Tamal Kundu
Originally created by Bert V. Royal, Freeform’s ‘Cruel Summer’ is an anthological thriller series. In season 2, the plot revolves around Megan Landry (Sadie Stanley), a resident of the fictional Northwestern coastal town of Chatham, Washington, and a prodigious coder, and Isabella LaRue, a worldly girl who comes live with the Landry family as a foreign exchange student. The narrative is split into three timelines: summer 1999, winter 1999, and summer 2000. Following the death of their mutual friend Luke Chambers (Griffin Gluck), the girls become major suspects in the case, and all their secrets start to come out.
In season 2 episode 6, the group celebrates Luke’s birthday in July 1999, and Megan prepares to confess her feelings to Luke. In winter 1999, Megan’s closeness with Ned, the former high-ranking coder at Apple, bothers both Luke and Isabella. In summer 2000, Megan starts digging after learning that the other girl’s best friend died almost in similar circumstances as Luke. Here is everything you might want to know about the ending of ‘Cruel Summer’ season 2 episode 6. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 6 Recap
The events of this episode take place on July 30, 1999, December 30, 1999, and July 30, 2000. In summer 1999, Isabella tells Megan that she has broken up with Luke. When a shocked Megan reminds the other girl that it is Luke’s birthday, Isabella assures her that she did it the previous day. With Brent’s help, Megan begins preparing for Luke’s birthday party. As her mother and sister are away for the day, she uses her own home as the venue. While she plans to make Luke see her as someone more than a friend, she almost forgets that she is supposed to be on the verge of a relationship with Jeff (Nile Bullock). Brent has apparently hired a stripper for his brother. After the woman arrives and takes Luke away by hand, Megan secretly follows them and peeks through the trailer window to watch them in their intimate moments.
Afterward, Jeff realizes Megan will never see him the way he wants her to and ends things between them. Luke and Megan don’t start dating after this, but Steve (KaDee Strickland) and Debbie do. Isabella and Megan realize they were out on a date and can’t contain their surprise and happiness.
In December 1999, the girls plan to attend the “Chatham Plunge,” where the residents take a dip in the freezing ocean. But after receiving an offer from Ned to work on his security system, Megan chooses to go there instead. With Y2K approaching, Ned worries that his system will not continue working as it has been when the next millennium begins. Meanwhile, Isabella attends the Chatham Plunge with Luke, who defends her when his friends mock her.
When Isabella let the people believe it was her in the sex tape, she had some inclinations of what she might be subjected to in a small town like Chatham. But it’s safe to presume that she didn’t foresee this constant barrage of pettiness and mockery. Luke observes how remarkable that is, prompting Isabella to insist that Megan would have done the same. Luke has apparently started to feel that Megan is no longer interested in him. He tries to kiss Isabella, but the latter stops his advances immediately.
Toward the end of episode 5, before Isabella left the Landry home in summer 2000, she tells Debbie to look under her bed. Debbie does so in this episode and finds Luke’s bloodied clothes inside a bag. Just when she comes out of the trailer with that bag in her hand, Steve visits her home looking to speak to Megan, prompting Debbie to politely but firmly deny him entry. As the season enters its second half, their relationship is bound to fall apart if whatever happened to Luke comes to light.
As Megan delves deep into finding out more about how Lisa died, it becomes apparent that she doesn’t know how Luke died. However, we do know that she was involved in cleaning up the murder scene. In the final moments of this episode, Debbie confronts her daughter about Luke’s bloodied clothes.
Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 6 Ending: Why Does Megan Have Luke’s Bloodied Clothes?
From the coroner’s reports discussed in one of the previous episodes, we know that Luke got shot with the gun his family owned, though the injury was not fatal. Instead, he died of drowning. But that injury explains why Luke’s blood is on his clothes and was at the crime scene (which Megan apparently cleaned after the discovery of Luke’s body).
If the first season is any indication, the writers of ‘Cruel Summer’ revel in surprising their audience and exploring the unlikeliest paths while explaining the mysteries. This seems to be true in the second season as well. Most viewers were shocked when it was revealed that Kate was in the house of her “kidnapper” willingly, at least in the beginning. It’s pretty safe to assume that we can expect something as shocking as that in season 2. By episode 6, it seems that the writers want us to believe that Isabella killed Luke. Megan’s zeal to prove Isabella guilty is not depicted as an attempt to show a fellow accused in a poorer light but as a righteous crusade for the truth.
It’s entirely possible that Megan has the ability to lie as convincingly as Jennette, though we haven’t seen that part of her yet. But with this show, it’s always safe to assume everyone is hiding something or at least modifying the truth. We get a glimpse of Luke’s darker side when he lies to Megan about Isabella kissing him. This lie will probably serve as the Launchpad for whatever happened on New Year’s Eve, resulting in his death.
Read More: Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 5 Recap and Ending, Explained
