Cruel Summer – Bloody Knuckles

By starrymag | June 19, 2023

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

The events of this episode take place on July 19, 1999, December 19, 1999 and July 19, 2000. In the summer of 1999 Isabella and Megan are preparing to go on a trip with the gang to Luke’s (Griffin Gluck) cabin. Megan (Sadie Stanley) warns Isabella (Lexi Underwood) that this will be lacking in glamor as it’s usually a guys-only ordeal. But Isabella says she can handle it. In the winter Megan’s angry because Isabella told Debbie that it was really Megan and not her on the sex tape. Megan doesn’t understand why she’d do that and Isabella says that Debbie (KaDee Strickland) was looking at her like a monster. She couldn’t handle someone who’s become like a second mom thinking she’d betray Megan in such a big way. However, Megan points out that Debbie isn’t Isabella’s mother. Also, she says the way that Megan’s been leaning on Luke instead of her makes her wonder if Megan would return the favor if their situations were reversed.

 

In the year 2000 Sheriff Myer (Sean Blakemore) comes to the Landry residence and tells Debbie that the ballistics report came back and Luke, Megan and Isabella’s fingerprints were all on the gun that shot Luke. Back in the summer the guys are all playing horseshoes when the girls arrive. Luke and Isabella hug and Jeff’s (Nile Bullock) there too goofing around with a Jason mask.

 

Going back to the fallout of the sex tape Megan and Isabella talk more in the car and Megan promises that she would take the heat for Isabella if she was in her shoes. She says she knows that taking the blame for the tape is a huge deal and she does appreciate it. And she adds that she does understand why she told Debbie – it’s just that a part of her hoped she’d never have to know. She apologizes to Isabella and says it feels awful when she’s mad at her.

 

The cabin group also includes Eric (Jeremy Monn-Djasngar), Fred (Jason Fernandes) and unexpectedly Brent (Braeden De La Garza). Luke is not thrilled about Brent because he wasn’t invited. And we learn the trigger-happy guy’s name is Ned. The group is also joined by Parker (Lisa Yamada) who didn’t want to stay long.

 

More on the aftermath of the sex tape has Sherrif Myer offering Luke comfort. He tells him that he made a mistake, but he knows he’s a good kid. Luke promises that he will find a way to make it right. The sheriff adds that he’s made his own share of mistakes and apologies in his time.

 

Flash forward and Megan’s in a bar watching a news report about Luke’s murder. She’s approached by a journalist named Jenna (Phoebe Miu) who says the world wants to hear her story. Megan’s not interested though and leaves.

 

In the year 2000 Isabella has a meeting with a woman named Rebecca (Jessica Hayles). She’s a British lawyer that Isabella is very familiar with. Rebecca says Isabella’s parents would be there themselves if they could. Isabella knows they’ve never played games before, so they shouldn’t start now. Rebbecca explains she didn’t think she’d be seeing them again so soon. They talk about the fingerprints on the gun and Isabella says the three of them were using it for target practice last summer.  She asks about the sex tape and Isabella states it was Megan on it, but she took the blame. Rebecca says they can’t look like she and Megan are working together and they need to control the optics, which is why they can’t claim diplomatic immunity and leave. Rebecca notes that especially after what happened in St. Bart’s last winter.

 

We see the target practice at the cabin in the summer. Isabella is intrigued because she’s never held a gun before. Megan; however, is an experienced shot.

 

On an unrelated note, an anonymous box addressed to the sheriff is left at the station. Flashing forward again Steve brings Debbie a casserole. They talk about Luke and the girls and the gun. Debbie asks him if he suspects the girls. Steve says Jack (the sheriff) told him about the fingerprints on the gun. Debbie relays the story about the kids all goofing off with it at the cabin last summer. Steve believes that’s probably all that happened but Jack also told him that the cabin had been cleaned recently.

 

More cabin shenanigans as we see Jeff puts Megan in his documentary and teases her about being a model citizen. Speaking of that, circa 2000 Isabella is telling Debbie that she needs to get a lawyer. Debbie isn’t so convinced as she says she’s known Jack for twenty years and it’ll all get sorted out. Isabella says that Jack isn’t her friend since he’s a cop. Megan says she seems to know a lot about dealing with the law. Isabella just says to get a lawyer and make sure they’re really good.

 

At the cabin Brent and Megan talk about Luke and Isabella. We learn that Brent wasn’t always such an arrogant frat boy. Megan says she misses the semi-decent guy she used to know. Brent tells Megan that if she wants to run Isabella out of town that he’s got her back. Flash forward to the winter and Luke goes to the restaurant Megan works at the see her. She’s worried about how it’ll look post-sex tape, but he says he doesn’t care what people say and he took care of it.

 

We cut away and Brent and Steve (Paul Adelstein) are in the sheriff’s office while a stack of tapes sits on Sheriff Myer’s desk. Sheriff Myer asks if those are all the tapes. Brent says there aren’t anymore. Sheriff Myer states that this is a criminal matter because some of the kids featured on those tapes are underage. Steve explains that he’s going to take care of punishing him and this won’t happen again. But the sheriff says he doesn’t think he can just let this slide on account of the child pornography. Steve strong-arms him by pointing out all the times he’s helped the sheriff out over the years.

 

Once they leave the station Brent is happy and feels like he’s in the clear, but despite his calm in Sherrif Myer’s office Steve is pretty angry. He slams Brent’s head against the dashboard and is mad at Brent for lying about how many tapes there were and that he made them to begin with. He says he was honestly just considering letting the sheriff arrest him and he really thought he’d finally grown up. Steve adds that his mother would be horrified if she were still alive.

 

Back at the cabin Isabella suggests the group play two truths and a lie over s’mores. Xerxes was nearly Luke’s name at his mother’s request. Jeff is freaked out by chicken legs. Isabella saw N’SYNC before they got famous. And Megan corroborates a bogus story about Isabella sleepwalking.

 

Megan’s lawyer Tom (David James Lewis) tells her that unfortunately, no matter who was on the sex tape, it gives her a juicy motive. Megan the jilted lover doesn’t paint a pretty picture. And then Megan gets angry when she realizes that Debbie got the money for the lawyer from her father. Debbie always said they didn’t need anything from bio dad and they’d never ask him for anything. She’s stuck to that over the years, but Debbie says she won’t let her pride get in the way of Megan having the best defense possible.

 

Jeff has a fondness for horror movies and is going to see The Blair Witch Project in Seattle and Isabella thinks he likes Megan. Isabella adds that she thinks Megan’s “one of the guys” days are over. Then, the girls bond over liking the rain. It starts to pour and the girls decide they’d prefer their own beds over the testosterone off that is happening in the cabin. In the flash forward it’s time for Megan to go to the station for questioning.

 

On the car ride home Megan and Isabella talk about Luke and Brent. Megan explains that Brent actually used to be pretty sweet before his mother died. Isabella says that makes her feel bad for him, but Megan states that he still sucks tragic backstory aside. When it’s the winter Steve confronts Luke about turning the tapes in to the police. He says he has a right to be angry, but they don’t litigate their family problems in public.

 

Also, in the winter things are chilly between Megan and Jeff. He tells her she chose the wrong guy and he never would’ve done this to her. Plus, he knows it was her on the tape.

 

In the summer of 2000 the girls are questioned. They explain about the gun and say that the last time they saw Luke was on New Year’s Eve. Sheriff Myer questions if both Isabella and Megan wanted revenge, but their respective lawyers tell them not the answer. Back in the winter Brent is angry at Luke for turning him in. Then, he threatens Isabella because Luke says it wasn’t him.

 

When Isabella and Megan get back from the cabin they see Debbie kissing a man. This upsets Megan a lot, but Isabella isn’t clear on why. Megan explains that the guy Debbie was kissing is Keith (Kevin Mundy) her and Lily’s father, biologically anyway. He’s never been consistent, he’s a musician and he kind of dropped off the grid when Lily was a baby. They were never married and Megan’s never even called him dad. Although, she knows her mother pined for him a lot over the years. Isabella encourages Megan to talk to her.

 

In the winter of 1999 there is a late-night meeting between Jeff, Isabella and Megan. Megan says he can’t prove it was her on the tape, but she has plenty of proof of how he paid for all the fancy camera equipment. The girls lay out a mutually assured destruction scenario. They won’t tell anyone about where Jeff got the money and Jeff won’t say anything else about the tape.

 

Megan and Isabella talk a little about their families. Isabella says all their parents care about is their work. She feels like an inconvenience and they just throw money at her to hide their guilt. Isabella adds that Debbie’s not perfect, but unlike her parents she listens. Megan says adults suck and she’s glad Isabella is here.

 

At the station when Megan’s being questioned there’s a discrepancy in Megan’s story. The sheriff has a tape that shows that Megan never brought Luke home after the NYE party. Tom the lawyer decides then that the interview needs to be over. And things aren’t looking much better for Isabella. Her story is that she hasn’t been to the Chambers’ cabin since last summer. So why, Sheriff Myer asks, was her backpack filled with money stashed at the scene of Luke’s murder?