All the lies are starting to unravel. It’s only a matter of time before every secret is out in the open.
It was a chapter of truths coming to light on Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 6.
Sometimes it was a dramatic reveal, like Jeff finding out the truth, to big game changers like Parker overhearing a chat. The pieces are moving together, and we’re diving deeper into what’s hiding beneath the surface.
One of the big takeaways of “The Plunge” was seeing the first noticeable cracks in Luke’s facade.
For much of Cruel Summer Season 2, he had always been seen as the “nice” boy. The sweetheart who was nothing like his brother or dad; the boy next door in love with the girl next door. But he’s more of a Chambers than we realized.
His birthday party during the summer of 1999 showed us the first curious hints.
Sure, we can blame his actions on a broken heart. Isabella had planned to dump him since Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 5, so it would inevitably be a fresh wound. And he did want to keep things cool between them.
Though, his bragging with the guys about the stripper felt very close to how Brent would be.
He loved showing off and talking a big game. On the surface, it’s all innocent fun and drunken games, but Luke does want to show how much of a “man” he can be against his brother and dad.
He only noticed Megan when the other guys called out how hot she was and how she danced.
It was evident to everyone that Megan crushed on him. Even Jeff was picking up on all the tension between them, which was so awkward. (We’ll get to this later on.)
Megan: I didn’t ask you to do that!
Isabella: I know. I wanted to. He clearly has feelings for you, and you guys are like endgame. So, why wait?
Megan: Are you sure about this? I thought you like him?
Isabella: It wasn’t going to be anything but a summer fling.
Luke shouldn’t need a sexy dance to “Genie in a Bottle” to pick up on the truth.
If he had a choice, he would’ve pushed Megan away and got back with Isabella in a heartbeat.
My guess is that it applied in the summer of 1999, and it is still the case in the winter of 1999. His chat in the car with her proved he still had some feelings for her.
And when we throw in him trying to kiss Isabella during the icy plunge in the winter of 1999, it chips away at the idea we had built up about Luke.
Will Megan believe Luke completely? Or will she give Isabella a chance?
Who am I kidding? She’ll believe Luke first. As I chatted with showrunner Elle Triedman before, Luke was her longest friend and burning love; Isabella was just the new girl who came into her life. They’ve got some early underlining tension.
Megan: You’re freaking me out. What happened?
Luke: She kissed me.
It would be incredible if Megan listened to her new BFF, but this lie could lead to trouble at the New Year’s Eve party.
Megan wouldn’t be happy if she found out her boyfriend betrayed her. And we can’t forget there’s a pregnancy scandal coming soon, so that kiss won’t help their future fight.
Megan and Isabella finally chatting with each other was long overdue. Sure, they didn’t discuss much beyond Lisa’s murder, but it must be done. What Trevor shared made Isabella look too guilty.
We don’t know yet if she was the one who convinced Lisa to swim or if Lisa did that on her own.
All I’m confident of as of now is that what Parker overheard will most likely get Isabella arrested. Or it will make her the top suspect in Sheriff Myer’s eyes.
Brent: You know, I always say, “The best way to get over someone is to get under someone else.”
Megan: Right, well, you say a lot of crap and no one’s buying it.
Now, he has a connection to Isabella’s past and a hearsay theory about the murder. Plus, that information proves Isabella and Megan didn’t commit the crime together. Why would Megan say Isabella went back to kill if she was there?
That slip-up will clear either one of them.
“The Plunge” also gave us more details about two characters floating in the mix of who could’ve killed Luke. The first is our broken-hearted filmmaker, Jeff.
The party was so awkward! Did anyone else cringe whenever he noticed Megan flirting with Luke?
She didn’t even hide her excitement at the party.
We’ve chatted about how Megan likes to speak from a place of moral superiority but doesn’t hold herself accountable. Not with her secrets, her hacking, or her leading Jeff on. The same goes for her friendship with Isabella.
It can be hard to let someone down if you’re not feeling it. Breaking up is never easy, so I understood where she came from.
The problem, however, is that Jeff gave her an out. He spoke all the truth and gave Megan a chance to walk away, but she still doubled down. She was still okay leading him on and pretending she wasn’t in love with Luke.
Megan: That’s not fair.
Jeff: What’s not fair is me being used as your practice run.
Megan: That’s not what it’s like.
Jeff: You can lie to yourself, Megan, but you can’t lie to me. We’re done.
Jeff isn’t an idiot. The party gave him plenty of signs Megan wasn’t that into him.
The best thing that could’ve happened was that Jeff broke up with him.
Her chat proved she wouldn’t do it until she was in a relationship with Luke. Jeff may have been pissed in the winter of 1999, but that party gave them all a clean break before it became toxic later on. He and Megan weren’t a good match.
The second growing suspect is Ned. All his Y2K paranoia and his close relationship with Megan made him even sketchier.
He’s taken too much of an interest in her. Let alone all the illegal jobs he’s probably sending her for cash. (That online chat has to be him, right?)
His creepy behavior makes him too big a red herring, so my stock in him as the killer is low. However, his words to her about Luke were interesting.
Ned knows how demanding and territorial the Chambers family gets. He isn’t fooled by any of them, including Luke. If anyone wanted to spare Megan from being linked to that family, Ned could do it.
And with him being a tech genius in 1999, he could easily find a path to get away with it. We can’t rule him out yet.
Last Thoughts From The Archive:
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Debbie better be prepared for whatever truth Megan has to share. Those bloody clothes might clear her name or make her even guiltier.
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Sheriff Myer and Luke’s friendship is a curious case. He seems like a mentor to Luke, but even then, we shouldn’t rule him out. If Luke did plan to run away (and leave his baby), his mentor wouldn’t be happy.
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We need more scenes with Parker to flesh out her character. Her teaching the girls the dance was a fun scene, but we need more than simply being Brent’s (ex-) girlfriend and Isabella’s friend.
Now, over to you, Cruel Summer fans.
What did you think of “The Plunge”?
What truths will Megan tell Debbie? Will Megan discover that Luke lied about the kiss? How will Sheriff Myer react to Parker’s information?
If you missed the latest episode of Cruel Summer, you can watch Cruel Summer online via TV Fanatic. Come back here and share your thoughts in the comments below.
Justin Carreiro is a staff writer for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.