Recap: Cindy’s Suspicions Grow in ‘Cruel Summer’ Season 1, Episode 6 “An Ocean Inside Me”

Jules
16 Min Read
Freeform/Bill Matlock

In “An Ocean Inside Me,” we see Cindy wrestle with her suspicions of Jeanette as Greg refuses to believe anything is wrong. Jeanette deals with a potential witness against her as Vincent tries to support his friend, and we see how Jeanette and Jamie first connected in an action-packed episode.

Freeform/Bill Matlock

1993

Jeanette and Derek are preparing for Greg and Cindy’s anniversary, and everyone is happy. But then we flash to …

1994

… where Jeanette is continuing to set up for the anniversary, but the mood is subdued. Her parents are on much worse terms, and Derek notes he’s sorry he has to leave for school soon. The doorbell rings, and it’s a picnic basket full of gifts. Both Jeanette and Cindy assume it’s from Greg, but it’s from Angela, thanking Greg for finding her a house. Cindy is instantly suspicious.

1995

Jeanette watches old home movies as Angela arrives home. Angela thinks she’s missing her mother, but Jeanette confesses she misses her father. She says she should have just stayed a nobody like he wanted her to be, and Angela firmly tells her that she shouldn’t make herself small for others. The doorbell rings, and it’s Jeanette’s lawyer.

1993

Jeanette, Mallory, and Vincent arrive at the mall to check another item off the list: stealing. Jeanette and Vincent are troubled by it, but Mallory insists big stores expect shoplifting and build it into the budget. Convinced, they head inside.

1995

The lawyer tells Jeanette that Tennille’s mother, Tanya, is being deposed by Kate’s lawyers. She asks if there’s anything Tanya could say against Jeanette, and Jeanette says she has information on Tanya that will ensure she won’t say anything bad about Jeanette. The lawyer is skeptical, but Jeanette gets a hard look in her eyes as she insists, “She won’t.”

1993

At the mall, Jeanette sees Martin trying on clothes, assisted by Tanya, who works as a sales clerk in the store. As Mallory removes the anti-shoplifting tags, Jeanette watches Tanya flirt with Martin. Tanya invites herself over to his house to handle PTA business as Mallory and Jeanette sneak out.

1994

Tanya comes into Tennille’s room, annoyed that Jeanette is calling again. She mentions she’s doing an interview about Martin Harris on television with Molly Green but won’t say what it’s about. She asks what to tell Jeanette, and Tennille says to tell her she’s a loser again.

1993

Vincent exits a CD store as Jeanette and Mallory approach. Alarms blare as Jeanette, taking one for the team, grabs the CD and raises her hands for the security guard as Vincent and Mallory flee. In the security office, Jamie is already waiting for his parents and laughs as he sees Jeanette enter. He incredulously asks what she’s there for, and trying to seem cool; she says she was shoplifting. Jamie says he’s there for jumping into the fountain on a dare. She introduces herself, and he says he remembers as she smiles.

1994

Cindy eats the picnic basket snacks by herself as a prank caller harasses her. Cindy gets up from the table in a huff and goes to Jeanette’s room, where she rummages through her things. Seeing the music box where she keeps her trinkets, Cindy opens it and goes to the secret compartment. It’s empty, and she breathes a sigh of relief until she realizes there’s a key taped to the bottom. It’s the key to Martin’s house.

1993

Jamie asks if she usually gets in trouble, and Jeanette lies, saying she just usually doesn’t get caught. As she’s about to tell Jamie more, Greg arrives, and Jeanette’s smile falls.

1994

Cindy confronts Jeanette and says they need to talk. Cindy tells her she’s going to ask a question, and they will face the answer together. She asks if Jeanette has ever been inside Martin’s house. Jeanette deflects, but Cindy doesn’t back down. She says she needs to know if there is any truth, no matter how small, to these rumors. Jeanette says no once again, and now Cindy knows Jeanette is lying.

1993

Jeanette says the shoplifting was Mallory’s idea, and Greg tells her not to blame everyone else. Jeanette then says she took the blame to protect Vincent, not wanting his grandfather involved. Greg seems to know something about Vincent’s grandfather as this immediately softens him. He says they’ll keep it between themselves and not involve anyone else.

1994

Greg arrives home as Cindy tells him Jeanette is lying. Greg refuses to believe it, even as Cindy shows him the key. She begs him to listen to her, but Greg insists that if Jeanette is telling them she wasn’t there, he believes her. Cindy says they can try the key to be sure, but Greg downplays her concerns and tells her they raised a good kid. She mentions that before Jeanette changed, she would have said the same, and Greg passive-aggressively blames Cindy for that. Cindy says all she wanted was for Jeanette to be happy, and Greg says he knows. Cindy isn’t convinced as he leaves for a showing.

Freeform/Bill Matlock

1995

Vincent enters Jeanette’s room, saying Angela let him in. They talk, with Jeanette saying she pushed him away because she didn’t want to hurt anyone else. He notices she’s going somewhere, and she says she has to take care of something. She asks him to distract the reporters while she sneaks out, and he says yes without hesitation.

1994

Derek enters the kitchen as Cindy nervously washes the dishes. She asks if he remembers the time he and Jeanette ruined their stuffed animals playing tea time in the rain. He laughs as he remembers how mad Cindy was. Cindy quietly asks whose idea it was, saying that at the time, Greg told her it was Derek’s. Derek says he doesn’t remember, and Cindy confesses that she’s scared Jeanette is lying. Derek tells her to talk to her sister about it since he’s really not the best sounding board, and she drops it. She tells him she’s proud of him for going to college as he exits.

1995

Jeanette goes to the store and sees Tanya, who smugly confirms she will be deposed. Jeanette reminds her that depositions can be minefields as Tanya falters.

1993

Vincent asks Jeanette why she covered for him. She says she knew her father would go easy on her, and Vincent notes she almost seems excited to have gotten in trouble. Jeanette says she can’t believe Mallory just ran and left them. Vincent refuses to talk badly about Mallory, and Jeanette stops pushing. She’s throwing out her old clothes, saying they’re not for her anymore.

1994

Ben is at the video store, with Vincent excitedly telling him which Friday the 13th movies are best. Ben sweetly asks if he’ll come over and watch it with him, narrating all the scary parts. Vincent smiles back, and they affectionately lean in closer as Jeanette enters. They jump apart as Ben pretends to browse. Jeanette locks eyes with Vincent, and he looks away. Ben makes an excuse and leaves. Vincent asks Jeanette to keep what she saw a secret, and she agrees. She goes a step further and says he seems happy. He smiles, relieved to share this with someone, and she tells Vincent to reassure Ben that she’s happy about this too.

1993

Jeanette goes to the Harris home and uses her key to get inside. She goes into a closet to snoop, but suddenly Tanya and Martin arrive home. It’s clear Tanya expected this outcome while Martin seems stressed. Jeanette watches from the closet.

1994

Jeanette admits to Vincent that she thinks her mom doesn’t believe her anymore. Vincent assures her he will always have her back. Tennille and Renee enter, ignoring Jeanette, and she realizes she’s out of the popular group once again. Tanya’s interview comes on, and Jeanette watches as Tanya claims Martin nearly assaulted her that night.

1993

But in the past and through Jeanette’s eyes, we see that’s not true. Martin is socially awkward while Tanya flirts, noting that she’s a single parent and trying to make a connection with him. She also reveals that Tennille’s father is not her biological father as she leans in close, tipsy. Martin jumps away from her and says he shouldn’t know something so personal about one of his students.

1994

Jeanette says that’s not how it happened as Tennille and Renee turn to her. They ask if she’s actually defending a pedophile. Tennille gets in close and tells her she’s a has-been as both girls leave.

Freeform/Bill Matlock

1995

Jeanette and Vincent watch a movie as Angela asks Jeanette if they’re dating. Both Jeanette and Vincent laugh at this as Angela leaves.

1994

Derek picks Jeanette up from the video store. She explains what happened with Renee and Tennille. She asks if he really needs to go to college, feeling like everyone is leaving her alone.

1995

Greg joins Jeanette and Vincent, sharing that Angela told him about how Jeanette was missing him. They play cards, and across town, Tanya is about to give her deposition. They ask if she has anything to share about Jeanette.

1993

Tanya opens the door and sees Jeanette. Thinking quickly, Jeanette says she won’t reveal what happened with Martin if Tanya doesn’t mention she was there. Tanya agrees and tells her to run, which she does.

1995

The phone ringing interrupts their card game, which Jeanette was winning. Tanya tells the lawyers she has no reason to believe that Jeanette is lying as we see Jeanette confront her in the store. She says that paternity fraud is illegal, and she’ll share that with her lawyers if Tanya testifies against Jeanette. Tanya sputters that no one will believe Jeanette, but Jeanette just smiles as she says, “Wanna bet? I can be pretty convincing.” The lawyer tells Jeanette that everything went well and that if Jeanette had something to do with it, she never wants to know.

Cindy appears at Angela’s bar. She talks about how today is her anniversary as Angela awkwardly makes her a drink. Cindy then looks straight at Angela as she says, “But I guess you knew that … right, Angela?” But Cindy’s not here to fight with Angela. She asks how Jeanette is, revealing that she refuses to speak to Cindy. Jeanette blames her for the separation, and Cindy clearly is desperate to hear news about her. Angela says Jeanette misses her, and Cindy asks if they can have a drink.

1994

Greg comes home, and Cindy tries once again to open up to him about her fears. He doesn’t understand what she’s trying to say. She says that at one time, she had dreams, and they just evaporated. She says that she now realizes she pushed Jeanette to blossom and live her dreams but never actually showed Jeanette how to do that. She worries this caused Jeanette to make mistakes — mistakes like whatever happened with Kate.

She hands Greg the key and tells him to try it for himself. He asks if she went to Martin’s house, and she says he wouldn’t take her seriously without proof. She says he never takes her seriously at all and that she’s going to stay with her sister to have some time alone to think. He notes it’s their anniversary, and she says she’s sorry. But she also says she’ll be back to talk to Jeanette about all of it, clearly not intending for this separation to be for a long time. She leaves, and as she does, she shares that it has been excruciating to bear this alone without him by her side.

1995

Cindy and Angela are getting along well as Cindy shares that she wanted to be a better example for her daughter than her own mother was for her. Angela says she’s a great example, starting a new career for herself, and Cindy returns the compliment. Angela says they can get along because it’s not like she stole Greg, noting that Greg had already separated from Cindy when they met. Cindy asks if that’s what Greg told her as Angela looks a little shocked.

1994

Cindy tries the key in Martin’s door, and it fits. Her worst fear is confirmed. We then flash to Greg the night Cindy left as he makes the same discovery.

Cruel Summer airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Freeform, with episodes premiering on Hulu the next day.

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By Jules
I am a nurse and dedicated nerd from Boston, MA. When I'm not at work, I'm rewatching old favorites like Supernatural or discovering my new obsessions (too many to count!). When not fangirling, I can be found reading, writing, or listening to a true crime podcast. You can find me on Twitter @juleswritesblog for more nerdy nonsense.
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