"Cruel Summer" is not just a bop from Taylor Swift's Lover album. It is also a compelling teen television show from Freeform that aired in spring 2021. The time-hopping mystery thriller followed the story of two teenagers (set in the 1990s) and everything that happens in their lives when a kidnapping upends their normalcy.
The story of Cruel Summer is fascinating enough, but its intrigue over the course of its first season was buoyed by the well-curated cast of characters. Placing them through the lens of the enneagram personality test, a system that sorts individual personalities into nine categories, is a fascinating exercise for these people who are consistently evolving and occasionally horrible.
Type 1 - The Reformer: Vince
In the Enneagram personalities, reformers are known for being people who want everything to be just so. They're perfectionists to a fault and adhere to their own moral codes as best they can.
In a show filled with some pretty terrible people, Vince fits this category the best. He hates when people are at odds with one another and he is always doing his best to control the uncontrollable.
Type 2 - The Helper: Martin
It might seem ludicrous to place Martin in the enneagram category of "Helper," considering he is pure evil in every conceivable way. Everything Cruel Summer takes a stand against is what Martin embodies. So how could this mean he is a helper?
The enneagram personality types contain multitudes, unlike the more direct MBTI® types and Zodiac traits. The helper is also known for being manipulative and possessive, on the negative side. Martin fits this better than anyone else on the show.
Type 3 - The Achiever: Jeanette
Type 3 Achievers are associated with being quick on their feet and ambitious. On the more negative side of things, they're known for shepherding self-conscious people who tend to do whatever it takes to get ahead in their own lives.
In the case of Jeanette, it comes at the cost of others' well-being. Not only is she persistently spinning her lies around the lives of those she meets, but she is also quick to climb on top of others to put herself on a pedestal. It's the bad kind of "achieving" for her.
Type 4 - The Individualist: Jamie
On Cruel Summer, Jamie starts out as a trope-addled love interest and quickly devolves into being aggressive, impulsive, and an all-around toxic person to be around. With the nature of an "Individualist," it's quite plausible to assume that Jamie is looking out for himself primarily and anyone else, if he feels the need or has the time to do.
Considering Individualists are also selfish as enneagram types, his placement here is a no-brainer. They also tend to be the more wildly emotional types on the nine-type personality scale and this unpredictable temperament fits Jamie perfectly.
Type 5 - The Investigator: Mallory
An Investigator is, by the very nature of its name, one that pries and pushes the boundaries of those they encounter. This is a description that aligns aptly with Mallory, who is consistently snooping and ignoring the wishes of others.
Mallory is also quick to eschew the people she cares about the minute she sees the potential to become a social climber. There is no loyalty within her and the Investigator type is much more suited to her way of life.
Type 6 - The Loyalist: Greg
Speaking of loyalty, though, Greg comes down as the clear Cruel Summer representative of the Loyalist type. Loyalists are obviously committed people who prefer when things are responsibly locked down and sensibly established.
While this is definitely true of Greg, he also slides into some of the personality type's negative traits, too. He's constantly isolated from others and anxious about the world around him, as well as his place in it. Loyalists suffer more anxiety than most other types.
Type 7 - The Enthusiast: Kate
As one of the main characters on Cruel Summer, Kate gets a lot more attention than some of the others. This reveals her to be a perennially naive character who enjoys a spontaneous lifestyle far too much. Her willingness to trust gets her in trouble, but it also paints her as an Enthusiast.
Enthusiasts are similarly spontaneous, but they are also easy to distract and occasionally scatterbrained. Considering these traits drive much of Kate's arc on the show, she's a no-brainer for the type.
Type 8 - The Challenger: Angela
While many of the characters mentioned so far cannot stand confrontation, Angela is right at home in that territory. Aggression, confrontation, conflict - it's all a part of her "fly on the wall" persona that can muck things up as easily as it can simply observe.
Challengers also tend to be decisive people who know exactly what they want. While her intentions are usually better than her output, there's no denying that Angela fits in perfectly with this willful personality type.
Type 9 - The Peacemaker: Ben
Lastly, Ben, a close friend of Jamie, doesn't really have an identity of his own. Instead, he mirrors the behaviors he sees in others and sticks close to the (unfortunate) role models that populate his life.
In many ways, this makes Ben a follower. For the Enneagram types, followers are mostly tied to the Peacemaker type. Peacemakers go along with anything they're told and rarely argue about it. This passive personality fits him perfectly.