Cruel Summer – Confess Your Sins

By starrymag | July 24, 2023

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

 

The events of this episode take place on August 1, 1999, January 1, 2000, and August 1, 2000.

 

The day after the adventure in the woods in 1999, Megan (Sadie Stanley) is feeling uncharacteristically giddy after kissing Luke (Griffin Gluck). She tells Isabella (Lexi Underwood) that it was perfect and thanks her. Isabella says that Megan and Luke are made for each other, she just gave them a nudge. Flash forward to the Y2K and Megan takes Luke to the cabin. To recap she overheard him bragging about the play he made for Isabella, but he doesn’t know she knows. She takes out some ropes and says since it’s the end of the world she wants to try something different. A little further in the future Isabella surprises Megan by showing up and saying they need to talk.

 

It seems the police know it’s really Megan on the sex tape. Megan assumes that Isabella is the one who told, but Isabella says the truth makes her look bad, too. Reminder, Parker (Lisa Yamada) overheard them talking. The subject changes and Megan says that Steve (Paul Adelstein) and the police now suspect Ned and that Ned has surveillance cameras that are always operating. He might have footage of the night of Luke’s disappearance, so they agree to go to Ned’s house and try to watch the New Year’s footage.

 

Elsewhere Sheriff Myer (Sean Blakemore) and Deputy Hal (Hal Hardwicke) talk about Isabella and Megan. Hal wonders if they’ve been conspiring. Sherriff Myer says he wouldn’t put anything past them considering how many secrets they’ve kept. Sheriff Myer says that with Megan being on tape it puts things in a very different light.

 

Luke comes over to see Megan and Isabella opts to give them some alone time in Megan’s room. Once downstairs Isabella bumps into Lilly (Jenna Lamb) and Debbie (KaDee Strickland) and tells them that Luke and Megan are a couple. She’s happy for them, but she doesn’t really know where that leaves her. Debbie says it leaves her next to Megan like she has been for most of the summer. Plus, Debbie points out that school will start soon, and she’ll have even more friends. Isabella still seems sad, but she says she’s excited to have American high school experiences. That includes a yearly car wash, according to Debbie.

 

In the less giddy winter Megan ties Luke to the bed and he suggests they have a safe word for if things get too intense. Megan suggests “control, alt, delete” and then Luke is shocked when Isabella enters the room.

 

Back in the summer it’s the car wash, which is a fundraiser for the Class of 2000’s prom. Parker tells Isabella that without the car wash cash they’ll be stuck having prom in the gym. Isabella decides to throw herself into the car wash and use sex appeal to attract customers.

 

During the night of the Y2k a shirtless Luke is tied to the bed and wants to know what gives. Megan says that they need to talk about what happened at The Plunge. She points out that Luke and Isabella’s versions of events don’t match, and she wants to get to the bottom of why. Luke demands to be let go and the girls tell him that’s not happening before leaving the bedroom to make some drinks.

 

When the girls are making drinks there are three cups. One is for Luke and Megan empties two tablets into it calling it “truth serum.” The girls get alcohol, which Megan calls “liquid courage.” After hearing Luke’s shouts to untie him, Isabella adds a third tablet for good measure. Megan hands Luke the cup full of truth serum and Luke reminds them that he’s already drunk but takes the drugged cup at Megan’s urging. What could possibly go wrong?

 

In the summer of 2000 using a code Megan remembers the girls get into Ned’s cabin. Megan starts going through the computer files and the girls talk a little. Isabella asks why Megan never told her about working with Ned. Megan says it’s because she started working with Ned around the time of the sex tape and she needed something that was just hers. Isabella said she would’ve let her have it. Megan doesn’t really respond and says she might’ve found something. Sheriff Myer surprises them by saying that he found something, too.

 

Going back to the summer of 1999 Parker and Isabella talk about the upcoming school year. Isabella wants to join the planning committee and help put together dances. She’s even excited to get a locker because those aren’t a thing at boarding school. Parker is amused by how enthusiastic she is about senior year. Parker then apologizes for how unfriendly she was at the beginning of the summer. The group notices that Megan and Luke are together and Parker wonders if it’s weird for her. Isabella says it’s no big deal but admits she’s worried about the politics of being a threesome. In her experience when there are three people involved, two people will always end up overruling one person.

 

Jeff (Nile Bullock) asks Isabella about her year-long goal. She’s curious about what he does with the footage. He says he’s planning on making a time capsule and next summer he wants everyone to watch and see what changes. Isabella says it’s her first and last American school year, so she wants to go hard.

 

On the night of Y2K and drugged up Luke shares a lot with the girls as Isabella films and Megan asks the questions. Luke finally admits that he initiated the kiss at The Plunge and when Megan quotes his speech about having the girls wrapped around his finger, he says he didn’t mean it and just wanted to sound cool. Megan wonders if he’s been bragging about the tape the whole time. He asks about what she’s going to do with the tape and Megan says he’s going to confess all of his sins.

 

As Steve is exiting the police station and Debbie is walking in, the two parents have an uncomfortable encounter. Steve wants to know if Debbie knew it was really Megan on the tape the whole time. Debbie says yes, but it was private between her and the girls. Steve is upset about her keeping the secret, but Debbie explains that she had to protect her daughter. Then, Steve points out that Isabella isn’t her daughter. According to Debbie when the tape was played Isabella became an instant pariah. Since Debbie brought her to town, she couldn’t turn her back on her. Steve says he’s just trying to get justice for Luke. Debbie responds by saying she understands, but she won’t let Megan go to jail for a crime she didn’t commit. Steve asks if she’s equally sure that Isabella didn’t commit the crime.

 

In the cabin Luke says he didn’t mean what he said about Megan and Isabella. He was just trying to impress the guys, but the girls aren’t convinced. Isabella asks what else he’s been lying about. It turns out that he’s known about Brent (Braeden De La Garza) making sex tapes for a while, which angers Megan. Megan takes his preexisting knowledge to mean that Luke brought her to have sex at the cabin knowing that Brent had a camera hidden, but Luke admits that Brent only records himself. It was Luke that made the tape of him and Megan. We flash back to the carwash and Brent is telling the guys about how he got his hands on the Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape. He thinks it’s going to be an impressive addition to his collection, but the guys can borrow it occasionally. Then, he adds that homemade porn is the new frontier. Isabella is washing the car and hears the whole thing and looks disgusted.

 

Isabella and Megan wait at the police station with their lawyers plus Debbie. Deputy Hal tells the girls he’s ready for them now.

 

At the car wash Luke finds Isabella and asks her a favor. He has plans to hang out with Megan later and when they were speaking, she got the impression that Luke was still a virgin. Isabella seems wary of keeping a secret from Megan at first, but she reluctantly agrees. Luke says it’s for the best because he doesn’t want to upset Megan.

 

The revelation about the tape upsets Megan for obvious reasons and he says he thought it’d be sexy, and that they could watch it together. And he apologizes and swears that he didn’t play it at the party. Isabella says that he’s worse than Brent because he pretends to be nice. Luke tries telling Megan he loves her, but she tells him to shut up. Isabella says they should just leave, but as they’re going Luke yells after them that Isabella lied to Megan, too.

 

Both Isabella and Megan are interviewed separately by Sheriff Myer and confirm it was Megan on the tape. They explain it was all to keep Megan from losing her scholarship and Luke didn’t have a problem with the cover story. Then, they explain that the pressure of keeping the secret killed their friendship. They explain that they had a huge fight on New Years Eve and they’ve barely spoken since. Sheriff Myer doesn’t seem to totally buy it.

 

At the car wash Brent hits on Isabella and she’s not into it. She points out that it’s a little weird that he only hangs out with high schoolers and he’s in college. Brent says he should upgrade to the original Chambers brother and Isabella turns him down. As she walks away Brent pulls at the strings of her bikini top which makes Isabella angry. Brent tells her she’s been asking for it because she wore a bikini to a car wash during the summer. She calls him pathetic, and he leaves. Steve then comes over and tells Isabella that Brent likes to push the envelope but he’s harmless. To top off the enabling he says that boys will be boys and notes that she’s okay. She’s still angry but doesn’t tell Megan about the Chambers men’s creepiness. Then, Megan leaves with Luke.

 

Sheriff Myer wants another recap of the night of Luke’s disappearance. The girls now have their lawyers and stick to the story that Luke planned to runaway and Isabella left the party early because she felt sick. But Sheriff Myer says they’ve got a tape that shows otherwise. Remember how Jeff was filming the night of the party? He caught some of Megan and Isabella’s conversation about punishing Luke and it’s not a good look in a murder investigation.

 

At the cabin in the night in question Megan is upset that Luke and Isabella slept together. Isabella says she wanted to tell her, but Luke asked her not to do it. Then, Luke lies and says that it was Isabella’s idea and states that it was because she was too insecure. Megan doesn’t like that she was clueless, and Luke continues trying to turn Megan against Isabella. He calls her a bad friend and says Isabella would say anything to try and win her back. This seems to set her off because Isabella pulls out a gun.

 

In the summer of 1999 Luke and Megan hang out in Megan’s room. They discuss their parents dating a little and Luke is convinced it’ll be a win-win situation for them.

 

During the interrogation of 2000 Sheriff Myer tries to get Megan and Isabella to turn on each other. He brings up the benzos found in Luke’s system and advises them both to tell the truth unless they want to take a murder charge alone. We flashback to last summer and Luke and Megan invite Isabella out for a night together.

 

After some facetime with both their lawyers Megan and Isabella tell Sheriff Myer that they wanted to confront Luke about bragging about them. However, both girls say that everything that happened that night, Luke’s death included, is the other’s fault. Speaking of that, that night at the cabin Isabella points a gun at Luke and demands he take back what he said about her being a bad friend. Luke calls Isabella crazy and Isabella begs Megan to believe her. Luke says he’s known Megan forever and Isabella will be gone soon so Megan will forget about her. This doesn’t go over well, and Isabella shoots the gun and Megan screams.