What made the first season of Cruel Summer an instant classic wasn’t necessarily the unique three timeline structure or its fascinating portrait of small town America in the not so distant past, but rather the final moments with the main character which revealed her motivations and true self once and for all. [Spoiler] When Jeanette is shown at Mr. Harris’s house, the camera lingers on a moment of her standing at the basement door. Kidnapped Kate’s screams are audible and Jeanette’s hand hovers on the knob, contemplating the decision to free her and give up the new life she’s built. But she ultimately retracts and then leaves the premises without telling anyone what she knows, making her complicit in Kate’s kidnapping. 

Cruel Summer Season 2 aims for the same complications but doesn’t land the plane as neatly and satisfyingly as the Season 1 finale did. In “Endgame” (Cruel Summer Season 2, Episode 10) we find out the truth about Luke’s death. It turns out Luke paged his brother Brent (not the Sheriff, like I hypothesized last week) to come meet him at the dock, but instead of it being a rescue mission, the brothers get in a fight about the circumstances of their mom’s death (drunk driving) and their shared heartache. Brent shoves Luke who hits his head on a railing and falls into the water. While Brent dives in after him to attempt to save him, it seems like it’s too late and a drenched Brent comes home to confess what happened to his father. Steve does take the news seriously, driving to the scene of the crime, but ultimately decides to sweep the truth under the rug in order to save his only surviving family member. 

Steve comes off as a villain in the season finale, as he pushes the Sheriff to charge Meghan with Luke’s murder — and he ultimately gets his way when she’s taken into custody. But Brent’s conscience finally rears its head and he comes forward with the truth in the police headquarters, and is handcuffed. For his part in covering up the story, the police come for Steve as well by episode’s end, and in the fictional world of Cruel Summer there’s even an investigative piece about the rise and fall of the Chambers family. 

While all of this is unfolding, Isabella is conspicuously absent. When we finally check in with her, she’s sitting cozily in first class on a flight to Ibiza. She strikes up a conversation with a fellow passenger named Michelle, detailing her year in Washington and how close she and Meghan became. There’s a sickly sweet delivery of Lexi Underwood’s lines as she then offers to be Michelle’s guide to Ibiza and introduces herself as Lisa; it’s clear she’s found her next victim. 

GIF: 38:37 – Isabella meets Michelle on plane

And victim isn’t a word I use lightly — in the final moments of the season, we get clarity on Luke’s death once and for all. Brent’s story checks out, but there’s also more to it: Isabella came back to the lake after Brent fled and found a half-conscious Luke struggling for air at the shore. Looking side to side first, Isabella casually puts her foot on his head, holding his face under water just long enough to kill him, and gently shoves his lifeless body back into the current. 

Meghan discovers this via Ned’s security camera footage and Cruel Summer leaves us with her contempt etched on her face before cutting to black and revealing what she does with the footage. It’s here where Cruel Summer missteps, as it leads us to believe that justice will be served and that the truth will come to light — something that doesn’t feel quite as thorny as the first season’s reveal.

Isabella was suspicious from the jump so this heel turn feels in line with the details about her life that have been doled out all season long. But it would have been more rewarding for Meghan’s dark side, which we’ve seen flashes of all season, to also flare up by deleting the video and moving on with her life. The writers could have even given her a mea culpa and never even let her discover the tape, leaving it as a piece of evidence that only the audience is in on — just like Season 1. 

Isabella was suspicious from the jump so this heel turn feels in line with the details about her life that have been doled out all season long. But it would have been more rewarding for Meghan’s dark side, which we’ve seen flashes of all season, to also flare up by deleting the video and moving on with her life. The writers could have even given her a mea culpa and never even let her discover the tape, leaving it as a piece of evidence that only the audience is in on — just like season one. 

Instead we get Meghan’s angry and determined face, indicating she might clear the Chambers name and start an international chase to find Isabella. It’s not a perfect ending, but if the writers were most interested in clearing Meghan’s name, they succeeded. I, for one, was more interested in the deeper, darker parts of Meghan that seemed to be activated by Isabella’s presence (and also why on earth she started cosplaying as a hacker with the slicked-back hair, heavy eye makeup, and eyebrow piercing following Luke’s death), but those are answers we’ll never get.  

Instead we get Meghan’s angry and determined face, indicating she might clear the Chambers name and start an international chase to find Isabella. It’s not a perfect ending, but if the writers were most interested in clearing Meghan’s name, they succeeded. I, for one, was more interested in the deeper, darker parts of Meghan that seemed to be activated by Isabella’s presence (and also why on earth she started cosplaying as a hacker with the slicked-back hair, heavy eye makeup, and eyebrow piercing following Luke’s death), but those are answers we’ll never get.  

Radhika Menon (@menonrad) is a TV-obsessed writer based in Los Angeles. Her work has appeared on Vulture, Teen Vogue, Paste Magazine, and more. At any given moment, she can ruminate at length over Friday Night Lights, the University of Michigan, and the perfect slice of pizza. You may call her Rad.