You Have to Check Out These Six Theories About the Identity of Annabelle on "Cruel Summer"
Warning: Spoilers for Cruel Summer episodes 1-5 ahead.
Cruel Summer's first five episodes have left us with quite a lot of questions. Did Jeanette really see Kate? What happened between Ben and Vince? But, of course, the major question remains: Who is Annabelle??
Kate first brings up Annabelle during the Wallis' annual hunting trip in 1995 when she uses the name in a scary fireside story that much resembles her own kidnapping tale. At first, it seems like a random choice, simply a placeholder name for Kate, but then, Annabelle comes up again.
While listening back to her therapy tapes in order to prepare for the deposition, we hear Kate talking about the day she was rescued, when she "met" Annabelle, though she tells her therapist that, despite meeting her, she doesn't remember who she is. Finally, in episode five, we see that Kate is still thinking about Annabelle, doodling her name while listening to more of her therapy tapes.
But again who (or what) is Annabelle? Of course, her identity has sparked many theories across the Internet. So, as we anxiously await for episode six to provide us with more answers, let's see what others think about who this mysterious lady could be.
1. She was another one of Martin Harris' victims.
Reddit user Far_Effect_2970 believes Annabelle might be a high school girl from Widow Falls, the town Martin worked in before moving to Skylin. Martin may have been grooming Annabelle much like he's grooming Kate. "My theory is that Annabelle saw that Kate was missing and put two and two together that Martin was the new assistant principal at Skylin," Far_Effect_2970 wrote. It's possible Annabelle went to Martin's house to confront him about Kate. "I think Kate has trouble remembering who Annabelle is because she didn't see her," the user guessed. "Maybe she just heard conversations upstairs with them and heard the struggle and maybe she just saw her quickly and [Annabelle told Kate] it's gonna be okay. But maybe.... Annabelle resembles Kate a little so if Kate was drugged out she could've been confused?"
Another user, RunTutleRun115 added that it's also possible that Kate never physically saw Annabelle, but instead saw newspaper clippings referencing her disappearance. "It’s not unusual for criminals such as Martin to keep mementos and news articles, or to involve themselves in the investigations." We know Martin likes momentos, as he tried to take Kate's scrunchie home with him in episode four, so this is definitely a possibility.
2. Kate has dissociative identity disorder.
Many people on Reddit believe Kate may have dissociative identity disorder or DID. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, dissociative disorders "are characterized by an involuntary escape from reality characterized by a disconnection between thoughts, identity, consciousness and memory." The symptoms of these disorders "usually first develop as a response to a traumatic event."
Some believe Kate used Annabelle as a coping strategy to get through her captivity and she is simply another facet of her personality. "The Annabelle personality would've 'met' Kate briefly and then took over," Kareberr86 theorized on Reddit. "So after that Kate could slip in between Kate and Annabelle and she won't be aware of it." A common symptom of DID is gaps in memory, so it's possible that Kate wouldn't even really know who Annabelle is, though she may be peripherally aware of her.
3. Or, Martin has DID.
Another thought is that Martin is the one with DID. Weekly-Bathroom-600 referenced the flashback where Martin brings Katie a sandwich while she is in captivity. "I think he was a different personality then because he act like he didn’t want to keep her down there or like someone was forcing his hand but during the time he was grooming her he gave a confident persona," they said. It's possible that while Martin is the criminal, his other personality, Annabelle, tries to take care of Kate at times.
The_3_Eyed_Yezen added to this theory, saying that while Martin says his father killed himself, it's possible that Martin actually killed his father, maybe to protect himself from abuse. "Martin created the split personality of Annabelle to cope with having to kill, and his family swept the abuse and the incident under the rug and publicly claimed it as a suicide," the user said. Kate has said that Martin was acting weird the day of her rescue, so The_3_Eyed_Yezen believes that "Kate only meets Annabelle on the last day of her captivity because Martin only brings out Annabelle when he has to kill, a decision he likely came to because he realized the captivity had no end in sight."
4. Annabelle is something paranormal.
It's possible that Cruel Summer could pull a fast one on its audience and reveal that there is a paranormal aspect to the story. UrbanGhilieSuit on Reddit brought up that in episode three, Jeanette confides in Vince that she thinks she "unleashed something bad" in Martin Harris' basement the first time she went down there in 1993. Could it be a ghost or something of the sort?
5. Annabelle is a gun.
"My first thought was that Annabelle isn’t a who, but a what," Reddit user Amaee wrote in a post. They continued, saying it's possibly the name of the gun that Martin's dad killed himself with and also the gun that set off the gunshot heard by Jeanette, Jamie, and Vince in episode one.
6. She is an accomplice.
Possibly the most sinister theory is that Annabelle was Martin's accomplice. Another person who was there, throughout Kate's captivity, helping him out. If that's the case, that means she's most likely still out there.
If you or someone you know is experiencing any form of sexual violence, call (800)656-4673 or visit rainn.org.
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