We are here one more week to review Cruel Summer! After last week’s intense episode, Cruel Summer 1×08 “Proof” presents us a somewhat calmer episode that begins to place the pieces of the board right where they should be and also reveals some more secrets.
Here we go!
We reveal the mystery! Cruel Summer 1×08 “Proof” finally reveals how Mallory and Jeanette stopped being friends. Jeanette feels that what she has always done with Mallory and Vincent doesn’t fit her, not anymore. That was kid stuff and she’s grown up.
For her part, Mallory feels that Jeanette has an insane obsession with Kate and it’s a little … creepy. And I think Mallory has a point here, it’s pretty creepy that Jeanette is so keen on Kate. Meanwhile, Vincent is in the middle trying to calm them both.
Things were about to explode and the turning point is that Jeanette stopped patrolling the hall to go hear a gossip about Kate. And here I’m on Mallory’s side. That is, she is her friend, Jeanette should not have left her to her fate and less to be behind a little information about Kate. That makes it all doubly creepy. You never abandoned your friend. Jeanette is putting a true friend aside for an insane obsession.
In Cruel Summer 1×08 “Proof” it seems that Jamie wants to fix all of his past mistakes. Starting with Jeanette. He wants to apologize to her for everything he said and did to her and she, being more magnanimous than I would have been, gives him a chance to do it.
Jamie apologizes for everything, the way he treated her, the things he said to her, what he did to her … everything. A part of me understands that it must not have been easy not knowing exactly who to believe and having such a confused mind and heart but is that Jamie didn’t even give Jeanette the benefit of the doubt, from the beginning she became a liar for him, that’s what I can’t understand.
And let’s not talk about the punch. I can’t forgive him for that, I never will. And I like that these scenes between them have not tried to justify him for what he did because it is something that has no justification, if not that he regrets doing it, that Jamie regrets everything.
It is the first step: realize and regret your mistakes in order to learn from them. Even Jamie opens up a bit to Jeanette about his feelings at the time and the accident he had while drunk, an accident that destroyed the career and life of his best friend.
Again, it is not a justification, it is only an apology, an outlet, a confession from someone who wants to redeem himself. You know what? It seems to me that Jamie was always a coward at heart. He was too cowardly to defend Jeanette and give her the benefit of the doubt, he was too cowardly to face that he was holding on to Kate, the past, and that he no longer felt anything for her. Too cowardly to be on one side … and too coward to be on the other.
But now, he looks like he’s trying to be brave and I’m glad. It is what he has to do if he wants to achieve that redemption that he so much seeks. Also, his meeting with Jeanette gives us some more information. Jeanette hears something in that audio that Jamie plays … something that makes her go to see someone unthinkable, Mallory, for help.
Of course, Mallory smacks her in the face but I still think she’s more involved than she seems. What did Jeanette discover?
Vincent suffers a love disappointment in Cruel Summer 1×08 “Proof”. He and Jamie’s best friend have seen each other and it was a crush. He is the typical popular guy who has all the girls behind him only that he … is gay. But at that time and at that age it was not easy at all to accept it, to accept himself.
However, he and Vincent meet and find refuge in each other. They both decide to move on, see how far what they just started takes them … until everything falls apart.
When they are in the ambulance, Vincent does not hesitate to approach him, he is worried and just wants to know that he is okay, to check that he is. And he just calls him, “Vincent.” He is glad that he is there, next to him but when Vincent takes his hand he pulls away. What he wants most is to kiss him senseless right there in front of everyone, but he feels that he can’t. Something prevents him to do it.
He is a popular boy and it is very difficult for him to leave that behind and stop pretending. At his age, what they will say is very important, especially at that time. He knows that if he shows himself as he really is he will have to endure teasing, laughter and also being pushed aside. He would lose everything – although if everyone casts him aside for being the way he is, he should find new friends because the ones he has are not worth it -… and he doesn’t feel strong enough to cope with it all that.
So he pulls away and we can see, we can feel, when Vincent’s heart breaks into a thousand pieces. He doesn’t deserve that … and I want to hold him very tight.
Cindy is trying to get back to Jeanette but she doesn’t want to know anything. For Jeanette, her mother abandoned her in her worst moment so now she just can’t go back like nothing happened. And I understand it. I really understand it.
Because Cindy did it wrong with Jeanette. She had every right to break up with her husband if she wasn’t happy but Jeanette is still her daughter and should have been there for her. That she walked away from her husband did not mean that she abandoned her daughter. Jeanette’s father didn’t behave well to her either, but at least he stayed, at least he tried.
Cindy didn’t and Jeanette just can’t forgive her for it, she can’t pretend it didn’t happen. So much so that she doesn’t even want to call her “mom”, because she doesn’t feel like she behaves like one.
The return of Cindy and her conversation with Angela in the previous episode, has consequences in Cruel Summer 1×08 “Proof”. Angela wants to know why Jeanette’s father didn’t exactly tell her the truth about her breakup with Cindy. I like that he apologizes for this and we can understand his point of view.
Martin erased his tracks. As soon as he saw that Kate could go out on that tape, trapped in his house, he took care of getting rid of it. Is it normal to hate him more every day? Tell me yes. He’s a bastard. And I want someone to give him everything he deserved, preferably Kate.
And here ends our Cruel Summer 1×08 “Proof” review. We will be back next week with a new one!
Agree? Disagree? Don’t hesitate to share it with us in the comments below!
Cruel Summer airs Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m in Freeform and you can stream next day on Hulu.
