After Kate publicly confessed her mistake in accusing Jeanette of knowing where she was being kept and Jeanette went on her own publicity tour celebrating her innocence , one final flashback revealed that during one of the times Jeanette broke into Martin’s house, she did hear Kate locked in the basement yelling for help.
Below, Cruel Summer showrunner Tia Napolitano breaks down what that final twisty reveal means and so much more.
I also wanted the finale to be an accurate representation of the show as a whole, so we are heavy and can deal with the mystery and the trauma and there’s also elements of joy – Kate gets a happy ending, Jeanette gets what she always wanted, which was the spotlight.
And I don’t know if you can tell, but that is Olivia Holt singing a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” in that final scene, which I thought was just the cherry on top.
I think some people will see Jeanette as a good person who did a bad thing because of societal pressures in part, and sort of compartmentalized this kind of opportunity, and there are other people who will see her as a villain.
And finally having the sun shine on her like Kate Wallis, she had sort of gleaned from society and media and pop culture and her mother that that is the prize at all costs.
I just was banging my head up against the wall about how many more twists can the show have that are good? And then I came up with that and I told no one, and I just put “who is Annabelle?” at the end of the episode and released it into the world.
Blake Lee and I talked through it a lot, and he researched, worked with a therapist about what goes through a suicidal person’s mind, and we tried to bring all that to screen.
But the more you think about it, the worse it gets because he befriended her, and then he made her think that she was in love with him and then he locked her in the basement and betrayed her.
I really like the idea of clearing out everyone else and just getting these two girls in a room together speaking to each other, which rarely happens throughout the season.
But now that Mallory’s secret is finally out and Kate’s received a little bit of healing and is like, let’s move on, that’s the perfect positive warm space for a first kiss, so that’s why we saved it for then.
What happens after you kiss your best friend and you’re not sure if you both have feelings, who’s feelings are stronger? What happens after that is really exciting.
And then as Kate gets into therapy, gets to know Mallory, gets rid of her old friends and sort of grows up, her outlook on punishing someone for something changes.
The way the show handled Kate and Martin’s relationship throughout the season was impressive with how, even in the smallest moments that Kate clearly viewed as romantic, it was always painted in a creepy, problematic light for viewers.
The actors Olivia Holt and Blake Lee just put so much care into it, and we were very clear tonally we are not supposed to feel what Kate feels, which is that this is “romance.” It should make you feel uncomfortable.
Tackling an issue like grooming was very challenging and scary and I feel that we got to take our time and, ultimately, were able to do it right.