\n<\/p>\n
To be continued. After Cruel Summer<\/em> became a fan favorite on Freeform<\/a>, it got a quick renewal \u2014 leaving audiences craving for more.<\/p>\n The series debuted in April 2021 and told a story over three years: 1993, 1994 and 1995. It followed Kate Wallis (Olivia Holt<\/strong><\/a>), who was kidnapped and later rescued, and Jeanette Turner (Chiara Aurelia<\/strong><\/a>), who was accused of knowing the whereabouts of the missing girl.<\/p>\n The timeline went back and forth exploring both perspectives<\/a> without revealing the truth until the explosive season 1 finale. The story wrapped up with Kate admitting that she was wrong about Jeanette seeing her in her kidnapper\u2019s home. However, a shocking twist revealed that Jeanette actually heard Kate asking for help when she was held captive<\/a> in 1994.<\/p>\n Since the show managed to naturally answer many of the questions from season 1, it wasn\u2019t initially clear what the plan was for the future. At the time, Freeform President Tara Duncan<\/strong> applauded Cruel Summer<\/em> for being the network\u2019s most-watched series<\/a>, but even she said she didn\u2019t know where the show would go from there.<\/p>\n Showrunner Tia Napolitano<\/strong> clarified that while the writers haven\u2019t even met to map out their next steps, they did have some aspects in mind already. \u201cI know what we also want to do is tackle something like we did with grooming. We want to talk about something important along with the mystery and the character studies,\u201d Napolitano teased to Buzzfeed<\/em> in June 2021.<\/p>\n