Who Is Annabelle On 'Cruel Summer'? Kate Just Opened Up A New Mystery

- Cruel Summer -
Who Is Annabelle On 'Cruel Summer'? Kate Just Opened Up A New Mystery

Just when you thought you were unraveling the mystery of Cruel Summer, Freeform's latest mystery series throws in another twist. This time, the twist is in a form of a name: Who is Annabelle on Cruel Summer, and what does she have to do with Kate Wallis' kidnapping?

The name Annabelle comes up twice in Episode 4, titled "You Don't Hunt, You Don't Eat." During the annual hunting trip in the 1995 timeline, Kate tells a story about a little girl named Annabelle who, like Kate, went on a trip with her parents and their friends. In Kate's story, Annabelle was lured by a man who the adults trusted, and who she didn't know any better not to trust. The story ends with Kate condemning the adults for their actions, saying that they all have Annabelle's blood on their hands.

Upon hearing the story, it certainly seems like Kate is using Annabelle as a stand-in for herself. She's angry that her parents allowed her would-be kidnapper, Martin Harris, on their last hunting trip, and likely mad at herself for not realizing he was a predator and having a pleasant, late-night conversation with him. However, later on in the episode, it's revealed that Annabelle's identity may not be so simple.

In order to prepare for her trial — where she is being sued by Jeanette Turner for defamation, after Kate claimed that Jeanette saw her in captivity and didn't say anything — Kate listens back to her therapy sessions. As she describes the day of her rescue, she tells her therapist that it was on the day she was saved that she met Annabelle. However, when the therapist asks her who Annabelle is, Kate says she can't remember. Eep!

Image: Freeform

So...who is Annabelle? That's the big question here — and we're left with only so many theories. Could Annabelle be someone else Martin kidnapped, that the police, for some reason, never found? Could she be a figment of Kate's imagination, a way for her to deal with her trauma? Or is there some other completely different explanation about Annabelle's identity?

We want to hear all your Cruel Summer thoughts and theories in the comments section. Who do you think Annabelle is? Was she involved in Kate's kidnapping?

Images: Freeform

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