Cruel Summer EP Breaks Down Finale’s Killer Twist Ending, What [Spoiler] Will Do With the Truth — Plus, Grade It!
Warning: The following contains spoilers for Cruel Summer’s Season 2 finale. Proceed at your own risk!
You didn’t think the Cruel Summer finale was going to play it straight with the reveal of Luke’s killer, did you?
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The episode began by showing that it was Brent who met Luke on the dock, and after Steve found his older son soaked and distraught at home, with Luke nowhere in sight, it became clear that something bad happened between the brothers.
In the summer 2000 timeline, Megan and Isabella had a falling out, leading Isabella to submit an altered version of the New Year’s Eve tape to the police, one in which Isabella was conveniently offscreen while Megan was seen holding the gun and Luke was screaming for his life. That footage was enough for the sheriff to place Megan under arrest, but then Brent decided that he couldn’t let her take the fall.
Brent confessed to Megan in the interrogation room that he and Luke had a fight that night during which Luke said he was done keeping secrets, like how their mom was drunk at the time of the car accident that killed her. The argument escalated and Brent shoved Luke, who hit his head against a metal railing before failing into the water. Brent dove in after him, but it was too dark to see anything.
With Brent under arrest and Steve also in custody for covering up the truth, it seemed that the mystery of Luke’s death had been resolved…. until Megan found footage from a security camera pointed at the scene of the crime. She watched with a horrified expression as Isabella stepped up to a barely conscious Luke on the shore. After a beat, she placed her heel on his head, drowning him, then pushed his body back into the water.
While Megan learned the truth, Isabella was already on a plane to Ibiza, calling herself Lisa as she befriended a new young woman.
Other burning mysteries answered in the finale: Brent planted Isabella’s money at the cabin; Megan and Isabella faked the note Luke wrote to his dad; and Luke accidentally grabbed the wrong sex tape at the Christmas party, thinking it was Brent’s.
Below, showrunner Elle Triedman breaks down all those finale twists and what Megan might do with the information she’s learned about Isabella. The EP also tackles our Qs about Megan’s pregnancy and what happened to Lisa.
TVLINE | How did you decide that it should be Isabella that was responsible for Luke’s death, and why?
I decided by the end just because it felt like the culmination of this deceptive, possessive friendship. Also, I think it’s important to note that Isabella doesn’t go there to kill him. She goes there to talk to him and try to reason with him and get him to stay out of Megan’s life, but she then is presented with [him] basically half-dead, and so, it’s one of those snap judgment, in-the-moment situations, and she decides this is the way to ensure Megan’s future at that point.
TVLINE | Is she doing it all just for Megan? Or is there a part of her actions that are driven by her own needs and her obsession with Megan?
She’s very clear when she says there isn’t really room in [Megan’s] life for both [her and Luke]. I don’t think murder was ever a part of that calculation when she was first thinking about it. It was more she didn’t want to have to share her. She didn’t always want to have to come in second to him, and I think she genuinely thought she was better for Megan, so Megan would have a bigger, broader, more interesting and exciting life when she was with her, in a platonic way.
TVLINE | Was it always going to be Isabella who was Luke’s killer?
Oh, early on, we ran through a lot of different scenarios. Debbie was a potential killer, the sheriff, Brent. But fairly quickly, we landed on Isabella. And the way that we ended up doing it, it was nice because it’s Isabella’s moment, but then you get to be with Megan in real time when she sees it. So that also felt different and also more satisfying.
TVLINE | Megan sees the video footage of what Isabella did. What might she do with that knowledge and that footage?
Well, if I were Megan, I would certainly make sure it got to the sheriff and the authorities ASAP. I don’t think she’s going to let Brent spend his life in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. It was, effectively, an accident in terms of his part of it. And there’s always a question of, will she try to avenge his death with Isabella?
TVLINE | At the end of Season 1 with Kate and Jeanette, the audience knew more than some of the characters did, whereas here, Megan was let into the truth. What made you decide to go in that direction?
It just felt, thematically, like it tied in with the season, with her friendship with Ned, with the fact that she was a hacker, with the role of the cameras that she knew about in terms of the work, the part that that had all played. It also just felt even more satisfying to see her kind of living through watching it and to see her go through the different stages of shock and grief and anger and then, finally, this sort of steely resolve.
TVLINE | Toward the end of the episode, Isabella is on the plane to Ibiza, befriending this new girl while calling herself Lisa, and she doesn’t really seem to be showing a lot of remorse about what she did. What should we be reading into that moment and her behavior?
Well, one thing to keep in mind is, at this point, it’s eight months after Luke’s death. Number two, Isabella is all about reinvention. She’s grown up with parents who were diplomats. She’s very used to going to a new place and reinventing herself, and I think this is something she views as a new beginning. And in terms of calling herself Lisa, well, it makes her trail a little different, I guess. It’s a clean slate. It’s a change to start over.
TVLINE | What do you see Isabella’s issues as, especially in light of what we learn about her in this episode? And what is her endgame with Megan?
Obviously, Isabella has definite boundary issues, and she’s someone who craves family and belonging and intensely close friendships, and that is something that she had with her friend Lisa. Even though Megan was initially resistant, that’s something she found when she came to Chatham, and she saw Megan as a partner in crime, someone that she could have as an incredibly close friend for the rest of her life… Just someone who’s a constant. Again, if you are used to moving frequently, you’re constantly being uprooted and starting over. So to have people who are more of a through-line in your life really is important.
TVLINE | Is it safe to say now that Isabella was responsible for what happened to Lisa?
I guess we’ll never know. There are many scenarios. She could’ve killed her, she could’ve watched her drown, or it could’ve been a terrible accident. That’s open to interpretation.
TVLINE | Another burning question that I’ve had all season is whether the bloody sheets that we saw earlier in the season meant that Megan lost the baby?
I did see that online quite a bit. No, that is from Luke’s ear, and you saw quite a bit of blood on the sheets in the cabin scene. There’s a lot going on. [Laughs] Easy to forget it. I can understand if you didn’t notice it.
TVLINE | So what should fans interpret about the baby?
What we sort of landed on was that it was a false positive. So not long after, she got her period.
TVLINE | Prior to the WGA strike, were there any discussions about a Season 3?
At this point, it’s too early to say what’s in store for that. I’ve just been focused on the incredible season we’ve had, and I’m so thrilled that the viewers are enjoying the ride and that they’ll get all of the answers to all of the questions that they had.
Cruel Summer fans, what did you think of the season ender? Grade it below, then hit the comments!
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