Cruel Summer – All I Want for Christmas

By starrymag | July 3, 2023

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

The episode’s events occur on July 25, 1999, December 25, 1999, and July 25, 2000.

 

We open with Isabella (Lexi Underwood) writing a letter to her friend Lisa. She’s talking about how much she loves it in Chatham. She says she and Megan (Sadie Stanley) are getting so close and she wishes Lisa could be here because of all the fun they’d have together. Flash forward and the Landrys plus Isabella are having a Christmas morning gift swap. Megan gives Isabella a scrapbook filled with their summer adventures. Isabella gifts Megan a considerably more expensive computer monitor. Megan thanks her but seems a little uncomfortable at the gift’s cost.

 

Months go by and it’s the summer of 2000 and Isabella is reading that Megan is a person of interest in Luke’s (Griffin Gluck) murder. She’s angry with Rebecca (Jessica Hayles), the lawyer, because she promised she’d tell her before she told anyone about Megan’s pregnancy. Rebecca says Isabella’s money in the cabin made her look bad, so she had to strike back. Isabella insists that she’s being framed and the bag wasn’t there until after the body was found — all the more reason, Rebecca says, for her to stay one step ahead.

 

Back in the summer of 1999, when things were simpler, Isabella went to see Megan at work. She’s waiting on Ned (Ben Cotton) and Isabella comments on how friendly she was. Megan just explains that Ned’s high-strung and lonely and she’s the only one with the patience to deal with him. Later in the winter we see Megan looking at her report card and changing her C+ to an A. Then, Isabella comes in and things are awkward. Isabella apologizes if the monitor made her feel weird and things are a bit frosty between the girls with Megan declining the offer to hang out.

 

Flash forward and it’s the year 2000 in the aftermath of the pregnancy reveal. Isabella apologizes to Megan and says her lawyer told the police about the pregnancy, not her. Megan doesn’t believe her and wants to know how she found out. Isabella says she found a pregnancy test in her bathroom during NYE. She snooped because she wanted to know why Megan seemed so distant. Megan doesn’t believe Isabella when she says she never would’ve revealed the pregnancy, but Isabella says she still has hope for their friendship. Plus, their fates are tied because the more people learn about Megan’s whereabouts the night of Luke’s disappearance the more they’ll learn about Isabella. Megan leaves and says their friendship died a long time ago.

 

Back in the summer of 1999 Isabella and Megan are driving home and talking about Luke and Jeff. Then, the lighthearted chatter is interrupted by the realization that Isabella’s got an unexpected visitor: Lisa’s brother Trevor (Olly Sholotan). They were all at a boarding school in Switzerland together. Debbie (KaDee Strickland) and Megan are all set to welcome him, but Isabella seems to want him to leave. He ends up staying for lunch and at Megan’s request he’s coming to the Christmas in July celebration.

 

In the winter Isabella spends the morning with Debbie in the kitchen and we learn that she and Steve are on a break. She encourages Isabella to do something fun with Megan after she’s done working. This gives Isabella an idea and she heads out. Rewinding to Christmas in July, Trevor can’t get over Isabella’s personality change and her being so distant. He’s apparently been looking for her for months, even though he’s started college in London. When Megan goes to greet Luke he points out that she didn’t use to dress this casually, eat meat or date guys like Luke. She says she’s trying to learn and grow. When Luke and Megan come back to the table the tension continues, but Trevor shows no signs of wanting to leave.

 

In the winter Isabella decided to follow Megan and she’s going out to Ned’s cabin in the woods which confuses her. Farther in the future Megan tells Debbie she wants Isabella to leave. She says she can’t stand being around her anymore. Debbie wonders where she would go, but Megan doesn’t seem to care as she just wants her gone.  Debbie then asks if what the sheriff said about her being pregnant was true. Megan says yes and that Isabella’s the one who told the police about it. New Year’s Eve was six months ago and there’s a noticeable lack of a baby or baby bump, so she tries to ask how Megan got unpregnant. However, Megan doesn’t want to talk about it. She just says Debbie can’t be neutral anymore and she needs Isabella gone.

 

In the summer of ‘99 Luke asks Trevor how he and Isabella know each other. Trevor can’t stop commenting on Isabella’s radio silence and the changes. Trevor says Isabella left Switzerland without saying goodbye and Isabella reminds Trevor that her parents don’t give her a say in when and how they leave a place. Isabella then suggests spiking the iced hot chocolate and Trevor is shocked. He can’t believe she still drinks after what happened and he is astounded that she never told them what happened. Megan and Luke want to know what happened and Isabella tells them a story about getting drunk in a park and being kicked out of school. Trevor backs her up in the moment but doesn’t seem thrilled about it.

 

When they’re away from the group Trevor wants to know what gives. It seems he’s been looking for her since she left Switzerland and says her parents wouldn’t tell him where she was. And he doesn’t understand what she’s doing here in Chatham, acting like Megan and Luke are her best friends in the world. He explains that he wanted to talk to her about whatever happened last winter and worried she was hiding from him. Isabella says she wanted to talk too but couldn’t. She adds that things got out of hand last winter and if she had it to do again that she’d do a lot of things differently. Trevor says he’d do things differently, too. He shares that the police had a lot of questions about that night and there have been ugly rumors as well. Isabella asks if she believes the rumors. Trevor says he doesn’t know what to believe because Isabella just left and didn’t bother to call. She shares that it was because of her parents, but Trevor is hurt and says he needed her. She apologizes, says she loves him and then kisses him  – something that confuses Trevor and Megan who sees them from the docks.

 

We flash forward to the winter and Isabella meets up with Luke. She tells him that Megan has been acting weird and hiding things. Luke says she’s been chilly with him too. Isabella mentions following her, but we flashback to the summer before we can find out if she told him about Ned. In the summertime Ned asks Isabella what she’s doing and saying “I love you” isn’t going to cut it this time. He came here for an answer. Isabella tells him that he’s already made up his mind, so it’s time for Trevor to leave. Trevor says that Isabella is unbelievable.

 

In the summer of 2000 Debbie and Isabella have an awkward talk. Isabella starts by saying that she didn’t mean for news about Megan’s pregnancy to get out and her lawyer went rogue. Debbie tries to be gentle about it, but she tells Isabella that she thinks it’d be a good idea if she found somewhere else to stay until things are settled. Isabella says she was thinking the same thing and had already packed her bags. Debbie says this doesn’t have to be permanent, but Isabella states that it’s fine. Although, before she goes she said there’s something under her bed that Megan wanted to get rid of and she should ask her why. In the trailer we see she hadn’t actually packed and does so in tears.

 

In the winter Isabella tells Luke about Megan and Ned. Luke is confused and wonders what they could be doing. Still he insists that whatever’s going on with Megan she’ll come around eventually because she always does.

 

We get another summer of 1999 flashback and Trevor has left and Megan confronts her about the kiss. She wants to know if something’s still going on with her and Trevor. However, Isabella swears that they’re over and they just got caught up in the moment. It’s not clear if Megan believes her, but she doesn’t say anything to Luke and he and Isabella leave.

 

Isabella and Luke end up sleeping together in the summer after she apologizes for Trevor showing up. Then we go to the winter and Debbie goes into the trailer and finds a stack of unmailed postcards and letters addressed to Lisa. When Isabella comes in she’s surprised and Debbie apologizes. She still asks what gives with not mailing them to Lisa. Isabella explains that it’s because Lisa’s family is traveling and they agreed it’d be easier to just mail them all at once when she’s home.

 

Post-sleeping together Luke tells Isabella it was his first time, but he says he knows this might not be a huge deal for Isabella. Isabella says it’s not, not a huge deal because she doesn’t sleep with a lot of people. We go forward and Isabella is apologizing to Megan for the monitor. She says she gets that such an expensive gift might’ve made her uncomfortable and that she should’ve been thinking more about how Megan would feel. Back in the summer we see Megan instant messaging with Ned. Isabella comes in and she hides the messages. Isabella reiterates to Megan that she and Trevor are finished. Megan then reluctantly admits that she does have a thing for Luke after all, so she was a little relieved when she thought she still wanted Trevor. Megan apologizes and wants to pretend she didn’t say it. Isabella says it’s okay, she doesn’t want there to be any secrets between them.

 

We cut away to what’s left of the Christmas of 1999 and Isabella and Megan are eating cookies together. Megan says the monitor is amazing and Isabella responds by saying the photo album is the nicest gift she’s ever gotten. Then the girls say goodnight.

 

In the year 2000 things are looking grim. Isabella is with Rebecca and Rebecca is pretty worried. She says the sheriff has been digging around into Isabella’s past. She’s worried what happened in St. Bart’s will get out. Isabella asks if she can stop that from happening. Rebecca says she’s managed to for a year, but sooner or later someone will talk.

 

Back in the Christmas in July Megan and Isabella are saying goodnight and Isabella notices that Megan makes a Matrix reference like Luke did earlier. There’s a beat and Isabella says maybe she’s not so over Trevor and she doesn’t need a relationship right now. She adds that she thinks Luke and Megan are soulmates.

 

In 2000 Debbie tells Megan she got a letter from London. Megan is surprised and sees it’s from Trevor. She opens it and Trevor has a lot to say. He shares that when he heard that Luke drowned he knew he had to contact Megan. When he came to visit he realized she didn’t know the full picture and apologizes for not filling her in sooner. Enclosed in the letter is an obituary for his sister Lisa and an article about her drowning.