Although season one of Freeform’s Cruel Summer ended with a cliffhanger, season two focuses on new characters and a brand-new storyline. Season two episode one starts off much like the first season’s opening, with typing appearing on an older computer screen that reads, “The events that are about to unfold take place on or around July 16th, 1999, December 15th, 1999, and July 16th, 2000.”
The action begins in the summer of 1999 with Megan (Sadie Stanley) and her mom, Debbie Landry (KaDee Strickland), talking about someone named Isabella coming to stay with them. Megan doesn’t seem pleased, but her mom thinks it would be good for her to have a female friendship.
Fast forward to the winter of 1999 – and just 15 days until Y2K – and Isabella LaRue (Lexi Underwood) returns home to give Megan good news. Megan received an acceptance letter to the University of Washington State, and both girls are ecstatic.
Megan thanks Isabella for being there and claims having her around is the best thing that’s ever happened to her.
The next time period we dip into is the Summer of 2000. Megan, whose appearance has dramatically changed and gotten less small-town girl and more goth-ish, seems to be coding on a computer when she’s interrupted. A quick peek outside shows the sheriff in her driveway.
Megan hops out of a window to avoid him.
Try not to get confused by the shifting timelines, as we’re now back in the summer of 1999. Megan tells her best friend Luke Chambers (Griffin Gluck) about her mom “importing” a new female BFF for her from a different country. Luke briefly tries to get Megan to join him on a boat with friends to do some partying, but she’s a good girl and declines. They tease her about being sober and celibate, but Megan insists she has to stick around since Isabella’s arriving today.
Luke, being a decent guy, volunteers to stay with her, but Megan doesn’t want to wreck his fun.
Winter of 1999: Luke congratulates Megan on getting into the college she wanted to get into, and it appears they’ve left the friend zone and are now dating. Luke’s sad she’s going away to college, but Megan reminds him she’ll only be an hour away.
They’re making out when they hear nearby gunshots. A man’s outside in the middle of the night shooting at ducks, and Luke describes him as a stone-cold freak. Megan says he’s coder royalty at Apple and is worth millions.
Summer of 2000: Megan meets up with a guy to sell him a floppy disk. She tells him he needs to pay double now because the sheriff was asking questions.
Summer of 1999: Isabella arrives bearing gifts for Megan, her mom, and Megan’s little sister. Megan’s standoffish and decides to go through Isabella’s things but gets caught. (Isabella’s room has been set up in a trailer in Megan’s yard.)
As the timeline continues to bounce around, we see Megan and Isabella transforming from strangers to besties. There’s even a scene of Megan calling Isabella her best friend and her ultimate ride-or-die.
And in 2000, Megan looks at a missing person flyer with the picture ripped from it. A girl we haven’t met yet pops in and says, “None of this would have happened if she didn’t come to town.”
Summer of 1999: Megan shows Isabella around town, and Isabella reveals she came to Chatham to experience a small town and feel like part of a family. Megan informs Isabella – and the audience – that Luke’s dad owns most of the businesses in the city’s small downtown area. We also learn Megan’s desperate to leave Chatham and go to work in Silicon Valley for a company like Apple. Megan’s family is struggling to keep the bills paid, and she pitches in her paychecks to keep the lights on and the family fed.
When Isabella meets Luke for the first time, they hit it off. Megan notices their instant connection. She also notices how her friends – including Luke’s brother, Brent – accept Isabella right away. A guy in their group is a budding filmmaker and documents everything on video as they chat about Isabella’s background.
Sometime later, Isabella asks Megan if it’s okay if she hooks up with Luke after confirming that Megan and Luke are just friends. Megan, who’s the only one not drinking at this nighttime party on the beach, tells Isabella to go for it.
A brief scene shows that Megan’s mom works for Luke’s dad, analyzing land deals he’s interested in developing. Episode one’s confusing timeline at some point reveals they’re dating.
Winter of 1999: It all comes crashing down at Luke’s father’s annual Christmas party. The videotape that’s supposed to be of a Christmas movie is instead a video of Luke and Isabella having sex. Luke and Megan had just said I love you to each other for the first time when this tape reveals Luke and Isabella went all the way.
Megan runs from the party, and Isabella and Luke give chase. Megan wants nothing to do with either of them.
Summer of 2000: Megan overhears people talking about how they found a body in the lake. Megan takes off to a cabin in the woods and as she’s stepping out of the car, Isabella’s drivers license falls out. She quickly picks it up and then frantically begins to clean up what appears to be blood on the wooden floors.
Later, Megan’s stuck in traffic and an ambulance zooms past her toward the lake. She exits her car in a panic. Megan rushes to the lake to discover the authorities have already pulled the body out and placed it in a body bag.
Episode one ends with Luke’s father unzipping the body bag and discovering Luke inside. Isabella walks up and stands next to Megan as the crowd is stunned. Isabella turns to Megan and says, “We have to get our story straight.”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 2 “Ride or Die” Recap
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 3 Recap: “Bloody Knuckles”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 4 Recap: “Springing a Leak”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 5 Recap: “All I Want For Christmas”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 6 Recap: “The Plunge”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 7 Recap: “It’s the End of the World”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 8 Recap: “Confess Your Sins”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 9 Recap: “The Miseducation of Luke Chambers”
* * * * *
New episodes of Freeform’s Cruel Summer season two air on Mondays at 10pm ET/PT.
