Cruel Summer – Endgame

By starrymag | August 7, 2023

By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell

 

This episode’s events occur on January 1, 2000 and August 2, 2000.

 

We start in January 2000. Luke (Griffin Gluck) is waiting on the docks and we finally see who he paged: Brent (Braeden De La Garza). He tells Brent he wasn’t sure he’d come and Brent says it’s his public service for the year. An unspecified amount of time later we go to the Chamber’s house and see Steve see that there are watery footprints leading into the kitchen. He sees a distressed Brent waiting and dripping wet himself. Steve (Paul Adelstein) asks what’s wrong and Brent says he has something he needs to tell him. We cut away and see Steve running to the docks and calling Luke’s name. When there’s no answer he appears worried.

 

Going back to 4:00 am on January 1, we see a conversation between Isabella (Lexi Underwood) and Megan (Sadie Stanley). Megan says that first thing in the morning they’re going back to untie Luke. Isabella can’t believe Megan is so eager to help him. She argues that considering Luke’s behavior he got off easy. Megan disagrees on account of Isabella shooting at him. Isabella swears it was an accident and she was just trying to scare Luke. Megan isn’t so sure she believes that and says she’s freeing Luke in the morning and that Isabella can come with her or not.

 

The next morning Isabella and Megan drive up to the cabin and are surprised to find that Luke is gone. At first Isabella wonders if Megan let him go, but she says she didn’t. They look around try to figure out what happened. Isabella wonders if maybe he got free, but maybe fell and hit his head on account of being drunk and high. She thinks it is possible that maybe he was afraid they’d leak the tape of him confessing to all his misdeeds and decided to run away. When he’s not at the docks like Megan hoped, Isabella wonders what they’re going to do. Megan says they’ve got to find Luke before someone else does.

 

Megan calls the ERs and morgues and tells Isabella that they haven’t admitted anyone fitting Luke’s description. She also hacked into the 9-1-1 call center. When Megan admits she’s worried about Luke, Isabella says he’s probably just laying low. However, in the meantimeshe says they’ve got to get rid of the tape. She states taht whether Luke shows up or not the tape doesn’t make them look good. She tells Megan that she’ll take care of it as she’s got a lot fo experience with destroying tapes. Then, Megan says this was a stupid plan. Isabella is shocked and asks if Megan is forgiving him. She says everything that’s happened is Luke’s fault. Although, Megan says Isabella is not blameless because she lied about sleeping with Luke. (Reminder: Luke lied about making a sex tape without Megan’s consent or knowlege). At any rate, Megan says she doesn’t know how she’ll ever be able to trust her again and Isabella leaves.

 

It’s presumably the the morning after January 1, 2000 and Steve has been on the docks all night. Brent comes to find him and wonders what they’re going to do. Steve says they’ll find a way to fix this. Brent tries to start apologizing, but Steve says he knows. Then, Steve and Luke leave the docks. Later that day Steve goes to see Megan. She wonders if she’s heard from Luke. He asks if Luke was mixed up in something. Megan says he wasn’t and Steve asks if he ran away because of the Coast Guard. Steve states he’ll make a report to Sheriff Myer (Sean Blakemore), but hopefully he’ll just come home. Megan panics and tells Isabella that Steve is going to report him as a missing person. Isabella asserts that they’ve got to make sure that nothing can be traced back to them. Therefore, they need to act normal. This means putting up the missing person flyers around town and Megan forges a letter from Luke to Steve about running away.

 

Later that night in January we see Isabella and Megan talk. Megan is feeling a lot of regret about what happened in the cabin. Isabella says they did it together, but Megan mentions the pills were her idea. Isabella points out that she was willing to leave the party, but Megan was the one who wanted revenge. Megan feels like Isabella pushed her into this. She accuses her of never wanting to take responsibility. Isabella says none of this would be happening if Luke hadn’t been such a jerk like Brent and Steve. Despite the sex tape and the cheating, Megan doesn’t agree. And she accuses Isabella of not understanding relationships because she doesn’t have any. This makes Isabella angry and she says Megan’s life was boring and empty before she arrived. Megan lashes out saying that Isabella is addicted to drama and she should’ve just talked to Luke. She adds that she thinks Luke was right about her. Isabella says Megan is selfish and Megan wishes she never met Isabella.

 

In the summer of 2000 Steve is badgering Sheriff Myer for an arrest. He doesn’t understand why Isabella hasn’t been charged. Sheriff Myer says it’s because Megan and Isabella’s version of events blaming eachother cancel eachother out. However, Ned’s footage might help shed some light. Steve says he just wants to get his son justice. Elsewhere Brent goes to see Megan and we learn about some recent developments. Megan explains her lawyer quit because her family was out of money. Brent apologizes and says this whole thing feels like a bad dream.

 

Later, Megan goes to Isabella’s hotel and says that blaming eachother was a stroke of genius. Isabella is still worried because her lawyer’s still working on getting her passport back. Megan tries to reassure her it’s only a matter of time, but Isabella thinks Ned’s footage might complicate things. So, Megan hacks into the footage and the girls realize they weren’t the only ones who went to the cabin on New Year’s Day when they spot Steve’s car.

 

They go to confront Steve about him driving up to the cabin and he claims he was home that entire day. A worried looking Brent earsdrops on the conversation in the office. And Steve brings up that his private investigator has been talking to Trevor about Lisa. That puts an end to the conversation and the girls leave.

 

In the car the girls wonder if it’s not Steve on the tape, but just someone driving his car. If it’s not, they might be in trouble. Isabella suggests waiting to talk to the sheriff until they know for sure. Then, Isabella says the last few days have felt like old times. She never got a do-over with Lisa, but she’d like one with Megan. Megan says when she thinks of their friendship she just thinks of the damage that came with it. Isabella replies she’s choosing to see it that way. Although, Megan says that the past few days they’ve only been working together out of necessity and that their friendship is over. Isabella tells Megan that she wouldn’t know loyalty if it bit her in the ass and says she’ll find her own way home.

 

Inside Steve’s office Brent panics and tells him that it’s over. He thinks he’s going to be arrested, but Steve says no Chambers is going to jail on his watch. Brent starts to wonder if maybe that wouldn’t be the worst thing and Steve slaps him. Steve asserts that Brent is feeling sorry for himself and that won’t bring Luke back.

 

At home Megan watches a news report that says the police have new evidence that’ll enable them to make an arrest. Megan goes to the hotel, but the staff says Isabella has already checked out. When Meganis driving back home she’s stopped by a police car and Sheriff Myer says a tape came into his possession and they need to talk to Megan about it. She points out that she’s now lawyerless, but Sheriff Myer just says they’re going to the station.

 

Once they’re there he plays part of the New Years tape for her, emphasis on part. In the tape Isabella is cut out and it only shows Megan holding the gun and Luke screaming, “You shot me!” Without the full context, Sheriff Myer came to the conclusion that Megan shot Luke. Megan says that Isabella shot the gun and she just took it from her. However, Sheriff Myer points out that Isabella isn’t on the tape. He goes on to say that she’s being charged with murder and a panicked Megan insists she didn’t kill Luke.

 

Steve gets a call and tells Brent that Megan has been charged with Luke’s murder. Brent seems distrurbed by this and says Megan didn’t do anything. He says Megan is one of his oldest friends and she didn’t call Luke because he did. Steve says it’s not ideal, but Megan is the one on the tape. Brent says Luke wouldn’t want this, but Steve thinks it’s better this way. He counters that it’s just not fair; however, Steve replies taht life isn’t fair and tells Brent to grow up. Before he leaves Steve tells Brent to be grateful. However, before he’s out the door he asks if his mother was drinking the night she died. Steve says Jane was already dead and he didn’t want her to be remembered as a drunk driver. So, Brent notes that his father swept it under the rug. Steve says scandals like that aren’t good for their family.

 

At the station Megan is surprised when Brent comes to see her. Brent says that Sheriff Myer gave him five minutes. He uses it to tell Megan about how he spent the rest of Y2K. He explains that Luke paged him that night. The brothers argued and they fought when Luke fell into the water. Brent says he tried to find Luke, but it was so dark that he couldn’t.

 

We get a flashback and see Brent and Luke on January 1. Brent took in Luke’s rough state and wonders what happened. Luke says Isabella and Megan caught him in a bunch of lies, but doesn’t elaborate. Brent calls Luke whipped, but Luke says he’s not. He feels he’s not better than Brent even though he always thought he was. We learn that the night of the Christams party he thought he was grabbing one of Brent’s sex tapes, but he grabbed the one he made of Megan by mistake. According to Brent, Luke can’t even self-destruct the right way. Luke says he’s sick of all the lies. He goes on to say that he’s been living with them since he was eight-years-old. He tries to tell Brent that what Steve has always said about their mother’s accident was a lie. He didn’t distract her as she’d just been drinking vodka all afternoon. This makes Brent angry and he pushes Luke – hard enough that he falls, hits his head and goes into the water. Brent at first doesn’t realize the severity of the fall. Then, when Luke doesn’t come back up he jumps in the water after him.

 

When he’s done telling the story Megan states it was an accident. But Brent says it was all his fault. He adds that his father wanted to put the blame on Isabella or Ned, but he couldn’t let her go to jail for this. Megan wants to know why he’s telling her all this now. Brent says it’s because he won’t let her take the fall for this and Luke loved her. Sheriff Myer comes in and arrests Brent. Then, we cut away and see police lights outside of Steve’s office presumably to arrest him for his attempt at a cover-up.

 

A few days later Megan gets a message from Ned about a job as a coder on Palo Alto. It’d start immediately and it seems like Megan is eager to take the offer. We cut away to a plane and see Isabella. She starts talking to a girl named Michelle (Dylan Ratzlaff). When she asks where Isabella’s headed she says she just finished spending the year with her best friend Megan. She paints the picture of an idyllic senior year free of murder, sex tapes or falling outs. When she gushes about Megan, Michelle asks if she’ll be meeting her in Ibiza. Isabella replies no because she’s heading off to college. When Michelle says it’s her first time there, Isabella offers to be her partner in crime and party guide. She says she loves making new friends. When Michelle asks for her name, she says it’s Lisa.

 

We see Megan at the docks and she tearfully says goodbye to Luke. As she’s leaving she notices a camera facing the docks. It’s time for one more flashback. Isabella did go back to the cabin and somehow Luke managed to get partially back to land, but he’s still in the shallow part of the water. But he’s weak and delirious. Isabella takes in the sight of him and Luke does the same. Isabella looks around and then uses her boot to press his face into the water. He tries to struggle, but is still too weak to put up much of a fight. After a minute or two Luke stops moving and Isabella pushes what’s now his dead body into the water.

 

In her room Megan on the computer screen she watches what Isabella did and is horrified. She cries and in the last scene we see of her she looks furious.