Cruel Summer Review

Before I discuss this show, I want to put a trigger warning. This show deals with kidnapping, domestic abuse, and grooming.

Jeanette Turner is living the life she always wanted. She’s popular, she has the hot boyfriend, she’s everything she wished she could be. Her life is perfect until Kate Wallis returns after being kidnapped and held hostage in a basement and accuses Jeanette of seeing her during her captivity. Jeanette is adamant that Kate is lying, but Kate is sure of her memory of that night. One of them is lying, but who?

This was such a surprise from Freeform. It’s definitely not the petty teen drama they’re known for. I remember tuning in every week and watching the latest episodes of shows like The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Pretty Little Liars, Make It or Break It, Switched at Birth, etc. Cruel Summer is nothing like these. It’s mature and dark and handles some really difficult topics that the previous shows tried to tackle but ended up being so cheesy and ridiculous, it was hard to really appreciate what they were trying to do.

Secret Life handles teen pregnancy, Pretty Little Liars handles the death of a friend and harassment and stalking, Make It or Break It follows young gymnasts with Olympic hopes, and Switched at Birth handles a lot of different family dynamics and introduces ASL to audiences. Every one of these incredibly popular and highly successful shows had something important to say but handled them poorly so their message was lost to the antics and horrid writing.

Cruel Summer is a refreshing change to the petty drama and lazily written plot points and dialogue. It felt like a lot of care went into telling this story and I was able to immerse completely in these characters’ lives. It was nice to finally have a show where the characters looked more like teenagers instead of the heavily stylized girls of Pretty Little Liars. Though, the actors are much older than their characters, with Chiara being the youngest at 19, but they were at least believable at playing teenagers.

We got to see more unconventional actors on the screen which I really appreciate. Harley Quinn Smith was so good as the aggravating Mallory and Chiara Aurelia was great at being unsettling so you had to question if Jeanette was the one lying. Olivia Holt is the biggest name on the series and her portrayal of Kate Wallis was so well done. In all, the show featured a strong cast that drove the story and kept me invested from the first episode to the very end. I even struggled through the exhaustion from my second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine to keep watching (though in the end, the vaccine won).  

The three years that this story spans are woven together episode by episode, with each one taking place on the same day or series of days of each year. It requires the viewer to pay attention as the year shifts and interchanges within scenes. The show relies on the lighting and the filters to depict a change in year, the past being very bright and natural, reflecting the peace before the horrid events of 1994. 1995 is the darkest of them as Kate and Jeanette deal with the fallout of Kate’s accusation.

I really like this method of storytelling. It lends to the mystery of the events and allows the writers to keep the truth hidden until the very end while still showing the entirety of the timeline. For ten episodes, you’re left wondering who’s lying.

I’m obsessed with the 90s aesthetic of the show. With the resurgence of 90s fashion, it really hits home on the nostalgia that I can’t help but feel as I get older and life gets harder. We always idolize “the good old days” and every generation says that their past time was the best but as someone who has faced two recessions, one before I even left high school, I can’t help but wish for the return of many things from the 90s. Using this time as the setting for the show allows the writers to avoid the use of smartphones and computers which can really change the story. I really enjoyed the 90s setting and hopefully, we’ll see more shows and movies set in this time.

This marks the spoiler section of the review so if you haven’t seen Cruel Summer yet, all ten episodes are available to stream on Hulu.

The show does a really good job with keeping up the suspense over all ten episodes. We learn early on that Martin Harris is Kate’s kidnapper and just before he took her, Kate’s mother said something awful. As we see Kate’s relationship with her mother deteriorate and Kate interacting more and more with Martin, I kept thinking that this was the moment. Then, nothing would happen, and I had to wait one more episode to know how Martin kidnapped Kate, only to be swindled again.

On the other side, we are also left in suspense on when or if Jeanette sees Kate in Martin’s house as we see her being obsessed with Kate from the start. Then, as she continuously breaks into Martin’s house, I wondered if this was the moment. Was Kate telling the truth? But each time, Jeanette left the house without seeing anyone and it seems as if Kate was lying.  Finally, at the revelation that it was in fact that Mallory who saw her, the audience can finally believe both Kate and Jeanette. In the darkness, neither girl saw the other’s face and it was only by the clacking of a card on a bike that the mishap was made.

But then, another twist reveals that while Jeanette never saw Kate, she heard her in the basement of the house and left her there. It’s far worse than what Kate accused her of, as Jeanette actually had the power to open that door and save her, but instead, she leaves her so that she can continue living Kate’s life. It really makes everything about Jeanette so much more unsettling. Her reaction to the gunshot, her immediate thought that Kate’s body was found. Jeanette clearly expected Kate to be killed in that house and did nothing, just so she could keep Kate’s friends and boyfriend.

When I watched the show the first time, I wanted to be on Jeanette’s side. I felt for her as the outcast who just wanted to be popular. But then rewatching, I realized that she had a wonderful friend in Vince, though Mallory was definitely not a great friend as she kept pushing and pushing Jeanette to do things she didn’t want to. She had a loving family, though her mother was just as off as Jeanette. She clearly wanted her daughter to be the popular girl, to be more like Kate. Her envy for another life rubbed off on her daughter and Kate’s mom was strangely right. After that final revelation, I can’t be on Jeanette’s side.

Olivia Holt really did an amazing job as Kate Wallis. Although she’s the biggest name attached to the series, this is the first thing I’ve seen her in. She’s the popular girl who seemingly has it all. One would expect her to be the mean girl but every interaction she has with Jeanette, she’s very kind to her. As far as we know, she never talks about Jeanette or her friends behind her back and she even defends her to her mother. For some reason, Mallory hates Kate but we never learn why. But Mallory is just walking angst so that may explain it.

Kate is nothing but likeable and sweet. Her relationship with her mother shatters over the course of the 1993 flashbacks to the point where it becomes abusive. We see her perfect life falling apart which allows Martin the perfect opportunity to take advantage of her. She’s at her most vulnerable and he presents himself as a friend which develops into an intimate relationship. In Kate’s eyes, this is a loving relationship. She finally has someone to confide in, who’s on her side in all of this. I am so, so glad that Freeform did not allow this to be portrayed that way and showed it for what it really is: inappropriate, dangerous, and absolutely unacceptable. I really hope they continue in this trajectory and quit showing minors dating adults in a good light.

Jaime is terrible. He punches Jeanette, he stalks her house with a gun in his car, and he gaslights Kate. He’s also responsible for Ben losing his football scholarship because of his drinking and driving. To me, his redemption isn’t enough. I appreciate that he supports Ben’s relationship with Vince, but he definitely has a long way to go before he can actually redeem himself.

I appreciate the Ben and Vince storyline. It’s a nice B plot that fleshes out the characters and the overall story. It allows the audience a short break from the heavy topic of grooming and abuse for something sweet and innocent. Their scene when they dance is a lovely little moment and I really liked their scenes together.

This show was a nice change of pace for Freeform which is notorious for depicting inappropriate relationships between adults and minors. It happens way too often in their shows. In Switched at Birth, Daphne has a relationship with her adult boss, and who could forget the absolute trainwreck that was Ezra and Aria in Pretty Little Liars? They’re relationship is grooming 101 and the way that the show pushed them and even gave them the big wedding of the series is incredibly disturbing. The fact that we continue to see such inappropriate relationships shows that we have so much more progress to make to protect minors, but I really appreciate what this show did. Every single episode featured resources for those facing domestic abuse, sexual abuse, or grooming. This series helps minors learn the signs and can protect themselves better, though the responsibility falls on the adults and minors should never be blamed.

Unfortunately, the show did not get to explore that aspect, as we only learned that Kate walked into that house willingly in the last two episodes. Up until then, we assumed Martin kidnapped her. Instead, he gained her trust and he opened up his house for her. He manipulated her into staying in this disturbing relationship, making her feel like she could trust him to do the right thing for her. Victim blaming is unfortunately a huge problem that we face, and I would’ve liked for the show to go more into the fact that Kate walked into that house. She is not to blame for any of the things that happened to her, and I wish we had that message pushed forward.

A season 2 has been confirmed and I don’t know what to expect. Nothing has been confirmed except for a 2022 release date, though the month has not been said. Season one was a concise story with a solid ending, so I don’t know what more needs to be said. I do understand that it’s unsatisfying that we see that Jeanette got away with leaving Kate in the basement, but sometimes, the ending is unsatisfying. I really hope they tread carefully with season two as Freeform is notorious for bad writing and dragging shows out much longer than they need to go on. Many shows that started out strong died a slow and painful death with awful plotlines and dialogue. I can only hope they keep the integrity of the show but only time will tell.