Cruel Summer
Cruel Summer Review – Everybody Has Secrets (1×04)
The mystery of Kate Wallis’ disappearance continued on Cruel Summer Season 1 Episode 4.
The episode dived further into the three years of events focused on pre, during, and post-kidnapping giving more insight into Kate’s relationship with her abductor, Martin Harris.
In 1993, we learned that Martin was invited to the family’s annual skeet shooting trip as a thank you for bringing a drunk Kate home safely.
That’s where he truly bonded with Kate as they went stargazing. She opened up about her fight with her mother, while he opened up about his fraught relationship with his family and his father’s suicide.
It’s proof that in many cases, kidnappers know the victim. In fact, this was likely his attempt to connect with her so that she’d gain his trust.
As Kate pointed out during a “scary ghost story” with her parents and their friends, she grew to trust him because the adults trusted him and brought him around, which makes the whole situation all that more unnerving.
Did Martin mistake Kate’s kindness as an invitation for something more? Did she think she was an easy target because of her unstable home life?
Kate’s therapy sessions allowed audiences to see snippets and glimpses into her time in captivity.
It’s unclear if Martin ever physically harmed her (though we do see him push her at one point), but she does recall things getting worse after she attempted to escape.
The fact that he was bringing her food and other personal care items seemed to indicate that he planned to keep her there for awhile.
However, I can’t shake how weird he was acting around her or that he said “it would all be over soon.”
My impression was that Martin was equally as scared and uncomfortable in the situation. Unfortunately, until we know Martin’s mindset, we won’t really know his motivations or what fueled his behavior. And since he didn’t survive the rescue, I wonder if we will ever find out.
In the final moments of the episode, Kate listens to her audiotapes from therapy and broaches on the topic of Annabelle. She says she “met Annabelle” while in captivity, but can’t recall who she was.
We first hear about Annabelle during that ghost story scene where she talks about what happened to her using the name Annabelle.
Was this a character she created to shield herself from the pain?
Was Annabelle an actual person? A doll? I’m intrigued by this development!
In 1995, Kate is also gearing up for her court trial against Jeanette. The fact that she can’t remember details about Jeanette definitely doesn’t bode well for her testimony as the lawyers explain that Jeanette’s team will try to poke holes in her story and her memories.
She explains that she heard someone breaking into the house and saw Jeanette running away as they made eye contact, but is that the truth?
It brings me back to my original question — why would Jeanette lie about something so serious? We know she wanted Kate’s life and friends, but would she be willing to hurt someone else to get it?
The girl we met in 1993 doesn’t seem like a liar, but as we all know, looks can be deceiving.
Still, the lapses in memory definitely put Kate’s story into question.
There’s also the fact that Kate is now best friends with Mallory… and Mallory seems to be pretty obsessed with Kate as she claims that she’s her “favorite person ever.”
This friendship may be authentic, but it strikes me as odd considering Mallory’s deep hatred for Jeanette, her former best friend.
What role does Mallory play in all of this? Or is their friendship purely innocent and coincidental?
After all, Mallory could’ve told Kate that they used to break into Harris’ house, which could’ve been why claimed to hear someone break-in.
I don’t have anything against Mallory — I actually admire how she talked back to Mrs. Wallis (“you’re not a very nice old lady” will forever go down as one of the best lines on television — but I remain skeptical about her newfound friendship with Kate.
As the court trial shapes up, Mrs. Wallis is also counting on her friends to vouch for her daughter, but we know Bab Stevenson caught Kate in a lie back in 1993. Will she tell the truth under oath? Or will her guilt consume her and she’ll lie to protect her friendship with the family?
I don’t actually trust Mrs. Wallis either. Kate’s mother has plenty of flaws — she’s manipulative, a liar, and a cheater — so part of me wonders if she orchestrated this whole thing because Kate found out about her affair with Scott and she wanted to protect the family name?
She also never liked the Turner family. It’s evident with how she treated Derek Turner, so I wonder if that has something to do with it?
TV shows centered around a mystery tend to have plenty of unexpected twists, so I’m just thinking outside of the box here.
The episode also introduced another player in the game, Kate’s step-sister, Ash.
Back in 1993, Kate tried to have a relationship with Ash, who was still sour about the fact that her father married a “golddigger.”
It’s clear no one likes Mrs. Wallis.
However, by 1995, Ash wants to connect and form a sisterly bond with Kate though she’s no longer interested.
Kate resents Ash because it seems she was supposed to meet up with her the night that she spent stargazing with Martin, while Ash is consumed with guilt over it.
Ash is also a bit controversial. Not only is she still smitten with Derek Turner (and it’s not a good time for a Wallis to be seen with a Turner), she’s also trying to bond with her sister using the abuse victim’s survivor chat.
It’s likely that she means well and simply wants to connect with her step sis, but it likely wouldn’t go over well with Kate if she were to find out that she’s been abusing her trust.
There’s also the “liar” sign that was hung up on Kate’s door, which has her mother concerned that the tides are turning and people are starting to doubt Kate’s story.
Who is responsible for writing it?
Was it Jeanette?
We know Kate told someone she wasn’t “completely honest” in the chat forums, so maybe someone knows something? The series made it seem like Ash was responsible, but it could be anyone!
What did you think of the episode? Are you Team Kate or Team Jeanette?
Let us know in the comments!
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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