Line #8 Series/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer2021


1	[[quoteright:282:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/i_know_what_you_did_last_summer_tv_series_poster_7.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:282:Some secrets never stay buried...]]
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4	''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' is an American {{teen\|Drama}} {{horror}} television series based on the [[Literature/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer 1973 novel of the same name]] by Creator/LoisDuncan. Creator/AmazonStudios announced the series' development in 2019, with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neal_H._Moritz Neal H. Moritz]] and Creator/JamesWan serving as executive producers. It was given a straight-to-series order in October 2020. Filming took place in Oahu and began in January 2021.
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6	Part of the franchise of the same name, the series is a modern take on the original novel and the [[Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer 1997 film adaptation]] and follows a group of friends stalked by a brutal killer one year after covering up a car accident in which they killed someone. It features an ensemble cast led by Creator/MadisonIseman, Creator/BrianneTju, Ezekiel Goodman, Ashley Moore and Sebastian Amoruso, and also stars Fiona Rene, Cassie Beck, Brooke Bloom and Bill Heck.
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8	The first four episodes of the series premiered on [[Creator/PrimeVideo Amazon Prime Video]] on October 15, 2021, with the rest debuting on a weekly basis until November 12. On January 7, 2022, it was announced that the series had been cancelled [[ShortRunner after just one season]].
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10	!!This series contains examples of:
11	* ActorAllusion:
12	** This isn’t the first time Creator/MadisonIseman plays a BigSisterBully to a troubled twin. That was in the movie Nocturne. It is however the first time she plays the other twin as well.
13	** Margot references the film ''Film/Scream1996''. Her actress, Brianne Tju, was a cast member in that film's [[Series/ScreamTheTVSeries spin-off series]].
14	* AdaptationalLocationChange: The series is set in Hawaii, unlike the book (which took place in New Mexico) and the film (where the setting is in North Carolina).
15	* AdultsAreUseless:
16	** The party in the first episode is sanctioned by the parents, who justify it by saying that they'd rather have their kids drink in a situation where they can be in control instead of going to do it some place unsupervised. However, there are multiple scenes making it clear that they aren't adequately chaperoning. One of the first shots of the party shows a someone who is presumably a teenager naked from the waist down peeing in a pool. The party doesn't just have underage drinking, but hard drugs and sex as well.
17	** Dylan's parents leave him home alone and go on a yoga retreat well after the community realizes that the first murders weren't one offs and that there's a serial killer in their midst.
18	* AdvertisedExtra: [[spoiler: Johnny is shown prominently in the teasers and the poster as one of the leads. However, in the second episode, he’s given the Creator/DrewBarrymore [[DeadStarWalking treatment]] when he is the first of the group to die.]]
19	* AllLoveIsUnrequited: Riley has a crush on her lifelong best friend Dylan, who is in love with Alison. She doesn’t take it well when she learns this.
20	* AlwaysIdenticalTwins: Lennon and Alison Grant are identical twins. [[spoiler: So much so that only their father can tell them apart.]]
21	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Courtney mentions how Dylan has “gotten hot” in front of her daughter Riley.
22	* AmicableExes: Margot and Johnny are close despite their prior relationship history. Margot even encourages Johnny's new relationship [[spoiler: and is the one hit hardest by his killing. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] in the season finale as it's revealed that Margot killed him and his boyfriend because he had dumped her for him.]]
23	* AngstySurvivingTwin: The lead character is dealing with her sister’s disappearance, [[spoiler: or so the official story goes. In reality, Alison has been living as her twin Lennon for the past year as the latter died in the accident and everyone (except the twins’ dad) mistook Lennon for Alison. This adds to the Grant family’s internal drama.]]
24	* AssholeVictim: [[spoiler: Downplayed. Lennon Grant is a manipulative, controlling, and mean-spirited young woman who constantly bags on her introverted twin sister for not having a social life or set plans for her future, [[KickTheDog while also sleeping with the boy that she knew her sister liked.]] However, the show also implies that she had deep-seated psychological issues ([[SelfHarm which she took out on herself]]), possibly resulting from her mother’s suicide, and may have been putting up a front to make herself appear fine. Additionally, it is clear that her surviving family members are still grieving her despite their complicated feelings for Lennon.]]
25	* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Margot, the killer, gets away with it thanks to [[DirtyCoward Alison]] framing Dylan for the murders.]]
26	* BedTrick: [[spoiler: Alison has sex with Dylan, who thinks she is Lennon. After the act, Alison reveals her real identity and Dylan promptly - and justifiably - is upset at this revelation.]]
27	* BenevolentBoss: Harold, who's the owner of the restaurant Lennon works at.
28	* BrutalHonesty: Riley is very blunt with her opinions.
29	* TheBully:
30	** Lennon Grant. She teases and abuses her sister Alison and sleeps with Dylan knowing well that Alison has a crush on him, and manipulates Margot (who is implied to have a crush on her) and tells her to her face that she never liked her when Margot suggests that Lennon get psychiatric help.
31	** The killer themselves taunts the group with mean-spirited texts, leaves severed goat heads in their closets, and [[spoiler: [[SnuffFilm sends them videos of their friends getting murdered.]]]]
32	* BuryYourGays: The second episode has a two-fer. [[spoiler: The bisexual Johnny is the first of the group to die, moments after his fiancé Coach Eric Craft is also murdered. Additionally, the actual Lennon is revealed to have had a sexual encounter with Margot - and is the one the kids ran over in this adaptation of the story.]] After the season finale, this gets even harsher, as [[spoiler: with Riley's apparent resurrection, they're the only two major characters who are actually dead]].
33	* ButLiquorIsQuicker: Well, not liquor, but Lennon does get Dylan high with nose spray (ketamine) before the two have a sexual encounter.
34	* ClosedCircle: Unlike the film or literature version, the series moves to a small town in Hawaii adding to the isolation of the characters when they come under attack.
35	* CoitusUninterruptus: Lyla is discussing a case with her deputy over the phone while her secret lover is going down on her.
36	* ConvictedByPublicOpinion:
37	** After [[spoiler: Johnny and Coach Craft's murders]], the latter's ex-wife is accused of the murders, with many townspeople convinced that she killed them out of jealousy and revenge.
38	** Not long after, Clara is suspected to be the killer because of her strange behavior. The town officials then label her the killer after [[spoiler: both her and Riley’s bodies are found in the cave.]]
39	* CreepyHousekeeper: Clara acts strange around the characters.
40	* CruelAndUnusualDeath:
41	** [[spoiler: Dale gets a tube of Blue Crush from a drink machine shoved down his throat, causing him to drown and his skin color to turn blue.]]
42	** [[spoiler: Johnny tries to save his boyfriend Coach Craft from a dumbbell crushing the latter’s neck. This is quickly revealed to be a trap, resulting in Craft’s skull being crushed and Johnny thrown several feet to the ground, where he is attacked and decapitated.]]
43	** [[spoiler: Riley gets struck by a car, impaled with a machete, has her hand cut off, stumbles about the town hallucinating from these wounds, and finally gets dragged into the cave to be made up into a honey-encrusted sculpture.]]
44	* CruelToBeKind: Played with. Lennon justifies the things she does to Alison at the fateful party as this. She says she doesn't want Alison to have any lingering pointless attachments before going away to college. Alison justifiably tells her that she's being needlessly cruel and selfish.
45	* DarkerAndEdgier: As if the original wasn’t dark enough, this series ranks it up by beginning with one twin accidentally running over the other.
46	* DarkSecret: Natch' as the this is the classic premise of the show: the [=OG=] crew committed a hit and run and covered it up with now someone a year later stalking them.
47	* DeadPersonImpersonation: The killer sends their threats via Alison's phone, though with the added twist that [[spoiler: Alison isn't actually dead.]]
48	* DepravedBisexual: [[spoiler:Margot is revealed to be the killer, a vicious, manipulative young woman who's motivated partly by twisted love for Lennon, her dead female friend (whom she once had sex with) and revenge on Johnny, her ex-boyfriend, because he left her. It's {{downplayed}} however as Lennon, Allison and Johnny are also bisexuals but they don't display these traits.]]
49	* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Alison isn’t sure what she wants to do in life since she isn’t going to college unlike her twin sister Lennon. [[spoiler: However, Lennon’s death ends up unintentionally thrusting Lennon’s life onto Alison.]]
50	* DirtyCoward: [[spoiler: Alison lies and incriminates Dylan for Margot's crimes in order to avoid being unmasked]].
51	* DisappearedDad: Riley’s father does not appear to be around, while Margot’s father is apparently overseas.
52	* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Margot is revealed as the killer, and has pinned most of her crimes on Dylan, but Alison could exonerate him by revealing that Margot was the one who stabbed her and not him. [[DirtyCoward She lies in order to hide her]] DeadPersonImpersonation and Dylan goes to jail for Margot's crimes while the two women get off scot free.]]
53	* DrivenToSuicide: In episode seven we see that [[spoiler: Lennon deliberately ran into the oncoming car.]]
54	* EveryoneIsBi: Nearly half of the main characters (Alison, Lennon, Johnny and Margot) are bisexual.
55	* FairCop: Lyla, the police chief, is quite attractive.
56	* FakeTwinGambit: [[spoiler: The "twin exists" variant. Alison has to adopt Lennon’s life after the latter is killed in an accident the former is responsible for.]]
57	* FirstEpisodeTwist: In addition to the accident, [[spoiler: Alison is revealed to have [[TwinSwitch accidentally switched identities]] with her identical twin sister Lennon and has been living as “Lennon” for the past year.]]
58	* FrameUp: [[spoiler:Margot frames Dylan for all the murders she committed with planted evidence, and Allison backs it up.]]
59	* GainaxEnding: [[spoiler: The post-credit scene shows Riley's corpse reopening her eyes, leaving the audience unclear if Riley has really come back to life or if her body is being possessed by someone or something else.]]
60	* GayGuyDiesFirst: [[spoiler: Johnny is the first of the five to die, and Lennon is the victim of the hit and run. Both characters are bisexual and [[SexSignalsDeath fairly sexually active]].]]
61	* GoryDiscretionShot: The audience doesn’t see the group find [[spoiler: Dale’s]] body, only [[VomitIndiscretionShot Margot’s reaction]] and everyone else in shock over the discovery.
62	* HereditaryHomosexuality: Identical twin sisters Lennon and Allison both turn out to be bisexual.
63	* HomePornMovie: It turns out Lennon made many home porn videos featuring her having sex with different guys (and Margot once as well) which she uploaded onto her Only Fans account, making money from this.
64	* IdenticalTwinIDTag: Lennon wears a green jacket, while Alison wears a zip-up hoodie and a gold necklace. [[spoiler: The TwinSwitch mentioned below is the result of the two girls accidentally switching outfits and Lennon having earlier made up Alison to look like her.]] Additionally, Alison’s a smoker [[spoiler: which “Lennon” takes up to “feel close to her.”]]
65	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: All the titles are taken from select lines of dialogue within the episodes.
66	* ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: [[spoiler: Riley gets a machete through the back and stomach and her hand cut off by the killer. She surprisingly survives this assault, at least initially.]]
67	* IntimateMarks: Margot has small black tattoos by her breasts, as seen when she's having sex with Lennon in the video.
68	* JailbaitWait: Johnny mentions having been in a relationship with his former high school coach since senior year of high school, and they are now getting married since legally Johnny’s an adult. This implication, thus far, hasn’t been explored further [[spoiler: and probably won’t given their deaths in episode 2]].
69	* KilledOffscreen: [[spoiler: Dale’s]] body is discovered after dying offscreen.
70	* LonersAreFreaks: Clara is an eccentric woman who carves people’s names into the cave walls after they die, lives alone, and [[spoiler: performs rituals involving encasing dead bodies in honey after they have had rare spiders inserted into their ears for good luck.]] Unsurprisingly, she is considered a prime suspect in the killings.
71	* MaleFrontalNudity: A local 5K run in the town has exclusively nude runners of all genders with the audience treated to some brief shots of their bare genitalia.
72	* MissingMom: Alison and Lennon’s mother committed suicide when they were young. [[spoiler: By episode six, however, this is revealed to be a lie - their mother simply left them and their father made up the story to avoid having to tell two eight-year-old girls why their mother is gone.]]
73	* ModestyBedsheet: In "If Only Dogs Could Talk" after having sex with Dylan, Allison covers herself with the bedsheet, although her breasts are briefly shown earlier.
74	* MoreDiverseSequel: The series, given its Hawaiian setting, has more POC and LGBT+ characters than any of the previous adaptations. [[spoiler: [[BuryYourGays With the latter mostly being used as murder victims]].]]
75	* MsFanservice: Lennon and Margot are uninhibited with their sexuality and provide many instances of fanservice for the show, ranging from revealing clothing to actual sex scenes, especially the former who made amateur porn.
76	* NeverARunaway: Alison is believed to have run away, which is the story in-universe. [[spoiler:She was actually murdered.]]
77	* NeverFoundTheBody: [[spoiler: The official story for the disappearance of “Alison” is that she ran away. Because the group cannot find the body of “Alison” in the cave or even her name written on the walls (which had been done with everyone else who died in the cave), she is even briefly considered a suspect in the murders by the group. In episode 4, however, her body turns up and is given a burial.]]
78	* NeverMyFault: When Alison calls out Lennon for sleeping with the boy they both knew Alison liked, she comes up with every excuse to pass the blame to Alison for not making a move sooner. Then she starts belittling Alison for still being attached to their mother [[spoiler: when she says their mother only loved her.]] She justifies it by saying she doesn't want Lennon to have any needless attachments to her home life before going to college.
79	* NiceGuy: Johnny and Dylan are generally affable young men [[PetTheDog who actually treat Alison with respect, unlike the others]]. The restaurant owner also counts as this.
80	* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler: Riley hears breathing as she’s the last one to leave the cave after dumping Lennon’s body there. She doesn’t reveal this for several episodes as she thought she was hallucinating and then only after several people have been killed.]]
81	* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler: Johnny dies this way, with Alison finding his head sometimes afterward.]]
82	* ParentWithNewParamour: Alison learns that her dad is having an affair with the local police chief, and finds this awkward due to 1) finding a video of them having sex on her phone and 2) Lyla is investigating the murders that Alison and her friends indirectly set off.
83	* ParentalFavoritism: Lennon straight up says to Alison that their father favored her, while their late mother loved Alison more. [[spoiler: Invoked by Bruce, who tells Alison to write a letter explaining her disappearance, where he lists his negligence of her as a factor in her “running away.”]]
84	* ParentalNeglect: Courtney seems to have this relationship with Riley at best. Apparently, [[spoiler: she doesn't seem to care all that much that her daughter is a drug dealer. Hell, she even asks Riley for some drugs ''at a funeral service''. [[DownplayedTrope Nevertheless]], when Riley goes missing, Courtney is concerned with her well-being and marches to the police station and demands they launch a search for her. Indeed, the last thing Courtney does alive is trying to find her daughter.]]
85	* ParentsKnowTheirChildren: [[spoiler: Even with the switch, Bruce unsurprisingly can tell that Alison is wearing Lennon’s jacket.]]
86	* PluckyComicRelief: The deputy working under Lyla is a bit of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} and provides some light moments in the show, [[spoiler: then he gets killed at the end of the fourth episode not long after realizing that Dale was receiving Bitcoin from an [=OnlyFans=] account under Alison’s name and Kelly Craft is likely not the killer.]]
87	* PolarOppositeTwins: Lennon is sociable, charismatic, manipulative, and promiscuous while Alison is introverted, awkward, caring, and virginal.
88	* PoliceAreUseless:
89	** Played with. Lyla herself seems competent for the most part, though when [[spoiler: Courtney tries to get her to search for her missing daughter]], she's dismissive of her concerns by stating that the killer had only targeted men up to that point; this dismissal indirectly [[spoiler: leads to Courtney's death when she tries to look for Riley on her own]]. Additionally, Lyla's deputy Doug seems like a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} initially but proves himself to be SmarterThanTheyLook by realizing that Kelly Craft is likely not the murderer through researching through various files, though [[spoiler: is killed off in the same episode]].
90	** Brought to new heights in the season finale when [[spoiler: they are completely and utterly outwitted by Margot and especially by ''Alison's father switching the photos of Lennon and Alison to reinforce the lie]].
91	* {{Profiling}}: When a deputy arrives at a trailer park to interview a potential suspect, he asks Riley (who's black) to show her ID despite her mentioning that she lived there. Her mother Courtney quickly starts filming this when she comes outside and chews out the guy as Riley walks away.
92	* RasputinianDeath: [[spoiler: Riley gets chased down and struck by a car, impaled through the stomach and chest with a machete, has her hand cut off, is left delirious and seriously injured (and likely bleeding internally) from these wounds for about a day, collapses to the ground outside her house [[MissedThemByThisMuch near Kelly Craft and her son]], and is finally dragged into the cave to be made into a honey-encased sculpture.]]
93	* ReallyGetsAround: Lennon and Johnny, [[spoiler: [[SexSignalsDeath who are incidentally the first of the core group to die]]]], were both quite promiscuous (with the former even making amateur porn videos as well for her Only Fans account).
94	* RedHerring:
95	** Dale and even “Alison” herself are deemed possible suspects. In Dale’s case, it is because like Max from the ‘97 film, he arrived at the scene of the accident shortly afterwards (though Dylan and Riley dismiss this theory given Dale’s status as TheStoner). In the case of “Alison,” it’s because of the fact that they NeverFoundTheBody and the video showing [[spoiler: Johnny’s]] decapitation came from her phone. [[spoiler: This goes nowhere as both their bodies are found shortly thereafter.]]
96	** Clara’s eccentric behavior makes the gang, and eventually the town, suspect her of being the murderer. [[spoiler: Additionally, she witnessed the gang place Lennon’s body in the cave the night of the accident. However, after her death, it is made clear that the killer is still at large after they attack Margot in her home.]]
97	* RRatedOpening: "Hot Shrimp Salad" begins with Lennon and Margo having sex, which it turns out is from a porn video they did.
98	* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler: [[BuryYourGays Johnny]] is the first of the group to get killed to show the gang that they’re not safe.]]
99	* SecretKeeper:
100	** The group, by necessity of the premise.
101	** [[spoiler: Alison's father Bruce, who helps her pretend to be Lennon by furthering the "Alison ran away" narrative.]]
102	** [[spoiler: Clara, the CreepyHousekeeper who hid Lennon's body for a year.]]
103	* SecretRelationship: Bruce and Lyla have had an ongoing affair for over a decade.
104	* ServileSnarker: Riley’s mother Courtney works for the Grant family and is prone to sarcastic remarks, [[spoiler: [[GallowsHumor even after finding two bodies]].]]
105	* SettingUpdate: The story is moved up to the modern day from the film's setting in the late 90s, going from a California small town to one in Hawaii.
106	* SexSignalsDeath: [[spoiler: Lennon has sex with Dylan, which causes an argument with her sister and leads to Lennon leaving the party afterwards. She is then struck and seemingly killed by the group’s car. Johnny, mentioned to have had an active sex life, is also the first of the group to go.]]
107	* ShoutOut:
108	** [[spoiler: The goat's head found in Lennon/Alison's closet with the killer's calling card]] in the first episode is a reference to ''Film/TheGodfather'', which is even mentioned early on.
109	** When Riley and Dylan are exploring the cave where they hid the body, they are taken by surprise by Lennon and Margot suddenly showing up. This leads to Margot telling Riley to stop [[Film/Scream1996 screaming]] like Creator/NeveCampbell. (Of course, the writer of the 1997 film - Kevin Williamson - also wrote that film).
110	** The singer Music/DojaCat is referenced in the second episode.
111	* SlashedThroat: [[spoiler: Deputy Doug dies this way.]]
112	* SnuffFilm: [[spoiler: Alison, Margot, Riley, and Dylan are sent a video of Johnny getting decapitated.]]
113	* SocialMediaBeforeReason: Margot’s decision to film herself at the funeral service of “Alison” for her followers gets called out by Riley, [[HypocriticalHumor whom she had previously criticized only minutes before for being too self-involved.]]
114	* StrugglingSingleMother: Riley lives with her single mother Courtney, who works two jobs to keep them afloat.
115	* TimeSkip: The seventh episode skips the narrative ahead a couple weeks [[spoiler: after Riley and Clara’s bodies are found and the latter is declared the killer by town authorities.]]
116	* TwinSwitch: [[spoiler: Alison accidentally takes her sister Lennon’s identity the night of the accident after the two had a major fight, when Alison takes Lennon’s jacket and Lennon Alison’s necklace. Then the group accidentally runs over the actual Lennon as she’s walking home and they mistake her for Alison, who doesn’t reveal the switch. This later becomes an InvokedTrope when Alison informs their dad Bruce of the accident as Bruce, devastated at losing one daughter, doesn’t want his other daughter to go to prison.]]
117	* TheUnfavorite: Both twins view themselves as this.
118	* UpperClassTwit: Margot is wealthy, social media-obsessed, and self-involved.
119	* VomitIndiscretionShot: Margot has a tendency of vomiting during intense situations, which is graphically depicted onscreen. The first occurrence is at the accident site, where she throws up on Dale’s car after drinking heavily, then does it again after [[spoiler: finding Dale's body]].
120	* WallOfWeapons: Margot has a veritable arsenal at her house (including a ''bazooka'') that covers an entire wall, which she explains as her dad being from New Jersey.
121	* WeUsedToBeFriends: The strain of the secret between them caused the friends to become estranged, brought together a year later when someone starts taunting them about it.
122	* WrongSideOfTheTracks: Riley and her mother live in the impoverished area of the town.

Context Series / IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer2021