“Cruel Intentions ”showrunners explain how the TV show is connected to the movie and the finale ending (2024)

"We wanted to make a new chapter," executive producer Sara Goodman says.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for the season 1 finale ofCruel Intentions, "Theta."

The first season of the Cruel Intentions TV show was shockingly not as cruel as the original 1999 movie — if only for the fact that one of the characters made it out alive (for now, at least).

By the end of the season finale, "Theta" (now streaming on Prime Video), Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) drove off in his vintage Jaguar XK140 after sleeping with his step-mother Claudia (Claire Forlani) to get revenge on his step-sister Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) ... and he shared the sex tape with Caroline to further twist the dagger. Yeah, it's all just as scandalous as it sounds with the step-incest — but hey, haven't you seen the movie?

However, unlike Ryan Phillippe's movie character Sebastian Valmont upon which Lucien is based, Lucien didn't die at the end. "We're not done with him yet," showrunner Phoebe Fisher tells Entertainment Weekly. "I think we didn't literally kill him, but we emotionally may have."

Related: Cruel Intentions showrunners say they're open to movie alum Selma Blair appearing in season 2

"You can't kill him after what he just did," showrunner Sara Goodman adds. "There's either redemption or retribution coming for him, or both... I think in an ongoing series, and we really want it to be an ongoing series, that love triangle and those relationships have just begun, and so we're not ready to take him out of them."

The series also ended its first season with Lucien dropping out of the bet he made with Caroline to seduce innocent Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith), the daughter of the vice president of the United States, who ended up pledging Caroline's sorority. Just like in the movie, Lucien developed real feelings for Annie and intentionally hurt her to drive her away, lying about his feelings and calling her "boring." Meanwhile Annie started to uncover some of Caroline's lies, including how she betrayed her own best friend CeCe (Sara Silva) by sleeping with Professor Chadwick (Sean Patrick Thomas) and then reported it to authorities at their college.

"We've made Annie a player in the game now," Fisher says. "And we've given all kinds of other stakes and information to all of our other characters, and so while we set it up with the bet and with the cruelty that was in the movie and in the previous iterations, they haven't achieved their goals. That's for sure."

"What will Lucien do next?" Goodman teases. "Hopefully, we'll meet his dad. And see what that whole mess is. And there's many more triangles to explore."

Related: Cruel Intentions EPs explain why movie alum Sean Patrick Thomas plays a totally new character

Since the show is not a sequel or a remake ofthe cult classic 1999 moviethat starredReese Witherspoon,Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Selma Blair(which was based on the classic novel Dangerous Liaisons) but rather an updated version of the story about two twisted step-siblings who will do anything to get their way, the showrunners reveal that the show and the movie exist "in the same universe," and this is just a new chapter.

"The Merteuils are in the world somewhere," Fisher says before joking that Gellar's Kathryn Merteuil could be Caroline's "great aunt or something,"

"Yes, they live in the same world," Goodman adds. "[The movie] was just 25 years ago."

Here are all the other connections and references to the 1999 movie throughout the first season of the series.

The song

It wouldn't be Cruel Intentions without the Verve's iconic song "Bitter Sweet Symphony," and the TV show used it twice. First, a new cover of the song debuted in the pilot episode, and then the original version played in the finale as Caroline saw Lucien’s video of sleeping with her mother.

"My favorite shout-out to the original was the 'Bitter Sweet Symphony' jazzy version that we have," Fisher says. "Jeff Cardoni, our composer, helped us with that. The music obviously is a big part of the movie, and so we wanted to incorporate those little shout-outs where we could."

"Yeah, we love the music," Goodman adds, calling out the "Every Me Every You" cover as well. "We were really, really careful to make sure that fans of the original knew we honor them and we love the movie, and none of them felt like they didn't belong in our world. And so I think the fact that we did it all organically, for us, was really important."

The car

Lucien also drove a vintage Jaguar XK140, just like Sebastian did in the movie. However, his step-mother took away his car at the beginning of the season, and Caroline helped him get it back.

"We had to have everything built because [the movie] was 25 years ago and hard to track down," Goodman says. "The car from the movie was a kit car, so we got a kit car. We wrapped it [because] we could only find it in red. And Zac wasn't old enough to drive when we first got it. Luckily, there was an actor strike, so when we came back [to film], he was old enough to drive."

The cross necklace

Just like Kathryn, Caroline also wore a large silver cross necklace. And yes, it's still full of cocaine.

But the TV show prop necklace is not the exact same one as the movie. "It's a recreation," Goodman reveals.

The bet

It wouldn't be Cruel Intentions without step-siblings who make a bet to sleep together. After a hazing incident threatened to destroy all Greek Life on their college campus, Delta Phi president Caroline wanted incoming freshman Annie to pledge her sorority, because she believes the school wouldn't shut down the vice president's daughter's sorority. She enlisted Lucien to seduce Annie and sway her to pledging Delta Phi. If Lucien was successful, Caroline would sleep with him. Lucien, of course, called of the bet, but Caroline still got her way. Now Annie's a full-fledged Delta Phi, and she got second thoughts about who Caroline is too late.

The pool scene

The TV show recreated the movie's iconic pool scene when Lucien and Annie break into an indoor pool for a flirty swimming session. Lucien and Annie also spend a day volunteering at an assisted living facility, just like their movie counterparts.

The practice makeout session

Another Cruel Intentions staple is the moment when Gellar and Blair locked lips, but the TV show updated that scene by having Caroline kiss Annie instead to practice making out. "That's who needed to kiss," Goodman says.

"It just fit our story that we were telling and it fit organically into those two characters' specific journeys at that point and what they're trying to achieve personally and on the greater chessboard of what they're up to," Fisher adds. "But it felt like that was something that we could do organically that made sense for our characters, and also was a great little nod to the Cecile and Kathryn kiss."

The showrunners also tease that, if the show returns for a second season, expect to see more surprising kisses between other characters. "There'll be much more kissing between many more people," Goodman says.

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The secret romance

In the movie, Joshua Jackson played gay drug dealer Blaine Tuttle who was secretly hooking up with closeted athlete Greg McConnell (Eric Mabius). But the TV show went one step further with that relationship. The ambitious Blaise Powell (John Harlan Kim) was secretly hooking up with his closeted Alpha Gamma brother Scott Russell (Khobe Clarke), and manipulated him into becoming president of their fraternity. But after embezzling from the fraternity's finances and trying to use Scott's sexuality as blackmail to his conservative congressman father, Scott ended up turning on Blaise.

The original cast member

Thomas, who played Blair's love interest/music tutor Ronald Cliffordin the movie, is the onlyCruel Intentionsalum who appeared in the TV series. However, he's playing a totally new role as Professor Chadwick, a history teacher at the fictional Manchester College. By the end of the first season, he'd fallen for his T.A. CeCe, but was manipulated into breaking things off with her by her BFF Caroline. He then slept with Caroline, not knowing she was a student.

The final shot

Lucien survived the first season, and he also got the honor of being in the final scene taking the place of Witherspoon's Annette. The last shot showed Lucien driving in his convertible, putting on his sunglasses, and feeling victorious over Caroline.

"There are also certain shots that people might recognize," Goodman says. "There's all kinds of little things that we've done."