. Obviously, she didn’t, which proved to Cindy that she didn’t know her daughter anymore.
I’m not surprised Jeanette lied as she knew that admitting to sneaking into Martin’s house wouldn’t look good regardless if she was telling the truth about not seeing Kate.
Cindy tried to share her fears with Gregg, but he simply shut down the possibility of his sweet little girl doing anything wrong.
He was in denial, which is, again, understandable, as he was used to covering for Jeanette, however, it also pushed Cindy away.
She didn’t think her concerns were being taken seriously, and it caused her to rethink their whole marriage.
CRUEL SUMMER – “An Ocean Inside Me” – A new deposition threatens Jeanette’s case. A discovery causes Cindy’s suspicions about her own daughter to reach new heights as her relationship with Greg becomes further strained. This episode of “Cruel Summer” airs Tuesday, May 18 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Freeform. (Freeform/Bill Matlock)
HARLEY QUINN SMITH, CHIARA AURELIA
When she sat down and informed Gregg about her desire to be a flight attendant, he once again brushed her off, which led to her decision to leave and stay with a friend for the time being.
This is one of the episodes I’ve been waiting for because I wanted to know what triggered Cindy and Gregg’s divorce, and also, why Cindy wasn’t in the picture in the present day.
I initially assumed she was driven to drink by Jeanette’s case, but I was happy to find out that she just left to pursue a career she wanted instead.
When Cindy confided in Angela at the bar, it was a heartbreaking but wholesome moment. The ex talking to the new girlfriend could’ve turned ugly, but it never did — they both had respect for each other, plus, Cindy simply wanted to know how Jeanette was doing ahead of the trial.
Also, Angela is a solid human being who has no ill intentions towards anyone, so it’s hard to dislike her. She’s been there for Jeanette more than Gregg has been, and she continues to give her advice about not making herself smaller for other people.
Despite the circumstances, she’s one of the only people who has never treated Jeanette like a terrible person and criminal.
However, it also paints Gregg in a new light.
Jeanette blamed her mother for destroying the family, which is why they were no longer talking, but as Cindy noted, she and Gregg were still together when got with Angela.
The worst part — Angela thought that his wife left him, which is why she pursued the relationship in the first place.
Oh, Gregg. It seems like lying runs in the family.
Did Gregg give up on his marriage before it was over?
Cindy eventually tested the key simply to prove to herself that she was right all along. And Gregg tested the key only to learn that he should’ve listened to his wife.
But none of this actually reveals if Jeanette saw Kate and lied about it. Simply being in possession of the key and occasionally sneaking into his house doesn’t automatically mean she’s guilty or knew what was going on in the basement.
Vincent is another person that’s wholeheartedly in Jeanette’s corner, and their friendship is sweet. They had their share of ups and downs, but he has her back. And as we saw in flashbacks, she always had his, including when he stole a CD and she covered for him.
When she caught him making googly eyes at Ben, she promised to keep their romance on the down-low. However, I also recall Ben testifying that Jeanette ruined his life, so I wonder what happened there.
We also saw the first time Jeanette and Jamie “met,” which was in the mall’s detention room.
I’m pinpointing this as the catalyst for Jeanette’s change from sweet, dorky girl to blossoming popular gal and rule-breaker. Following the incident, she began throwing away clothes that were no longer her vibe and talking badly about Mallory.
Will we see the demise of their friendship and her transition to Jamie’s girlfriend and Tennille’s bestie?!
What did you think of the episode? Do you think Jeanette is guilty? Or are you finding yourself more and more conflicted as the series continues on?
I’ll be the first to say this is one of the most intriguing and captivating mysteries in recent times!
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Who is ready for another cruel, cruel summer?
Jessica Biel hyped fans up for Cruel Summer Season 2 with a brand new teaser trailer posted on Instagram.
While the post didn’t reveal a premiere date, it did confirm that a second season was on its way. Deadline previously reported its set for a summer release!
“It’s gonna be a cruel, @cruelsummer. Season 2 is coming!! 👩🏼💻 @freeform” she captioned the clip, which sees a teen girl typing an angsty away message into her AIM profile. Ahh, remember the good ol’ days?
Unfortunately for her, they aren’t good at all as a fatal system error pops up and takes over her entire computer screen.
It’s not much to go off of, so if you’re wondering what the heck the upcoming season is going to be about, I don’t blame you.
Cruel Summer Season 1 was highly addictive, but the anthology series wrapped up the storyline between Jeanette (Chiara Aurelia) and Kate (Olivia Holt).
The second season will be set in the “idyllic waterfront town in the Pacific Northwest,” and follows the rise and fall of another intense teenage friendship.
“Approaching the story from three different timelines surrounding Y2K, the season twists and turns as it tracks the early friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan’s best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward,” the outlet notes.
The cast includes Sadie Stanley, Lexi Underwood, Griffin Gluck, KaDee Strickland, Lisa Yamada and Sean Blakemore. Paul Adelstein will appear in a handful of episodes.
Are you ready for it?
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And we finally have the truth.
Though the truth is pretty dark no matter how you look at it.
Cruel Summer wrapped up its freshman run by providing all the answers along with plenty of jaw-dropping twists.
As the Turner vs. Wallis case kicked off in 1995, Jeanette and Kate came face-to-face — and almost to blows — both in the courtroom and outside of it.
After Jeanette’s lawyers revealed a private convo between Kate and Ashley (she didn’t know it was her step-sister until after the printouts were submitted into evidence), Kate was forced to confess that she lied about her kidnapping and the fact that she destroyed an innocent girl’s reputation.
Jeanette was hounded by the media and painted as a monster on the basis of the narrative that Kate sold to protect herself.
Kate was scared of what people would think if they knew she went to Martin’s willingly.
This led to a heart-to-heart between Kate and Jeanette during which they figured out that this whole thing was just a misunderstanding.
Both of the girls were defending the truth… the only truth they knew.
Kate thought Jeanette saw her since she snuck into the house, while Jeanette knew she wasn’t guilty of what she was being accused of.
Turns out, the person that did actually see Kate was none other than Mallory. While it may have seemed like we were right not to trust her this whole time, Mallory had her reasons.
While her friendship with Kate was a result of misplaced guilt, eventually, the two did actually become good friends.
The finale made it very clear that everyone was harboring secrets and lies in order to protect themselves.
Once Kate confronted Mallory, she learned that she didn’t say anything because she knew that in telling the public what she saw, she would be ratting out Kate as the reality of what she saw didn’t match the narrative Kate was selling. In a twisted way, she was protecting her friend, who she knew wasn’t being held against her will — at least not physically — when she saw her.
She was there for Kate before they were even tight, which speaks volumes to who Mallory is as a person.
I was sure the two of them were going to kiss when Kate confronted Mallory and asked her to stay, so I was thrilled when the smooch finally happened in the end.
There was a chemistry between them that lent itself to more than friendship.
Mallory may have betrayed Kate, but despite it, she was one of the only people who had a genuine connection with her and understood her for who she was.
The real villain was Jeanette all along.
After Kate realized she wrongly accused Jeanette, she immediately cleared her name and made things right.
However, there was something genuinely off about Jeanette. They say when someone shows you who they are, you should believe them.
The first suggestion that Jeanette may be a sociopath came when she was trying to learn how to make people feel sorry for her in the courtroom.
Things also took a weird turn on the Marsha Bailey show as she was wearing the same exact outfit that Kate wore the first time she accused her right down to the pearls and headband.
She also forgave Kate in the same way Kate accused her initially.
Mallory was right — there was something truly off about Jeanette’s appearance.
And it turns out, Jeanette was lying the whole time. She may not have seen Kate on Christmas, which is when she was accused, but Jeanette did sneak into the house in 1994 when Kate was already locked in the basement. She heard Kate begging for help and never reported it because she was at peak popularity. She weighed her options and decided that it wasn’t in her best interest to help Kate, which is deeply concerning.
Everything the media said about Jeanette being a monster was absolutely on point.
CRUEL SUMMER – “Hostile Witness” – Kate and Jeanette’s worlds collide as the court date arrives, finally forcing the two young women to answer the question on everyone’s mind, but the answer comes with a price that not everyone can pay. The season finale of “Cruel Summer” airs Tuesday, June 15 at 10:00 p.m. on Freeform. (Freeform/Bill Matlock)
CHIARA AURELIA
Worst of all — it always some sick game to her. She got the same thrill from it that she did from breaking into Martin’s house. She never truly felt remorse for what she did and how she contributed to Kate’s destruction.
While it’s an unexpected twist and likely included for shock facotr, I think I would have preferred the storyline where Kate and Jeanette remained friends and bonded over their shared trauma. Jeanette may have always been driven by this desire to be beautiful and popular, but I would think this experience would have changed her and given her a new outlook on life, especially since she was vindicated and ended up getting the guy.
There was even a great setup for the two to remain friends who could lean on each other and heal together. Kate said she wanted someone to understand what she was going through, and though Jeanette’s experience was wildly different, they kind of saw eye-to-eye at the moment at Martin’s house.
It was nice to see them work together to figure out what really happened. As Kate shared her experience of being locked in a basement, it was as though Jeanette genuinely felt sorry for Kate.
It would’ve been a great way to wrap up their story arc as two young girls who were wronged.
Jeanette even helped Kate remember who Anabelle was, and for those that figured it was a gun — you were correct.
Kate revealed that the day before her rescue, Martin seemed to have run out of options and found himself oddly at peace right before turning the gun on himself.
Martin was plagued with guilt after what he’d done, which seems to prove that he didn’t fully think his plan through and kept trying to wing it.
However, he also looked pretty conflicted about how to handle the situation. Going from wanting to kill yourself to screaming at the top of your lungs to begging Kate not to shoot you and convincing her you love her kind of screams bi-polar to me.
While Martin couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger, Kate, however, didn’t have that problem and shot him when he was at his most vulnerable.
It was a huge and heavy decision for Kate, but she was brave enough to finally save herself.
It was a warranted shot that finally put an end to her misery, but the aftermath left her conflicted as she loved her captor while also hating him.
It wouldn’t do the situation justice if Martin died in a police shootout, but having Kate pull the trigger sort of paralleled all the pain he caused her while keeping her.
Hopefully, Kate took the time to work through all of that in therapy because it’s a lot.
I’m slightly disappointed that Angela didn’t have more to do with the storyline as I was convinced she was going to have some kind of connection to Martin. Also, Jeanette’s own mother didn’t even come to the trial.
Also, where was Jamie, who Jeanette seemed to be dating at the end of everything!
The resolution between Vince and Ben also felt a little weak, but I’m glad they’re going to work through things and hope they end up together as they deserve a bit of happiness.
Jeanette also ended up with Jamie, so I guess it was all worth it since she got what she wanted after all.
What did you think of the finale? Are you happy that we were given all the answers we were promised?
Leave your comments below, and we’ll see you for season 2 on Freeform!
Cruel Summer may be airing its season finale tonight, but fans can already look forward to more spine-tingling thrills.
Freeform has picked up the psychological drama for a second season, according to TVLine.
“Renewing Cruel Summer for a Season 2 was an easy decision,” Freeform President Tara Duncan said.
“It’s the biggest series debut in Freeform’s history and the audience response has been overwhelmingly positive. [Executive producers] Jessica [Biel], Michelle [Purple] and [showrunner] Tia [Napolitano] did a phenomenal job telling an addictive story that’s tapped into the cultural zeitgeist. I’m excited to see where they take the series next,” she added.
Napolitano also noted: “Collaborating with Iron Ocean, our dedicated crew, charismatic cast, and our partners at Freeform and eOne has been the best first showrunning experience I could ask for. I am beyond grateful and excited by the amazing fan response to our show! Continuing to bottle Cruel Summer magic for a Season 2 is an absolute dream come true.”
The freshman drama stars Olivia Holt (Kate Wallis) and Chiara Aurelia (Jeanette Turner) whose worlds collide when Kate goes missing and later accuses Jeanette of knowing who kept her captive and not telling the police. Jeanette is adamant that she never saw Kate in captivity. The story is told over three timeliness in 1993, 1994, and 1995.
The mystery is set to be resolved in tonight’s finale.
Per Deadline, Biel revealed that the mystery could return with a new story and the same characters or feature a new cast of characters.
You can recap all of the Cruel Summer reviews below!
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