The premise of both seasons of Cruel Summer isn’t really about the crime that the narrative is following; it’s about the central relationships around the crime — more specifically, the female friendships that are pushed, enhanced, or destroyed in the aftermath of the incident.
All season long, the circumstances around Luke’s death have been closely tied to the friendship between Meghan and Isabella, and I speculated early on that Isabella’s obsession with Meghan would end up being the smoking gun. And now, it literally is — at least, so we think.
In “Confess Your Sins,” the aftermath of Luke’s slimy bragging and attempted two-timing of Meghan and Isabella comes to a head. Meghan’s vindictive side comes out: after the New Year’s Eve Y2K party in the Winter 1999 timeline, she lures Luke back to the cabin under the pretense of kinky sex and then ties him up and drugs him to force a confession. And confess he does: Luke admits to being the mastermind behind the sex tape, though he claims he didn’t want anyone else to see it and doesn’t know who played it at the party.
Isabella is also there to coerce his confession, but it doesn’t end up working in her favor. Luke is in self-preservation mode and spills that he and Isabella slept together before he was with Meghan — a slap in the face to Meghan who believed she and Luke took each other’s virginities.
Tied-up Luke still manages to pull the strings, and forces a fight between the female best friends. Meghan can’t believe that Isabella would lie to her and Luke reminds her of private conversations between them in which she referred to Isabella as “super smothering” and obsessive. This sets Isabella off, and she yells at Luke asking him to admit that he’s the one who made her lie. Lexi Underwood is fantastic in this scene, showing her hurt in a very convincing portrayal that is right up there in the pantheon of obsessive TV characters. It’s not a great look for Meghan, especially when Luke should have been the one to be honest with his girlfriend, but it leads to the explosive ending to the episode: Isabella pulls out a gun (where did she conjure this from? That remains to be seen) and pulls the trigger before the screen turns to black.
“Confess Your Sins” is the darkest episode of the season yet, and even the most wholesome timeline further paints a picture of these men being problematic towards women: in summer 1999, a charity car wash puts all of the women in bathing suits and Brent takes the opportunity to violate Isabella and pull her bikini’s ties, almost exposing her in front of everyone. When his dad Steve approaches, he waves it off by saying “boys will be boys.” Even Jeff, who is typically somewhat more respectful, is found dealing VHS tapes that likely have lurid material on them (the group of boys reference the Pam Anderson & Tommy Lee sex tape, but it’s never made clear whether that’s what’s on Jeff’s tapes). It’s all very gross and feels like a juxtaposition from the women’s plotlines, which are rooted in the mechanics of friendship and deeply held feelings.
GIF: BRENT PULLING ISABELLA’S BIKINI: 33:06
Things are even worse for the gang in the Summer 2000 timeline. Luke is dead, and the police know that Meghan and Isabella lied about the sex tape and find them breaking into Ned’s house to steal his security footage that would pinpoint their location to the cabin the night of his death. The sheriff was even able to get access to footage from the party that night — of course, from Jeff’s camcorder — and isolate Meghan and Isabella’s conversation about making Luke wish he’d never met them. All in all, it’s not looking great for our girls and it almost seems like the only way for either of them to get out of this unscathed is for one of them to turn on the other. And let’s be real, Meghan has no loyalties to anyone except herself and the University of Washington’s computer science program.
It has struck me as odd all season that Meghan has shown little to no emotions about Luke’s death. Even if this episode’s cabin showdown was one of their last interactions and her feelings toward him were marred by his lies, they’re childhood friends turned lovers and it feels like she should still have some emotions about him dying.
It has struck me as odd all season that Meghan has shown little to no emotions about Luke’s death. Even if this episode’s cabin showdown was one of their last interactions and her feelings toward him were marred by his lies, they’re childhood friends turned lovers and it feels like she should still have some emotions about him dying.
And then there’s the matter of Isabella’s gun. I don’t think we’ll find Luke or Meghan dead at the start of Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 9 (“The Miseducation of Luke Chambers”), but her having possession of the weapon definitely complicates things. With only two episodes left, we can expect answers soon and I don’t think either girl is entirely innocent.
Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, Teen Vogue, Paste Magazine, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.