Freeform subscribed to Cruel Summer, a thriller written by Bert V. Royal and directed by Max Winkler, an unusual drama about two leading actresses in a Texas town in 1993-95, one is Kate, who was kidnapped in the show, and the other is Jeanette, who became the most popular person in town and the most despised person in America in 1995. Each episode describes the plot from the perspective of the two women, and then slowly reveals the truth of the matter.