By: Atiya Irvin-Mitchell
We open with a girl unconscious and drenched on the beach in her underwear. The girl is Cadence Sinclair Eastman (Emily Alyn Lind) and through a voiceover she explains that the summer prior something horrible happened to her, but she can’t remember what. There are flashes of her in the water, but she says no one in her family will explain what happened. More than that she says her family is barely speaking to her. Cadence wonders if her family is afraid that the truth will destroy them or that it’ll destroy them. There are more flashes and then Cadence says that when you’re left for dead, you want answers and she’s determined to get hers.
Summer 2016: In the previous summer Cadence describes herself as strength, promise and spun gold. She’s swimming and is interrupted by her mother, Penny (Caitlin FitzGerald), saying that the photographer will be there in an hour. Before she heads inside to change, Penny tells her that her Aunt Carrie (Mamie Gummer) is wondering if she knows where is Johnny (Joseph Zada). As a narrator, Cadence explains that Johnny is her cousin and he’s all salt, swagger and reckless abandon.
Johnny arrives on the docks with a police escort and his mother, Penny, and younger brother Will (Brady Droulis), don’t seem entirely surprised. He lost a bet and a race, but points out that he still managed to be on time so his Gran and Grandad can’t be angry with him. Penny shares that it’s unlikely that his grandparents could ever be angry with the oldest boy.
Painting in her room is Cadence’s cousin Mirren (Esther McGregor), who she says is sugar, effort and curiosity. She is happy to see Cadence, but says Cadence looks iconic in her Sinclair-approved Ralph Lauren, whereas she thinks she looks like a golf caddy. Cadence disagrees, but points out that the paint on her shirt might present a problem. Mirren says her mother’s going to kill her, so Cadence offers to switch shirts with her. As the first-born grandchild, Cadence says she has tons of Get Out of Jail Free cards.
When it’s time to take the family portrait, Mirren’s mother, Bess (Candice King), is angry that she’s wearing a different shirt and Penny is only sort of annoyed about the paint-splattered shirt. Johnny asks Carrie where Ed is and Will wonders why Ed is always busy when it’s time to take family photos. In the voiceover, Cadence explains that as Sinclairs they’re American royalty. During the summer, they live on Beachwood Island, which is near Martha’s Vineyard.
There’s another flashback to the year the cousins were eight years old and Carrie explains that they brought Ed’s (Rahul Kohli) nephew along. Carrie knows it’s unexpected, but Ed’s brother died so it’s a big help to Ed’s sister-in-law. Cadence says summer eight is important because it’s the summer they met the boy who changed everything: Gat (Shubham Maheshwari). Hiding inside the boathouse is Young Gat and Young Cadence (Raewynn Martel) asks if he’s real. Then, the kids start playing tag. We get a montage of the kids playing together and Cadence explains it was like a fairytale. Their antics, Cadence says, led to their family calling them the liars. Gat is Cadence’s favorite thing about her favorite place.
During the photos Gat arrives and the liars run to hug him. Cadence says Gat was once mischief, fireflies and old books. During Summer 2016, he became something new. Back then Cadence says they were happy and they wanted for nothing. Over dinner the liars catch up and we learn that Cadence is bored when she’s not on Beachwood. Cadence’s parents are divorcing, Harris (David Morse) doesn’t like party boats and Johnny refuses to be bored.
Later we learn that Gat likes writing Cadence handwritten notes. The next day on the beach Johnny declares that they’re all getting on the party boat later. Then, the liars play the game Two Truths and a Lie. Mirren’s truths are that she is sexting a senior and met Taylor Swift. She’s pretending to be experienced via text, but is afraid of actually sleeping with the sexter. Cadence got a short story published and kissed three unimportant boys. Gat got busted for stealing a six-pack and got his motorcycle license. Johnny opts out because he doesn’t think the liars could handle his truths. Gat loved Cadence’s story, which makes her happy because her other friends didn’t get it. Johnny and Mirren go for ice pops and Gat tells Cadence about his trip to India. When Gat stole the six-pack because the bodega’s owner had known him since he was a kid, he called his mother instead of the police. In return, Gat’s mother thought time in India with his grandparents would teach him respect for his elders. He feels changed by his time there over the break.
Elsewhere, the moms sunbathe and talk about their respective marital woes. Carrie suggests that Penny find a man-shaped distraction, but she’s content to just redecorate. Bess is annoyed that it took so much time to wrangle her three daughters for a five-minute conversation with their father and that the father in question didn’t have time to talk to her. Still, when prodded, Bess insists that her marriage is fine. Carrie calls her a trad-wife and Bess takes offense and says Brody (her husband) can build an empire because she runs their household like a company. Penny and Carrie laugh and Carrie suggests again that Penny sleep with “Salty Dan” a/k/a the harbor service man.
Ed goes to Harris’s office to talk to him and Harris is too distracted by the party boat that is blocking his view. Later there’s a sandcastle building contest among the liars and the littles (their little siblings). Ed takes it very seriously and has Harris’s request to get rid of the party boat over his head. Johnny is just concerned with getting everyone onto the party boat. The littles come out on top and win the bag of fudge.
In the kitchen, Gat and Cadence talk about taking the boat out for a spin. However, Gat is hesitant because the boat belongs to the Sinclairs. Cadence says that Gat is an honorary Sinclair, still,Gat says that doesn’t mean he gets to drive their boat. With that said, Cadence does the driving and she and Gat jump into the water together. Afterwards, the two share a towel and Cadence comments that Gat has a newfound confidence. Gat then asks Cadence if she misses her father; she does, but she’s not supposed to talk about it. And then we learn that Sinclairs don’t do therapy.
Cadence recalls that she didn’t understand what she was feeling, but then she saw Gat writing her a letter with flowers inside. The next day they read on the hammock and make plans to watch the meteor shower that night. Then, Mirren and Johnny join them. After some teasing about the liars being boring, he shares why he needs a new doubles partner, Jackson. Long story short, he and his partner started hooking up and things got complicated. Gat asks if he’s coming out to them, but Johnny says he doesn’t want a parade. He pointedly tells Gat and Cadence that the romance wrecked the friendship and through off the team.
Later Ed and Gat talk about the party boat that Harris insisted he get rid of and Gat wonders why he’s doing it. Ed explains that when you fall for a Sinclair girl, you agree to participate in the mind games. Then, he gives Gat a letter and is surprised that people Gat’s age still communicate via handwritten letters. A few minutes later Johnny rushes in and tells Gat they’re off to have an adventure.
On the beach Cadence is waiting on a blanket in a pretty dress, and Johnny shows up and says it’s time for the party boat. Which, of course, means her plans to watch the meteor shower with Gat have been cancelled. Cadence drives and the liars venture to the boat party. Johnny and Mirren seem to be having a lot of fun, but Cadence and Gat are distracted by their almost date. So much so that Cadence takes the boat and leaves.
At the house Penny and Bess are having wine with Tipper (Wendy Crewson), their mother, and Bess leaves because she’s supposed to meet up with Brody. When Penny and Tipper are alone, they talk about the divorce and Penny explains that she doesn’t miss Sam and she worries about what it says about her. She admits that the divorce is financially draining because Sam is coming after her for everything. Tipper can’t believe that Sam left her for another woman and thinks he deserves her money. Penny explains it’s not that simple because Sam hired a P.I.
In the kitchen Cadence bumps into Carrie and Ed. Carrie deduces that the liars were on the booze cruise. Carrie says all the kids their get their fake IDs from the same place. Ed wonders if they were sold alcohol and Ed now knows how he’s getting rid of the party boat for Harris. Carrie invites Cadence to watch the meteor show with her, Tipper and the littles. While they wait Tipper tells a story about princes, princess, and their king and queens. William interrupts by pointing out a shark that isn’t a shark. When Cadence grabs his banoculers, she realizes it’s Gat. Gentle reminder, he’s on the swim team. Cadence decides they should play tag like when they were kids. Gat promises to always chase Cadence. Yet, Cadence says he made her feel stupid when he blew off their date, and Gat explains he got scared. Before he can explain further, they’re interrupted by Johnny and Mirren.
On the other side of the docks, Bess is waiting for Brody and is disappointed when Salty Dan (Tim Rozon) shows up with no passengers. She gets upset and asks if something is wrong with her. Bess says she has three children, but she maintains herself as she writes thank you notes, she’s sexually generous and prettier than her sisters. Salty Dan says nothing and she asks for a cigarette. After the cigarette, he says there’s nothing wrong with her from where he’s standing.
The liars end up watching the meteor shower together and Johnny says they should’ve just said so if they wanted to be alone. Gat and Mirren apologize and Mirren and Johnny head inside because it’s cold. When they’re gone Gat asks if he’s forgiven too and admits he just got nervous and Johnny was excited. Cadence says he’s forgiven, but he needs to learn to drive the boat. Gat says he’ll hold off until he can afford to get it fixed if he wrecks it. Then, Gat admits he swam back to tell her she’s so pretty that it’s distracting. They look into each other’s eyes and then share their first kiss. Cadence says that for a while that kiss was all she could remember about Summer 2016.
Cadence then describes Beechwood as a magical place where no one was a criminal, no one was an addict, no one was needy and no one was a failure. While Bess is not being needy, Mirren is walking by the boathouse and sees Bess having sex with Salty Dan, but they don’t see her. Cadence says they were happy, wanted for nothing, and it’s important to remember they were liars.
In the last scene we see Cadence unconscious on the beach with “never surrender to the devil you know” written on her hands.