Why Some Fans Think Cruel Summer Shouldn't Have A Season 2
The Freeform series "Cruel Summer" drew a number of passionate fans when it aired last summer. Set across the same months in 1993, 1994, and 1995, the show focuses on the disappearance of a high school student by the name of Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt) and her subsequent return from captivity.
In a TV interview, Kate accuses fellow student Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia) of having seen her while she was in captivity, but not having alerted the authorities. This leads to Jeanette becoming a social pariah until the Season 1 finale, where Kate and Jeanette finally meet once again face-to-face, and Kate discovers that it wasn't Jeannette who had seen her, but Mallory Higgins (Harley Quinn Smith), who subsequently became Kate's only true friend upon her return. Kate forgives both Jeanette and Mallory, and rescinds her statement.
The final scene of the season, however, revealed that, unbeknownst to Kate, Jeanette did learn of her captivity at the hands of Martin Harris (Blake Lee), and didn't disclose that information.
Fans of the series reacted unexpectedly to the news that there would be a Season 2. Here's what they had to say about the development.
Fans think the story wrapped up well enough
Over on the "Cruel Summer" subreddit, user u/AmbassadorNew2605 expressed the opinion that the series should not have a second season because the resolution in Season 1 was good, and any additional attempts to revisit the story put it at risk of being diluted.
"I think season 1 ended fine as it did and doesn't need to be drawn out for another season. Yeah sure there are some questions, but not everything needs to be cleanly wrapped up with a bow.. Last thing anyone needs is another Freeform series where they create half a**ed nonsensical content purely for shock value" the user wrote. They added, "If they do create a 2nd season, I would want it to be like 'American Horror Story' – new plot, new characters, new mystery, etc..." referencing the FX series' anthology format, where every season tells a self-contained story.
User u/lacatro1 agreed to the initial comment, replying "That ruined '13 Reasons Why'," referring to the Netflix series that ran for four seasons.
Other fans of the series, however, were optimistic that the writers knew what they were doing and would opt for the anthology route. User u/Ok-Ad4217 pointed out that executive producer Jessica Biel had already opted for this format with her previous series "The Sinner," while user u/noavocadoshere added "i hope this is the case and the showrunners already had plans to make 'cruel summer' an anthology series in the case of a possible renewal."