“Cruel Summer” Season 1 Finale: Who Is Telling the Truth?

Well, we finally know who was telling the truth in Freeform's breakout hit Cruel Summer, which aired its season 1 finale on June 15.

Now the most-watched show in Freeform history, Cruel Summer has captivated viewers with the story of Kate Wallis, Jeanette Turner, and the Texas town of Skylin. Told across 1993, 1994, and 1995, the teen thriller focuses on two girls from opposite social circles, each finding things to envy in the other's life. But then the beautiful, popular Kate (Olivia Holt) is kidnapped by her school's assistant principal Martin Harris (Blake Lee). Meanwhile, awkward, brace-faced Jeanette (Chiara Aurelia) blossoms into queen bee in her absence, even dating Kate's boyfriend. When Kate is rescued, she immediately has a loaded accusation: Jeanette had seen Kate in Martin's house and refused to help her.

After she calls out Jeanette on national television, Jeanette sues Kate for defamation in a case that divides the town, leaving both teens — and their friends and family — to navigate truth and trauma. The show asks fundamental questions about relationships, abuse, and media perception. Is there a straightforward truth when memory is so easily manipulated? What are the lies we tell ourselves about the worst things we've ever done?

The Cruel Summer cast unpacked the final episode of season 1 with Teen Vogue, analyzing their characters in relationship to the show's big last-minute twists and revealing their thoughts on fans' many, many theories. As Chiara tells Teen Vogue, “Screaming is sometimes very necessary while watching Cruel Summer.”

Content warning for discussions of grooming and abuse. Major spoilers for Cruel Summer are ahead.

Yes, They've Been Reading Your Fan Theories

Olivia Holt (Kate Wallis): They’ve been so invested and so observant, which makes me happy because with a show like this you need to be watching, you need to be invested in what’s happening in each scene and our audience has done that. Based on what I’ve been seeing, they’re right on track.

Froy Gutierrez (Jamie Henson): People will get it half right, and then go on this whole other bit of theory. We have a group chat and people send certain theories that pop up, and it’s really funny. I wasn’t theorizing really, I was just desperate to know what happens so I could play the character correctly. (Laughs)

Harley Quinn Smith (Mallory Higgins): Seeing people be totally wrong about the end of the show but in that, make their own amazing show… so many people who put their theories online should be writers, because the things they’re coming up with are good.

And They Had Their Own Theories, Too

Allius Barnes (Vince Fuller): I knew Jeanette had something she was hiding. I knew Mallory tied into the events somehow, specifically Kate saying she saw Jeanette. There’s so many things that point to her, from her attitude to the direction her character goes. Trying to put myself in her shoes, I was like yeah, she feels bad about something.

Chiara Aurelia (Jeanette): I did actually guess the Mallory part of it in episode two, because our director slipped while talking to me and I freaked out. A little connector for those who are going to watch this season back and figure out what they missed — in episode two, me and Mallory switch bikes, and if you listen carefully you hear me say, “That’s my bike, you’re on my bike.” And you watch Kate look directly at me on Mallory’s bike. At the time, I was confused because the director was so adamant that we had to switch bikes. I was like, "Why are we switching bikes, this doesn’t make any sense, why wouldn’t I just take my own bike, it’s like three feet away.” And he was like “No no, you’re gonna switch bikes. It connects later.” And I gasped, “Oh my god! I figured it out, I figured it out!” I definitely didn’t figure the whole thing out, but I was like no, she must have seen Mallory. When I read episode 10, I called everybody just screaming, “I was right! I was right!”

Olivia: I had made up a whole backstory of where Kate was going to go and what she’s going to do, and I was wrong about pretty much all of it.

But Some Knew More Than Others

Harley: Because I had to bring the components of episode 10 into my performance for the season, I got to know about how it ended after the first episode [with Mallory being the one to see Kate in Martin's house]. I think a lot of viewers took that as Mallory being extremely suspicious; I know the whole internet thinks Mallory is evil. But really everything they saw was guilt… Mallory is not a monster. She’s been trying to protect her friend and not share secrets that aren’t hers. She’s coming from a place of guilt every single day of her life that she didn’t know it was Kate in the window, because if she knew, then of course she would have saved her.

Each Character Has Changed Pretty Drastically Over the Season

Froy: Jamie is a very simple boy at the beginning of everything. He’s living for himself. I think ‘95 is him acknowledging his past and dealing with it in a way that isn’t about him, but rather about the people that he’s hurt. What we really wanted to explore throughout the season is what toxic masculinity might have looked like in the ‘90s. Unfortunately, we had a few bits that were cut storyline-wise. There was a story thread we were going to have about the gun in the glove compartment in the first episode that was cut for time. There was going to be a bit about how it’s set in Texas, and it was so simple for him to get this gun, and use it as this tool to try to defend the people around him. Greg Turner [was going to] teach him like, you don’t have to do this to protect the people you love. We explored that through other facets, like with Ben. He doesn’t go to Ben expecting forgiveness or anything, but he goes to him like, hey I know something that can make your life a little better and I hope I can contribute in some way to your happiness … I don’t know if the people he’s hurt are in a position [to forgive him] just yet.

Allius: It almost feels as if Vince's transition doesn’t really start until near the end. Just like in life, everyone’s journeys are different and people change at different points in life and go through certain experiences. For Vince, [Ben] being his first real relationship of any kind, it definitely took him some time to understand what was going on. From the time you last see Ben and Vince together at the ambulance to the finale, Vince is more aware and starts asking questions about himself and his worth, and how he wants to be valued.

Harley: In ‘93 I like to describe Mallory as the friend your parents are not stoked that you have. She’s angsty and she’s tough, and she is a little bit of a bully towards Jeanette. It’s not okay, but she made mistakes as a teenager, everybody does. You don’t see it too much in the season, but Mallory’s home life is not good at all. Her friends are her whole world. In ‘94, Mallory is an absolute mess internally. In’ 95, though she still feels guilty, she’s able to more enjoy her friendship with Kate. Because at the end of the day Kate and Mallory are definitely soulmates, whether that’s as soulmate friends or as romantic soulmates, they’re meant to be together. I love the end of the show because when you see Mallory dancing, which was very scary for me to do, that’s her just feeling absolutely free, and happy that she’s able to be with this person she loves so much and also be truthful.

Mallory & Kate: An Interlude

Harley: Olivia and I begged our showrunner Tia Napolitano, who is incredible, for Mallory and Kate to kiss in the episode. Once we filmed episode seven, I think it was very apparent that Mallory and Kate had more than a friendship going on. I remember calling Tia and being like, I don’t know what happens, maybe I’m just falling in love with Olivia, but I think that Mallory and Kate have more than a friendship going on here.

Olivia: Yes, there were secrets in the beginning, but for good reason. Ultimately there comes a moment where you have to gain perspective and hear the other person. They have a genuine trust in each other. Nothing is forced. Their relationship is so effortless, and they’re there for each other for every moment. That’s true friendship, that’s a soulmate. Whether it’s romantic or platonic or however anyone interprets this relationship, what the takeaway is here is the camaraderie and the loyalty between two people, and especially two females.

Harley: My hope is that they end up dating. Kate has been through some pretty traumatic stuff romantically, and she deserves to be with somebody who genuinely cares for her and wants to protect her and help her heal from her trauma. And on the other side, Mallory has never experienced something like this. Mallory is queer and has known it, but she’s never been romantically involved with somebody. So this is also a huge moment for Mallory, Kate might be the first girl Mallory has ever kissed.

Olivia: I hope they run away together, and I don’t know, conquer something.

Episode 9 Was as Compelling and Difficult for Them to Watch as It Was for Viewers

Chiara: Episode nine is the first episode that uses days to tell the story. Getting to find out the truth of what happened between Kate and Martin, it’s horrific. It plays on a very interesting concept, which is that there’s more to the story, and it doesn’t have to be that you’re kidnapped immediately and locked in a basement to be facing severe abuse and grooming and trauma. Kate may have been lying about it all season, which isn’t okay, but that doesn’t make what happened between her and Martin acceptable.

Froy: Episode nine was very difficult for me to watch. There are elements to what grooming is that are very unexplored in media, and I think it’s important to have that overlay of the therapist speaking and saying, “Hey, this wasn’t your fault. This was a targeting thing. Someone saw your vulnerability and took advantage of that.” Just the small lines [Martin would say] like, “You’re an old soul.” Where it’s skin-crawlingly real and it shows you how he’s lining it up to be this way. It was a lot.

Allius: I think you just hope that projects that choose to touch on those topics don’t glamorize those situations. As a viewer, that’s one thing I paid attention to. Just like a lot of the touchy subjects on this show, they do a great job of not glamorizing those things in a way we’re familiar with in Hollywood. That stood out to me, how it just felt really authentic and honest.

Harley: I think what everybody in the show wants you to know is that even though Kate was happy at times and Kate was the one who went to Martin’s house first, it is not her fault and it’s not okay what happened to her. Just because they had what looked like a happy relationship for a few months does not mean that it was healthy in any possible way. What you’re seeing is not normal, and it’s unhealthy, even though Kate was happy for a minute. That’s the most important part of the show.

And It Was Difficult to Film for Olivia

Olivia: I find myself having a really hard time exiting that headspace because it takes a lot of out of me, emotionally, mentally, physically. I sort of have to find time to decompress and come back to reality, because I feel very strongly about this subject matter in particular. But just to be able to bring something to life in a real and honest way and not sugarcoat it or glamorize it. I really had to go there, to that heavy dark place. Coming out of it was definitely a struggle, but I was lucky enough to have great creatives and scene partners to work through that with me. That was the saving grace of all of it, because I could not have done that alone.

Olivia: The twists and the turns of this show are so thrilling and exciting, but there are also things to take away — like the Martin and Kate story, how that escalated so quickly, what grooming did to her, what gaslighting did to her. I think that’s why the therapy scenes exist, because it’s important to walk through all of those steps and the process of it. Sometimes you don’t get the detailed version, and in this show you get every detail.

That Big Finale Twist: Jeanette Heard Kate in the Basement After All

Chiara: It’s really interesting how at such a young age you can trick your mind into doing crazy things, and you can almost make yourself believe anything. Especially when you’re going from 15 to 16 to 17 years old in a town like this. We have not yet filled in the part of the story that happens after she does hear Kate, we don’t know what happened after that moment. Maybe she got rescued the next day, maybe she sat on that for months. I don’t think Jeanette quite understands the magnitude of the choices she made and their effects on other people. All of these decisions are going to affect her forever. The world may not know, but she’ll always know what she’s done. And that’s the hardest, toughest pill to swallow.

Allius: What I’m most curious about is the fan reaction, because my character Vince, he kind of rides for her the whole way through. To find out that she’s been holding such a huge thing back, it’s really disappointing. But at the same time, you couldn’t ask for a better twist at the end. It shook me up. It’s her secret, and you don’t know if that secret will surface or if she’s going to carry that to the grave.

Olivia: One of our producers had told me the ending as we were shooting episode nine, and I needed a whole evening and morning after to process all of it. I had no idea that was going to be the twist. It’s pretty legendary. We’re all very satisfied with it, because there is a little bit of truth to it, and a lie to it. She technically did not see Kate, but she did hear her, and no one asked her that.

Froy: I was very much shocked. I knew something was going to happen, I didn’t know it was going to be that. There’s so many directions they could take it [now that we know this about Jeanette]. I’ve been rewatching the season with that in mind, trying to see where that could come in.

Harley: It’s quite chilling, and the way Chiara plays it is stunningly perfect and beautiful. Chiara is one of my best friends, she’s like a little sister to me. Watching her act literally every episode, I cry once because I’m so in awe of her talents. You just want to scream about how that’s how it ends. You question everything — right when things seem to be wrapped up with a nice bow, suddenly that bow is torn up and thrown away. Chiara absolutely killed it.

Chiara: You’re so shocked because all season long she’s been like, “I didn’t see you, I didn’t see you.” And that thing Kate said happened didn’t happen, although technically speaking she did the same thing or worse, Kate didn’t know that. She was spreading these stories and these lies with no evidence or proof, and it just so happens Jeanette was involved, but she truly would have had no idea if that part wasn’t revealed to the audience … If she never had anything to hide all along, maybe she and Kate would have faced the truth sooner. She was definitely hiding something, she knew she did something wrong. It just happened it wasn’t the thing everyone thought she did.

The Cast Have Burning Questions for Season 2

Harley: I want to see Ben and Vince’s relationship, what happens after that phone call at the end? That scene is so beautiful and both Allius and Nathaniel [Ashton] are such talented actors, and I want to see that relationship continue on. I root for Vince and Ben. I gotta know what the f*ck happens with Jeanette, obviously that’s the most burning of all the questions.

Allius: It’s very difficult with glamorizing certain situations, but I would like to see if Jamie’s character ever gets a redemption story. If he’s able to get back to being a human being again, because he did something that definitely traumatized him for a long time and sent him down a certain path. I’m just curious if they’ll explore Jamie sort of finding himself again and being able to live a normal life having done what he did. I think about it all the time, where does his storyline go?

Froy: Ben and Vince love story… more of that. I’m curious to know about Jeanette and what is the level of her hearing Kate in the basement. Was it an instance of, like, sociopathy? Or is it a different thing entirely? Is it more nuanced than that?

Olivia: I’d really like to see where the Vince and Ben story goes. I really liked watching that progress throughout the season — Nathaniel and Allius are brilliant. A part of me is really interested to see where the Kate and Jeanette story goes, will Kate ever find out that Jeanette did hear her? … Kate is in this state of mind where she just wants freedom, she doesn’t want to be locked down to any lie, any person. She found a trust in Mallory and she’s going to roll with that and see where it takes her. She’s finally free, and that’s where we leave her off at the end of the season.

Chiara: There’s so many questions we want answered … I’m super excited to go back. Although this is a mystery and a fiction, there’s an element of it that I think any young teenager can relate to. Feeling like you don’t fit in, like you’ll stop at nothing to be popular, to be loved, to be cared for. It’s overwhelming. That’s why there is sympathy for both characters, while at the same time, there isn’t. They’re not a villain or a victim, they’re just human.

All 10 episodes of Cruel Summer are now available to stream on Freeform and Hulu.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can seek help by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673). For more resources on sexual assault, visit RAINN, End Rape on Campus, Know Your IX, and the National Sexual Violence Resource Center.

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Want more from Teen Vogue? Check this out: "Cruel Summer" Season 2 Confirmed at Freeform

Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue