Did season two episode six of Freeform’s Cruel Summer bring more answers or more questions? Given the previous five episodes, it’s unlikely we’ll get any real answers until the season finale. Episode six certainly didn’t do anything but muddy the water.
The key dates for “The Plunge” are:
July 30th, 1999
December 30th, 1999
December 30th, 2000
Summer of 1999
Isabella (Lexi Underwood) informs Megan (Sadie Stanley) that she broke up with Luke. She claims she couldn’t be with him anymore knowing that Megan likes him.
Megan plans a 17th birthday party at her house for Luke with the help of his brother, Brent (Braeden De La Garza). As she’s ordering him around, Brent urges her to relax. He leaves with the parting words, “Just trust me, this party is going to be something Luke will never forget.”
Luke’s party is in full swing when he shows up. Luke (Griffin Gluck) assures Megan he doesn’t mind if Isabella is around, even though she just broke up with him. He also makes a point of telling her how good she looks with her hair down instead of in its usual ponytail.
Jeff (Nile Bullock) tries to invite Megan to go camping with his parents just as Isabella arrives at the party. As Luke watches Isabella, Megan watches him, and then Jeff watches Megan and realizes she didn’t hear him. Megan makes sure Isabella isn’t having second thoughts about breaking up with Luke.
Isabella wishes Luke a happy birthday while Brent talks crap about Isabella.
Megan and Luke are beer pong partners, and Isabella and Jeff also pair up for Luke Chamber’s First Annual Beer Pong Tournament. And, apparently, Brent hired a stripper for his brother’s birthday. Weird.
As Megan surprises Luke with a cake, she looks like she’s about to kiss him, but he gets sick and runs off. Megan tries to talk to Jeff, but he knows she wants to be with Luke; it’s obvious. He thinks Megan was using him to practice for Luke.
Winter of 1999
As the girls get ready for a tradition called the Chatham Plunge, Megan receives an instant message from Ned, the hacker dude who lives in the woods. (The same guy she gave extra mustard to in episode five and has been secretly communicating with.) He lets her know there’s a job opportunity and asks her to come to his house. Megan bails on the Chatham Plunge, claiming she has paperwork due for college.
Luke works out with Sheriff Myer (Sean Blakemore), and the sheriff gives Luke a pep talk. He reminds Luke that his family knows how to push buttons, referring to his brother, Brent.
Luke and Isabella discuss Megan while getting ready to take the icy plunge. Luke believes Megan’s pulling away, but they don’t have time to really talk about it because a couple of guys give them a hard time about the sex tape.
Megan arrives at Ned’s house, and he goes over his security system with her. He’s worried about New Year’s Day and if his system will fail because of Y2K. When he leaves her alone to work on his system, the door locks behind him.
Isabella and Luke seem to be getting closer… again. He’s worried Megan isn’t into him anymore, and Isabella assures him she is. She thinks Megan’s just going through something.
Luke and Isabella are alone in his car when he tells her that she’s taken “so many hits” for Megan. Isabella claims Megan’s her sister and loyalty means everything to her. He asks if she ever regrets it, and she claims she doesn’t. Luke admits he still thinks about her and tries to kiss her. When Isabell refuses, he confesses he thought she was feeling what was going on between them. She informs him that he thought wrong.
Megan finishes up the job for Ned and they chat before she leaves. Ned begins to talk about the Chambers and how Steve thinks he’s above the law and that everyone should bend to them. She claims Luke isn’t like that.
Megan comes home to find Luke waiting in her room. When she asks if he and Isabella had fun, he lies and tells her she was the only thing on his mind and that he misses her. He wants to start fresh and asks about her day, but she’d rather fool around.
Megan’s glad Luke came over because she feels they really needed time alone. She also apologizes for being weird the past couple of days. He seems to feel bad about what happened between him and Isabella, and he tells Megan that while hanging out with Isabella at the plunge, it felt like old times. Megan gets freaked out and demands to know what he means. He lies and says Isabella kissed him. (Way to weasel out and not take responsibility for your actions, Luke!)
Summer of 2000
Megan instant messages Ned and he asks if the code he gave her helped her access files. Debbie (KaDee Strickland) comes in, wondering if she slept at all. Megan opens up about how it’s a hard day. It’s Luke’s birthday and instead of planning a party, they’re attending a memorial. Debbie wants to know where Megan got the laptop she’s using, and Megan just says it’s from a friend. When Debbie tries to ask who, Megan ends the conversation by putting on headphones.
Megan’s sitting in front of a makeshift memorial for Luke when Brent joins her. They laugh as they reminisce about Luke. As she begins to cry, Brent admits he was a jerk to Luke and that Luke didn’t deserve it.
Megan’s in full-on detective mode after getting a letter from Isabella’s old friend, Trevor (we met him in episode five) with a newspaper article about Isabella’s friend, Lisa, dying in a drowning accident. Megan is pouring over the police report of the incident when Debbie comes walks in and asks about the papers. Megan tells her that in the police report from St. Barts, witnesses said Isabella convinced Lisa to go swimming that night even though Lisa was clearly drunk. People could hear the two arguing in the water before Lisa drowned.
Apparently, Isabella left St. Barts that night by helicopter. The case was closed, probably because Isabella’s parents had powerful connections. “A falling out with her best friend and then someone drowns. I mean, it’s…familiar,” says Megan.
Debbie walks into the camper where Isabella was staying to look for what Isabella described as something Megan was trying to hide. She discovers the bag of bloody items.
Steve (Paul Adelstein) and Brent show up at the police station demanding to know why no arrests have been made since it’s been two weeks since they found Luke’s body. Steve and Brent think it was Isabella who did it, and the dad insults Sheriff Myer, warning that he’s going to hire a private investigator – someone who can get some real justice.
Steve is standing in her driveway wanting to talk to Megan just as Debbie exits the camper with the bag of bloody items. He knows the girls are hiding something, and he needs to know what it is. Debbie claims Megan’s not home, and he tells her she can’t hide Megan forever.
Megan tries to get ahold of Trevor, but he doesn’t answer.
Megan shows up where Isabella’s staying and confesses she knows about St. Barts and what happened to Lisa. Isabella wants to know how Megan found out, and she tells her about Trevor and how his visit last summer makes sense now. Isabella claims she tried to tell Megan about Lisa 100 different times, and Megan knows that’s a lie. Megan confronts her about lying since she arrived in Washington. Isabella insists Lisa jumped in the water on her own and she had nothing to do with it.
As Megan and Isabella talk, it appears the door has been left open and Parker (Lisa Yamada) is eavesdropping. In true Isabella fashion, she turns this around on Megan, telling her that this whole time she’s been there, she’s always had her back.
Megan says, “I think you went back to the cabin and you killed Luke – just like you killed Lisa.”
Parker is shocked to hear this.
Episode six ends with Parker going to see Sheriff Myer and telling him what she overheard.
Megan comes home to find her mom sitting in the living with the bag of bloody items. After Debbie says she got them from the camper, Megan wants to know if Isabella gave them to her. Her mom ignores that and wants to know if that is Luke’s blood. Megan wonders if her mom thinks she killed Luke. Debbie demands to know what happened.
”And what if you don’t like what you hear?” replies Megan.
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 1 Recap: “Welcome to Chatham”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 2 Recap: “Ride or Die”
- 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 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”
- Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 10 Recap: “Endgame” Finale
