Warning: The following article contains spoilers from Cruel Summer season 2, episodes 1 and 2.Cruel Summer is more mysterious than ever as season 2 introduces fans to an entirely new cast of characters who bring with them numerous secrets. The Freeform anthology series' second season revolves around the different stages of two teenage girls' friendship and how it all culminates in a disappearance and a murder. Episode 1 wanted viewers to believe that Isabella LaRue, one of the two protagonists, was the missing person in the small town of Chatham when, in reality, the mystery was much more complicated.
As season 2 continues, fans will gradually learn more about why the aforementioned character went missing and the details of their murder. But for now, viewers can use the twist and turns of the first two episodes to try to piece together the story of what happened in Chatham in the summer of 1999, winter of 1999, and summer of 2000. However, based on the Cruel Summer season 2 premiere, nothing is what it seems.
8 Police Find Luke's Body In The Water In Cruel Summer Season 2
As it turns out, Isabella wasn't the one who went missing in Cruel Summer season 2 — it was Luke Chambers, Megan Landry's boyfriend. At the end of episode 1, the police discovered a body in the water in the summer of 2000, and when they pulled it out, a small crowd gathered at the scene, including Megan. As Sheriff Dyer and other cops rolled the bagged body onto land, Steve Chambers, Luke's father, ignored the crime scene tape and ran up to the stretcher. He unzipped the bag and heartbreakingly revealed it was Luke's dead body inside. Following the ordeal, Isabella strolled up beside Megan and told her former best friend, "We have to get our story straight."
Since Cruel Summer season 2, episode 1 intentionally led the audience to believe that Isabella was the one who went missing, learning that it was actually Luke was shocking, to say the least. Episode 2 gave more information about his disappearance, including that it happened around the end of 1999. Luke was last seen leaving a New Year's Eve party with Megan, and it was at that same party that people saw Isabella and Megan fighting. So while it's still unclear what happened to Luke that night, Cruel Summer fans at least know that he's been missing for more than six months.
7 Luke Was Murdered
After the police department and the medical examiner's office pulled Luke's body out of the water in the Cruel Summer season 2 premiere, an autopsy revealed that Luke's death wasn't accidental. His cause of death was drowning, but an abrasion on his ear suggested that someone had shot a gun at him, and the bullet nicked his ear. Plus, Luke's toxicology report revealed that he had an excessive amount of benzodiazepine, a muscle relaxant, in his system when he died. So whoever killed him wanted to ensure he went into the water without a fight.
The autopsy report suggested that someone had planned Luke's murder, so it wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision on the killer's part. The police don't have any viable suspects yet. But after watching the first two episodes of Cruel Summer season 2, it's obvious that two characters know more about Luke's death than they are letting on.
6 Megan & Isabella Know Something About Luke's Murder
The more time Cruel Summer season 2 spends in the summer of 2000, the more guilty Megan and Isabella look. In episode 1, Megan snuck out of her house to meet with a suspicious man, who she accused of talking to the police and gave a floppy disk to in exchange for cash. When Megan stopped by Luke's missing person poster, Parker Tanaka approached her and said, "None of this would've happened if she never came to town." Later, Megan went to the cabin where she and Luke used to hang out and scrubbed a copious amount of blood off the floor. Then, as mentioned previously, Isabella told Megan they needed to get their story straight at the end of the premiere.
In episode 2, viewers learned that Isabella and Megan had a falling out of sorts before the summer, and it likely has to do with Luke's disappearance and murder. When Isabella informed Megan that she planned on leaving town after Luke's body was found, Megan was livid. She couldn't believe that Isabella would let her take all the "blame." So, Megan coerced Isabella into staying by promising to "keep her mouth shut" if she did. Later, Isabella was very defensive during her interview with Sheriff Myer, and she flushed some pills down the toilet afterward. So it's possible that either Megan and Isabella are the ones who killed Luke in Cruel Summer season 2, or they know who did.
5 Megan Is The Girl In The Sex Tape, Not Isabella
At the end of Cruel Summer season 2, episode 1, a sex tape involving Luke and a girl whose face couldn't be seen played at the Chambers' holiday party in the winter of 1999. Because Isabella's sweater could be made out in the video, everyone pointed their fingers at her. Luke quickly stopped the video, and Megan snatched it from him and ran out of the party. However, during episode 2, the audience discovered that it was Megan in the sex tape with Luke, not Isabella.
Unfortunately for Luke and Isabella, they had to keep up appearances that it was them two in the video in Cruel Summer. If word got out that it was Megan, she could have lost her scholarship to the University of Washington. Whereas Luke didn't face any real consequences for his actions, the principal put Isabella on probation, which goes to show society's double standards. The sex tape scandal occurred right before Luke went missing, so it's likely that it has something to do with his murder, which, again, makes Megan and Isabella look even more guilty.
4 Debbie & Steve Are Dating In Cruel Summer
The summer of 1999 timeline in the Cruel Summer season 2 premiere revealed that Debbie Landry and Steve Chambers worked together at his business firm. It's unclear whether their relationship was something more at that point, but by the winter of 1999, Debbie and Steve had begun dating. Since their kids have known each other almost their whole lives, it stands to reason that Debbie and Steve's history runs deep. However, all fans know is that Steve's wife died an unspecified amount of time ago, and it's unclear what happened to Megan and Lily's father.
After Luke was found dead in the summer of 2000, Debbie was by Steve's side, suggesting they are still together. But that might change once the truth surrounding Luke's murder unravels. Megan knows something about what happened the night that Steve's son disappeared, and it could just tear Debbie and Steve apart in Cruel Summer season 2.
3 Debbie Gets Sick In The Winter Of 1999
Aside from Luke's death, the Cruel Summer season 2 premiere featured another sad development — Debbie is sick. The two episodes dropped subtle hints that Debbie's health was deteriorating when Megan worried about paying bills and when she picked up medication for her mother at the local pharmacy. But Isabella's interrogation at the police station revealed the most information surrounding Debbie's illness.
Sheriff Myer questioned Isabella about her intention to leave Chatham after Luke went missing in the winter of 1999. She decided to stay, and the sheriff was wondering why that was. Isabella informed him that she remained in the small town because Debbie got sick, and she wanted to help as much as she could. Cruel Summer has yet to disclose Debbie's illness, whether it's cancer or some other life-threatening disease. All that viewers know is that it's serious, and they should be very worried about Debbie as season 2 continues.
2 Isabella Seemingly Betrays Megan
When Cruel Summer season 2 began, Megan and Isabella didn't immediately hit it off. But by the winter of 1999, the two teenagers were inseparable and formed a bond that one might interpret as unhealthy. Megan and Isabella were each other's "ride or dies," and Isabella claimed that Megan was "the most important person in this world" to her. But their codependency ran deep.
After Isabella took the fall for Megan's sex tape, she overheard Megan telling Luke that he was "the most important person in the world" to her, and she called him her "ride or die." Hearing Megan use her words to describe Luke made Isabella furious. She stormed down the stairs and told Debbie, "There's something you need to know." Unfortunately, the hour cuts the scene off after her one line, so viewers don't yet know what Isabella wanted to tell Debbie. But given context clues, it's possible that Isabella was about to tell Debbie that Megan was the girl in the sex tape, not her. Only time will tell if Isabella betrayed her best friend in Cruel Summer season 2.
1 Isabella's Past Isn't What It Seems in Cruel Summer Season 2
Cruel Summer season 2 introduced Isabella as a well-traveled free spirit looking to experience a normal life for her senior year of high school. But after the two episodes came to an end, it was clear that there was more to Isabella than meets the eye. When Megan searched through her new roommate's things, she discovered a floppy disk titled "Summer 1998," which will undoubtedly reappear later on in the season. Elsewhere in the premiere, Megan found a Californian license with Isabella's picture, but the name on it was Pat Highsmith. Either the license is a fake ID or it's Isabella's true identity.
In episode 2, Sheriff Myer questioned Isabella about how she jumped between three schools in three years and suggested that trouble followed her wherever she went. Whatever the case, Isabella isn't being truthful about her past. As Cruel Summer season 2 continues, all will be revealed regarding who Isabella is and what happened to her before she arrived in Chatham.