Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘Cruel Intentions’ follows the complicated relationship of step-siblings Caroline Merteuil and Lucien Belmont. Being each other’s closest confidants, they also harbor sexual attraction for each other, but the nature of their relationship puts them in a very complicated spot. Still, it doesn’t stop them from playing with each other’s feelings and getting what they want from one another. In one such move, Caroline tasks Lucien with getting Annie Grover to join her sorority at Manchester College, which leads Lucien down a very unexpected path. The premise is inspired by the 1999 film of the same name, with some minor differences in the intentions and motivations of the characters. Interestingly, the film ends with Sebastian, Lucien’s counterpart in the movie, meeting a tragic fate. Does this mean that something similar is in store for Lucien? SPOILERS AHEAD
The Source Material Predicts a Dark Fate for Lucien
‘Cruel Intentions’ is based on the 1999 film starring Sarah Michelle Geller and Ryan Phillippe as the step-siblings whose machinations cause all sorts of trouble. The film, in turn, was based on the 1782 French novel ‘Les Liaisons dangereuses,’ aka ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos. In the book, the Marquise de Merteuil and Vicomte de Valmont are lovers-turned-rivals who go around the French nobility having affairs and stirring trouble. The film modernizes the story and brings it to 20th century New York, and adds more drama to the story by making Merteuil and Valmont step-siblings who are sexually attracted to each other. The film also mixes up a couple of characters by giving them different backstories, but overall, the essence remains the same. Most importantly, both the novel and the film ends on the same note: with Valmont’s death.
Considering that the 2024 Prime Video series is yet another spin on the same story, one can’t help but wonder if the future has the same thing in store for its characters. On the surface, the main characters and their intentions remain quite similar to what we see in the film. Caroline Merteuil and her step-brother, Lucien Belmont, are engaged in a relationship where they are each other’s closest confidants, knowing one another’s best and worst aspects. At the same time, they also have a sense of rivalry going on between them, which deepens with the arrival of Annie, for whom Lucien develops feelings just like Sebastian developed feelings for Annette in the 1994 film and Vicomte de Valmont developed feelings for Madame de Tourvel in the novel.
Of course, the show brings its own twists to the story and the characters who are fleshed out more than they were in the film. The events also take their own twists and turns, and new plot points are added to make things spicier. Still, the core of the story seems to remain the same so far. We see the sexual attraction between Caroline and Lucien, with her controlling him while he tries to please her however he can. The development of his unexpected friendship with Annie is also in line with his character arc, and Caroline turning against him and trying to ruin his reputation and his relationships, specifically with Annie, is also original to the novel. This means that so far, the show is headed in the same direction as its source material, which doesn’t spell good things for him.
The Show Might Take a Different Turn for Lucien
The first season of the show leaves things at a tipping point, especially between Caroline and Lucien, with the latter making a move that no one could have expected. He is angered by Caroline sabotaging his life by leaking all the sex videos he’d made with other girls and sharing them with Caroline in confidence. Even with all the conflict between them, he thought there were lines that couldn’t be crossed, but when she makes it clear that everything is fair game, he decides to do something extremely inappropriate of his own. He sleeps with Caroline’s mother.
Knowing how complicated things are between Caroline and her mother, Lucien knows that he has touched quite a nerve, and his step-sister will need some time to recover from that. He has also upped the stakes, which will only make Caroline even more unpredictable, leading her to do things that will eventually be her and Lucien’s undoing. However, the show still has a lot of space to deviate from the source material while also staying truthful to the core of the story in terms of the way things end. It is clear that the end will have Caroline and Lucien completely destroying each other. However, it doesn’t necessarily have to end with Lucien’s death. The show might yet change his fate. Rest assured, there is a lot that still needs to be resolved in the story, and the show might take a few more seasons to resolve everything, especially between Caroline, Lucien, and Annie.
