History YMMV / CruelSummer

* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: We were supposed to root for Jeanette and even feel sorry for her, but the girl stole Kate's life. Once Jeanette noticed that Kate was in the basement, she left her in there [[NoSympathy WITH NO REMORSE]]. She even lied to the police about what happened which it caused her parents to split up in 1994, and also tried to make herself look like the victim. Although after everything that she went through, it's hard to feel relate to her and she didn't even hold accountable for her actions of what she has done.

** The Creator/OliviaRodrigo album "Sour" is especially popular with fans of this show, thanks to the release of the show and the album lining up, and especially with how well so many songs off the album fit the show— "jealousy, jealousy" for Jeanette’s feelings about Kate; "brutal" for Kate’s character; "traitor" for the Kate/Jamie/Jeanette triangle; "deja vu" once again for the triangle, more specifically the ReplacementGoldfish elements; "favorite crime" for both Jeanette/Jamie and Martin/Kate’s toxic relationships; and so on.

* MoralEventHorizon: In season 2, Steve Chambers was never going to win any prizes for heroism given his abuse of his sons and his obsession with his reputation, but he takes a grand flying leap over the horizon in the season finale when [[spoiler:he arranges for Megan to be arrested for a crime that he knows damn well she didn't commit, just because he doesn't want any further scrutiny of his screwed-up family.]]

* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Nobody denies that Martin is the real villain of Season 1, but Joy, Kate's vindictive StepfordSmiler of a mother, who is still incapable of believing or supporting her after her kidnapping and rape, is absolutely despised.

** The Creator/OliviaRodrigo album "Sour" is especially popular with fans of this show, thanks to the release of the show and the album lining up, and especially with how well so many songs off the album fit the show— “jealousy, jealousy” for Jeanette’s feelings about Kate; “brutal” for Kate’s character; “traitor” for the Kate/Jamie/Jeanette triangle; “deja vu” once again for the triangle, more specifically the ReplacementGoldfish elements; “favorite crime” for both Jeanette/Jamie and Martin/Kate’s toxic relationships; and so on.
* {{Hollywood Homely}}:

* {{Hollywood Homely}}: Jeanette starts out wearing thick glasses, having braces, frizzy hair, a fan of immature, frumpy outfits and a shy, quirky attitude. A year later, Jeanette has a bold yet good taste in fashion, wears contact lenses, has had her braces taken off, started wearing Makeup and acts more confident. Then, after the whole Town turns against her, she decides to stop caring about her beauty, and gives herself a haircut at home, giving her cropped short hair and wearing little Makeup, though continues to wear contact lenses.

** Did Mallory’s vocal hatred for Kate before they become friends in 1994 come from having a repressed crush on her? Or from jealousy over Kate’s seemingly perfect life compared to her own one living with a {{Stoner}} mother and being estranged from her father? Or both?

** Did Mallory’s vocal hatred for Kate before they become friends in 1994 come from having a repressed crush on her? Or from jealousy over Kate’s seemingly perfect life? Or both?

* MemeticMutation: Before the final two episodes, it was very popular to (usually as a joke) theorize that Jeanette “saw”— and had been seen by— Kate, while she wasn’t wearing either her glasses or new contacts, and thus had looked at Kate without actually being able to ''see'' her. Typically the format would be a quote of Kate’s accusation against Jeanette next to an incredibly blurry photo, captioned as “What Jeanette Saw.”