Tamal Kundu
‘Cruel Summer’ is an anthology thriller series airing on Freeform. The second season takes place in the fictional Northwestern coastal town of Chatham, Washington, and follows 17-year-olds Megan Landry (Sadie Stanley), Isabella LaRue (Lexi Underwood), and Luke Chambers (Griffin Gluck), depicting their lives as the world step into a new millennium. The other two emerge as major suspects when it is discovered that Luke has been killed. In season 2 episode 8, titled ‘Confess Your Sins,’ Megan and Luke bask in the afterglow of their new relationship in summer 1999. In early winter 2000, Megan and Isabella demand the truth from Luke. In summer 2000, the police bring the girls in for more questions. Here is everything you might want to know about the ending of ‘Cruel Summer’ season 2 episode 8. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 8 Recap
The events depicted in this episode take place on and around August 1, 1999; January 1, 2000; and August 1, 2000. In summer 1999, Megan enjoys the euphoric height of the early days of first love. With the summer nearing its end, the youths of Chatham prepare to return to school, but before that, the seniors host the customary carwash. Megan and Isabella have plans to go together, but then Luke arrives, and the said plan is derailed.
At the carwash, the seeds of the friendship between Parker and Isabella are sowed as the girls get to know each other. Brent behaves inappropriately with Isabella, even pulling on the string of her swimsuit. Steve comes over and defends his son while dismissing Isabella’s feelings. Later, Luke and Megan discuss the budding relationship between their parents. At the carwash, Isabella speaks to Jeff, consoling him and remarking that Megan and Luke are inevitable.
In early winter 2000, Megan takes Luke to the Chambers’ house and ties him up on the pretext of sex. Luke brings up safe words, and Megan suggests, “Ctrl+Alt+Delete.” Not realizing the implication, Luke agrees. In Windows 95 or any later systems, if the Ctrl, Alt, and Delete buttons are pressed together, it opens the Task Manager window or a drop-down menu, allowing a user to see the status of all currently running programs and, if necessary, to terminate one or more of them. In the context of ‘Cruel Summer,’ Megan’s choice of the safe word seems to imply that she will make choices based on what Luke admits this evening.
After Luke is secured, Isabella makes her presence known. Even though he was bragging about something similar only a couple of hours ago, Luke begins to lose his composure. Isabella accuses him of lying to Megan about who kissed whom at the Plunge. When Luke continues to deny it, the girls go aside and prepare three drinks. They put Benzodiazepine pills in Luke’s glass before adding alcohol to theirs. When Isabella isn’t looking, Megan adds alcohol to Luke’s drink.
In summer 2000, Megan tells Isabella about Ned’s security camera. Afraid that one of these cameras has caught them entering the Chambers’ cabin, the girls visit Ned’s home to find the footage and wipe it clean. Sheriff Myer suddenly arrives, finds them there, and brings them to the station for more questions. Soon, Debbie and the respective lawyers of the girls arrive. During the interrogation, It quickly becomes apparent to Myer that the girls have worked together to come up with a story in which they both look innocent. Parker earlier overheard Megan and Isabella speaking about the leaked tape and related to Myer that it’s Megan who is on the tape. Using that, Myer pits the girls against each other and gradually builds on it, leading Megan and Isabella to blame each other toward the end of the episode.
Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 8 Ending: Who Shot Luke?
The coroner’s earlier report on Luke’s remains revealed he was shot before his death, but it wasn’t fatal. As the combination of multiple benzos and alcohol begins to have its effect on him, Luke admits that he lied that Isabella kissed him. Secrets start to spill out of him. He also admits to bragging to his friends after the video leak.
When it eventually comes out that he is the one who made the video, Megan, stunned by the sheer extent of the betrayal, prepares to leave with Isabella, but a desperate Luke reveals that he and Isabella had sex before he and Megan got together. He does this to show Megan that Isabella also has hidden things from her, even though he was the one who suggested that they should do this. This prompts Isabella to grab the gun in the cabin and threatens Luke with it, demanding that Luke tell Megan that she (Isabella) is a good friend. The situation only escalates from there, and Isabella shoots Luke.
As mentioned above, the bullet wound was non-fatal, but perhaps, it played a role in Luke’s demise, as did the dangerous combination of benzos and alcohol. This is probably why the girls’ have Luke’s bloodied shirt, and Megan visited the cabin to clean the blood meticulously. It is also probably why Isabella thinks Megan is responsible for Luke’s death. She likely found out that the other girl put alcohol in Luke’s drink.
Who Leaked the Video Tape?
In this episode, Luke admits that he knew Brent records videos at the cabin before reluctantly telling the girls that his brother only records videos of himself. This leads the girls to ask who recorded their video then, prompting Luke to admit that he did. He defends his actions by telling Megan that the video was meant to be exclusively for them. When the leak happened, he thought about telling her but refrained when he realized how angry she was. He also denies any involvement in leaking the video.
Given his current stage, Luke is likely telling the truth. This means someone with access to Chambers’ home leaked the tape. It can’t be Steve; he lost a major business deal because of it, and he doesn’t seem like a person prone to self-sabotage. Brent is the obvious suspect, but we know how terrified the Chambers siblings are about disappointing their father. He must have known the breadcrumbs would lead to him. If he didn’t, he is as idiotic as he is reprehensible.
Read More: Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 7 Recap and Ending, Explained
