We’re down to the wire with just two episodes to go on the second season of Freeform’s Cruel Summer, and the suspense over what happened to Luke is incredibly intense. Season two episode nine, “The Miseducation of Luke Chambers,” takes place in the fall and winter of 1999 as well as early January 2000.
Luke (Griffin Gluck) sits down and watches home video of himself and Megan as kids, hanging out with their families in the woods. Later, Luke is lounging in the pool when his brother, Brent (Braeden De La Garza), tries to drown him. Thankfully, it’s just a joke. That leads to Luke, Brent, and Steve (Paul Adelstein) reminiscing about Luke’s mom.
The school year begins, and Megan (Sadie Stanley), Isabella (Lexi Underwood), and Luke hang out, having grown closer over the summer.
October arrives, and Luke confesses to Megan that it’s awkward between him and his dad now that Brent is away at college. Luke doesn’t know what he would do without her.
Luke does his best to try and connect with his dad at his dad’s work. Steve shows his son a model of his latest project and reminds him that he’s going to learn about all of this when he goes off to college. Luke takes this opportunity to tell his dad that he enjoys being on the water and is thinking about joining the Coast Guard. Steve says absolutely not.
Steve does what he does best, berating Luke until Luke agrees with him.
Luke isn’t dissuaded and speaks with Sheriff Myer (Sean Blakemore) about his plans. Myer hands Luke an application for the Coast Guard and suggests that Luke should talk to his dad about it again.
Luke and Megan are lying together as Luke talks to her about their future after high school. It appears Megan doesn’t know about Luke’s plans to join the Coast Guard because she talks about him going to college.
Weeks pass, and we catch up with Megan, Luke, and Isabella dressed as characters from the movie The Matrix for a Halloween party. Isabella starts getting weird, suggesting to Luke that since Megan is following her own dreams, he should do the same. Luke wonders why he can’t just be Megan’s charming accomplice and Isabella, oddly, replies, “That role’s already taken, and there isn’t enough room there for both of us.”
Next, there’s a very telling scene of Brent being sleazy and bragging about making sex tapes. Luke jumps in and Brent eggs him on, saying he doesn’t have the guts to make a sex tape.
Megan and Isabella come home late one night, and Luke is on her couch. They were supposed to hang out but Megan forgot. She and Isabella used their fake IDs to go back to a pub they went to once before. Megan teases Isabella about how the lead singer of the band playing that night was into her. Isabella turns it around and begins to tell Luke that the guy’s friend was all over Megan and following her around all night.
Megan clearly wants Isabella to shut up, but of course, she goes on. Luke’s obviously annoyed, and Isabella seems satisfied by that.
Later, Luke runs into Jeff (Nile Bullock) at the police station. Jeff’s still upset about Luke and Megan, and Luke admits he thought Jeff would be over it by now. Jeff lets him know he doesn’t respect him anymore.
Megan, Isabella, and Luke ditch school and hang out at the cabin. As they’re making plans to possibly go to a concert, Isabella says something about her and Megan going to Madrid next summer. Luke had no clue. Again, Isabella’s oddly possessive, saying Megan needs to travel because staying in one spot is bad for the soul.
Luke finally confronts his dad, informing him he got into Branson – a family tradition – and got accepted to the Coast Guard Academy. Steve’s angry and warns that he won’t pay for anything if he goes. Luke has had enough and tells his dad that he’s just this constant disappointment to him and that Brent is who he cares about.
Steve accuses Luke of having a pity party instead of listening to what his son is really saying. Luke angrily tells his dad, “You have resented me ever since the night of the accident. You wish I was the one that died that night.” Luke’s so upset that he adds that they all would have been better off if Steve was the one driving that night.
Days later, Luke shows up at Megan’s and she knows he’s upset. He admits that ever since the big fight with his dad, they talk even less. Apparently, she now knows about the Coast Guard because she asks what he told the Coast Guard. He wonders if she ever feels like running away and admits that sometimes it’s all he thinks about.
Winter of 1999/2000
It’s the night of the big Chambers holiday party, and the principal informs Luke that his father was just telling her that he got into Branson. Luke responds, “It’s the Chambers way.” Steve gets pissed and tells Luke he’s embarrassing him. After shoving Luke, Steve insists that Luke’s going to Branson; he doesn’t want to hear another word about it.
And it’s revealed that Luke’s way of getting back at his dad was to play the sex tape of him and Megan during the party!
A few days later, Brent and their friends are congratulating Luke on being a stud. Brent asks how long he has been seeing Isabella on the side. Jeff is there recording their conversation.
Luke and Megan make out at the cabin, and Luke wants to go further but Megan can’t. She’s still very much freaked out about being secretly videotaped. (Everyone – other than Luke – thinks Brent did it.)
Days later, Luke is moping around because Megan ditched him again. Steve comes home and, completely out of character, wants to know what’s wrong. Once again in true Steve fashion, he ruins their bonding moment by reminding Luke there are still plenty of fish in the sea and that maybe it’s time for him to see what else is out there.
And now we’ve arrived at the fateful night at the cabin. Episode eight had a shocking ending showing Isabella pointing a gun at a tied-up Luke and pulling the trigger. Now it’s revealed that the bullet grazed his ear. As Megan attempts to clean up the wound, Isabella tries to get Megan to leave Luke there. Megan’s conflicted about what to do and confesses to Luke that she’s pregnant.
After Megan and Isabella leave, Luke manages to get free from his restraints but is still very drugged up. He stumbles around in the woods, and as he does so, he hears the different voices of all the people he’s disappointed. Luke makes his way down to the docks, and he pages someone from his pager.
A quick scene shows Megan lying in bed, clearly worried, while Isabella is awake in her bed.
Episode nine ends with footsteps falling upon the docks and Luke saying, “I didn’t think you’d come.”
- 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 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 10 Recap: “Endgame” Finale
