Cruel Summer
Jun. 16th, 2021 11:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
impyHmmmph. As per my Wednesday tradition, I watched Loki with Mums and then watched Cruel Summer with the cat. Cruel Summer had its finale and um...
If you're somehow interested in said thoughts but did not watch the show, here's the basic premise:
The story unfolds over 1993/1994/1995 and the years are mostly easy to tell apart because the lighting is different and there are some pretty godawful wigs employed. :P
We meet Jeanette Turner, a geeky but sweet teenager who is excited about the summer ahead of her. She's got two best friends, Vincent and Mallory, and that first summer they are definitely dorks. They decide to make a list of things they have to do that summer and for whatever reason all of Mallory's contributions are illegal. No, seriously, every single one we're told about is illegal.
On the flipside, you've got popular Kate Wallis who is not only beautiful, but she seems to genuinely be nice, too. She's got her bitchy best friends and her boyfriend, Jamie, and it turns out she's the (step)daughter of a famous football player, so she's also loaded. Woo.
Sometime in 93, Kate Wallis goes missing. In 94 she's rescued from the basement of the new assistant principal's house and before you even have time to process that, she claims that Jeanette saw her while she was in captivity and then didn't say a goddamn thing about it, leaving her to rot.
Annnnnnnnnd the rest of the series basically has everyone in the show and out here in reality taking sides.
94 and 95 are nightmare years for Jeanette and not much better for Kate. You find out that Jeanette and Mallory have a falling out at some point between 93/94 and by 95 Mal haaaaaaaaaaaaaates Jeanette. Vince has also been shutout by Jeanette but is still kind enough to warn her when he sees her psycho ex hanging around outside. Vince, my children, is good people.
If any of this sounds interesting to you, I do suggest checking it out and maybe coming back after you've watched it. I enjoyed the ride and wouldn't want to deprive someone else of the same twists and turns. If, like Cass, you want to give it a shot but need a cheat sheet for the years as they don't always label them:
93: Jeanette has curly hair, glasses and braces for a good chunk of our time with her that year. It's lit the brightest.
94: Jeanette's hair is usually straightened and she looks like the popular girl she is. Colorwise this is in the middle.
95: De-saturated to the point of damn near being gray toned. Kate's got short, choppy hair, Jeanette's got a terrible short haircut, and everyone looks miserable.
So...
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Have I ever mentioned that I truly miss message boards being massively popular? I really, really do. This is a show just calling out for a centralized location of fans going over theories and then losing their damn minds each week as bits and pieces are doled out. Maybe they had one and I just never found it. In any case, I did pick up a few fan theories because if nothing else, there's the comment section on youtube.
The show spends a good chunk of time showing the mirrors in the basement and the promo pictures for the show utilize mirrors, so the general assumption was that while Kate thought Jeanette saw her, it was a two-way mirror thing. Nope. I was on the fence about it, but liked this theory as I like it when marketing shots make use of a twist in the actual show/movie.
At some point Kate mentions Anabelle and then can't remember who that is. Nearly every theory I saw on this was either "hey, she was that other girl Martin Harris (the kidnapper) said was lying" OR she's the gun ultimately used to kill Harris. I wanted it to be something else, but I will say the scene where Martin brings out Anabelle is really, really well done. So while I filed this under "called it!", it was still worth the watch.
Mallory. I gather fandom haaaaaaaaaaaaates Mallory. I don't know whether I have a soft spot for the name or if the fact that I will never tire of the fact that Kevin Smith's daughter is not only named Harley Quinn Smith but uses the full name to act, or if I just don't judge quite as harshly as some, but I've never been on the hate Mal train. I get why people don't like her. She's a horrible friend to Jeanette and to a lesser extent Vince. She gets them in trouble and runs away, she bulldozes over their objections to her list additions, and doesn't seem to be able to get out of her own way when Jeanette tells her where to shove it. Also, if not for Mallory, the whole "Jeanette is the most hated person in America" thing would never have happened because they never would've broken into Martin's house and thus Jeanette wouldn't keep going back for more for... whatever reason.
So for as shitty a friend as she was to Jeanette for most of the time we see their friendship, she really did seem to be trying to be better when she and Kate become friends. I'm not going to say she learned her lesson, but maybe therapy and just growing up a little helped. When it's revealed that Mal was the person who saw Kate (sorta) at Martin's house, I can't say I was surprised as they were leaning pretty heavily on that being the twist in that particular storyline. I loved that her reasoning was that she didn't know, and couldn't have known since she never actually did see Kate's face, that Kate was there until after Kate's rescue.
Oh. I glossed over the fact that we find out more than halfway through the season that Kate went to Martin's house willingly and um was basically his live-in girlfriend for three months or so before he capped off Christmas by locking her in the basement for the rest of her stay. The show NEVER presents this as a good love story. It's clearly fucked up and shown to be and if one takes a shot for each time the word "grooming" is used, one will be more fucked up than Mal and Kate are in a good chunk of their 95 scenes. :P I cackle each time the show ends as the show Hulu keeps pushing is the PLL spinoff and um, PLL's big, epic romance from pretty much day 1 is a teacher and a student sooooooooo that's something.
Anyway, Mal doesn't realize it was Kate until she's rescued and then she keeps the secret because it means keeping Kate's secret, too. Traumatizing Kate all over again is not her thing and we are never given one moment while Kate and Mal are friends to doubt that Mal is on Kate's side.
So I think the showrunner thinking Mal is all good is delusional at best (seriously, rewatch the scenes from 93, lady), I do think she's made an effort to be better even as she's clearly battling her own demons.
We find out that Kate rescues herself by shooting Martin and this is played like it's a big reveal but I've literally thought that was how it was going to go since we heard the gunshot. ESPECIALLY when Martin mentions he doesn't like guns and we find out that Kate's a crack shot.
Kate admits that Jeanette didn't see her and didn't deserve the year + of hell she went through and then gets a piece of that hell when the reporters immediately turn on her. Jeanette goes on national TV to forgive Kate and creeps Mal and Kate out and for once I must fully agree that it's just... weird.
Which naturally leads to two things:
1) Kate kisses Mal and seems happy for possibly the first time in the entire series.
2) we flashback to 94 and find out that Jeanette broke into Martin's house yet again (I've lost count how many times she has) and during that visit, she heard Kate calling for help from the basement. Kate even identifies herself so there's no confusion about it. Jeanette goes to open the door, stops herself, and then smiles ever so creepily.
I'd really been rooting for Jeanette to just be... odd. The continued breaking into Martin's house? Odd. Weird. Wrong. But clearly she got a rush out of it and whatever. But stumbling across Kate in the basement, without knowing that for at least part of her MIA status Kate was there by choice? Yeah. That's fucked up. And the showrunner trying to play it off like, "she's just a poor kid who made a mistake." Oof. No. It is so weird to see how sweet Jeanette starts off and then find out how twisted she's able to be and I'd like to pretend that 95 Jeanette wouldn't make the same choice but I absolutely think she would once she's given the chance to go on national TV and play saint and forgive Kate.
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!
Oh, and apparently we're getting a second season next year but no word whether we'll revisit this story or do something else entirely.
It was a weird, wild ride and I'm not super sure it stuck the landing, but I'm satisfied with 90% of it, which is more than I thought I would be.
If you're somehow interested in said thoughts but did not watch the show, here's the basic premise:
The story unfolds over 1993/1994/1995 and the years are mostly easy to tell apart because the lighting is different and there are some pretty godawful wigs employed. :P
We meet Jeanette Turner, a geeky but sweet teenager who is excited about the summer ahead of her. She's got two best friends, Vincent and Mallory, and that first summer they are definitely dorks. They decide to make a list of things they have to do that summer and for whatever reason all of Mallory's contributions are illegal. No, seriously, every single one we're told about is illegal.
On the flipside, you've got popular Kate Wallis who is not only beautiful, but she seems to genuinely be nice, too. She's got her bitchy best friends and her boyfriend, Jamie, and it turns out she's the (step)daughter of a famous football player, so she's also loaded. Woo.
Sometime in 93, Kate Wallis goes missing. In 94 she's rescued from the basement of the new assistant principal's house and before you even have time to process that, she claims that Jeanette saw her while she was in captivity and then didn't say a goddamn thing about it, leaving her to rot.
Annnnnnnnnd the rest of the series basically has everyone in the show and out here in reality taking sides.
94 and 95 are nightmare years for Jeanette and not much better for Kate. You find out that Jeanette and Mallory have a falling out at some point between 93/94 and by 95 Mal haaaaaaaaaaaaaates Jeanette. Vince has also been shutout by Jeanette but is still kind enough to warn her when he sees her psycho ex hanging around outside. Vince, my children, is good people.
If any of this sounds interesting to you, I do suggest checking it out and maybe coming back after you've watched it. I enjoyed the ride and wouldn't want to deprive someone else of the same twists and turns. If, like Cass, you want to give it a shot but need a cheat sheet for the years as they don't always label them:
93: Jeanette has curly hair, glasses and braces for a good chunk of our time with her that year. It's lit the brightest.
94: Jeanette's hair is usually straightened and she looks like the popular girl she is. Colorwise this is in the middle.
95: De-saturated to the point of damn near being gray toned. Kate's got short, choppy hair, Jeanette's got a terrible short haircut, and everyone looks miserable.
So...
S
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
A
h
o
y
!
Have I ever mentioned that I truly miss message boards being massively popular? I really, really do. This is a show just calling out for a centralized location of fans going over theories and then losing their damn minds each week as bits and pieces are doled out. Maybe they had one and I just never found it. In any case, I did pick up a few fan theories because if nothing else, there's the comment section on youtube.
The show spends a good chunk of time showing the mirrors in the basement and the promo pictures for the show utilize mirrors, so the general assumption was that while Kate thought Jeanette saw her, it was a two-way mirror thing. Nope. I was on the fence about it, but liked this theory as I like it when marketing shots make use of a twist in the actual show/movie.
At some point Kate mentions Anabelle and then can't remember who that is. Nearly every theory I saw on this was either "hey, she was that other girl Martin Harris (the kidnapper) said was lying" OR she's the gun ultimately used to kill Harris. I wanted it to be something else, but I will say the scene where Martin brings out Anabelle is really, really well done. So while I filed this under "called it!", it was still worth the watch.
Mallory. I gather fandom haaaaaaaaaaaaates Mallory. I don't know whether I have a soft spot for the name or if the fact that I will never tire of the fact that Kevin Smith's daughter is not only named Harley Quinn Smith but uses the full name to act, or if I just don't judge quite as harshly as some, but I've never been on the hate Mal train. I get why people don't like her. She's a horrible friend to Jeanette and to a lesser extent Vince. She gets them in trouble and runs away, she bulldozes over their objections to her list additions, and doesn't seem to be able to get out of her own way when Jeanette tells her where to shove it. Also, if not for Mallory, the whole "Jeanette is the most hated person in America" thing would never have happened because they never would've broken into Martin's house and thus Jeanette wouldn't keep going back for more for... whatever reason.
So for as shitty a friend as she was to Jeanette for most of the time we see their friendship, she really did seem to be trying to be better when she and Kate become friends. I'm not going to say she learned her lesson, but maybe therapy and just growing up a little helped. When it's revealed that Mal was the person who saw Kate (sorta) at Martin's house, I can't say I was surprised as they were leaning pretty heavily on that being the twist in that particular storyline. I loved that her reasoning was that she didn't know, and couldn't have known since she never actually did see Kate's face, that Kate was there until after Kate's rescue.
Oh. I glossed over the fact that we find out more than halfway through the season that Kate went to Martin's house willingly and um was basically his live-in girlfriend for three months or so before he capped off Christmas by locking her in the basement for the rest of her stay. The show NEVER presents this as a good love story. It's clearly fucked up and shown to be and if one takes a shot for each time the word "grooming" is used, one will be more fucked up than Mal and Kate are in a good chunk of their 95 scenes. :P I cackle each time the show ends as the show Hulu keeps pushing is the PLL spinoff and um, PLL's big, epic romance from pretty much day 1 is a teacher and a student sooooooooo that's something.
Anyway, Mal doesn't realize it was Kate until she's rescued and then she keeps the secret because it means keeping Kate's secret, too. Traumatizing Kate all over again is not her thing and we are never given one moment while Kate and Mal are friends to doubt that Mal is on Kate's side.
So I think the showrunner thinking Mal is all good is delusional at best (seriously, rewatch the scenes from 93, lady), I do think she's made an effort to be better even as she's clearly battling her own demons.
We find out that Kate rescues herself by shooting Martin and this is played like it's a big reveal but I've literally thought that was how it was going to go since we heard the gunshot. ESPECIALLY when Martin mentions he doesn't like guns and we find out that Kate's a crack shot.
Kate admits that Jeanette didn't see her and didn't deserve the year + of hell she went through and then gets a piece of that hell when the reporters immediately turn on her. Jeanette goes on national TV to forgive Kate and creeps Mal and Kate out and for once I must fully agree that it's just... weird.
Which naturally leads to two things:
1) Kate kisses Mal and seems happy for possibly the first time in the entire series.
2) we flashback to 94 and find out that Jeanette broke into Martin's house yet again (I've lost count how many times she has) and during that visit, she heard Kate calling for help from the basement. Kate even identifies herself so there's no confusion about it. Jeanette goes to open the door, stops herself, and then smiles ever so creepily.
I'd really been rooting for Jeanette to just be... odd. The continued breaking into Martin's house? Odd. Weird. Wrong. But clearly she got a rush out of it and whatever. But stumbling across Kate in the basement, without knowing that for at least part of her MIA status Kate was there by choice? Yeah. That's fucked up. And the showrunner trying to play it off like, "she's just a poor kid who made a mistake." Oof. No. It is so weird to see how sweet Jeanette starts off and then find out how twisted she's able to be and I'd like to pretend that 95 Jeanette wouldn't make the same choice but I absolutely think she would once she's given the chance to go on national TV and play saint and forgive Kate.
T
h
o
s
e
w
e
r
e
s
p
o
i
l
e
r
s
m
a
t
e
y
!
Oh, and apparently we're getting a second season next year but no word whether we'll revisit this story or do something else entirely.
It was a weird, wild ride and I'm not super sure it stuck the landing, but I'm satisfied with 90% of it, which is more than I thought I would be.