Cruel Summer’s second season features various storylines that never get the resolution they deserve. AlthoughLuke’s killer is revealedto be Isabella in the aftermath of Luke having a fight with Brent, there are plenty of plot lines that do not come back into the story or are revealed at all. In some cases, characters themselves practically disappear after their initial use. This is the case with Megan’s sister, Lily. She is introduced quickly, then vanishes without a trace. Her character just no longer has a purpose. The same can be said about Megan’s father, who appears to stir up drama, only to disappear quickly after as if he was never there at all.
Character development also takes a bit of a fall. Although Megan’s looks in the summer of 1999 and the winter of 1999 were not drastically different, she has taken a severe turn in the summer of 2000. AlthoughCruel Summermay want it to be implied that Megan became fond of black clothes after Luke’s disappearance, as if she may still be grieving him, not much in her life is that different between the winter of 2000 and the summer of 2000. The show never bothers to show how Megan ended up with dark clothes and slicked-back hair.
Megan is considered the good girl in town who can do no wrong. In a town where everyone knows everyone, no one would expect a kind girl like Megan to get into any type of trouble. However, knowing the expectations placed on her, Megan flirts with the idea of being bad, butCruel Summernever pulls off the execution. She has secrets for sure about what she is really doing on her computer, but hacking and making fake IDs is not the type of bad behavior that the show wants to suggest Megan desires to have. In the end,Cruel Summernever fully develops Megan’s bad girl side or even reveals how her look changed so drastically between the winter of 1999 and the summer of 2000.
Isabella’s Backstory
Isabella gives a brief statement about where she comes from, butCruel Summernever actually does a deep dive into who Isabella really is. While a blast from the past reveals there is more to Isabella than she revealed, especially with suggestions that Isabella had a dangerous history of drowning her previous best friend Lisa, there are never flashbacks or further suggestions to fully develop Isabella’s backstory. Isabella’s escape from town does nothing to shed light on the situation either, other than to suggest that potentially all anyone knew about Isabella, including her name, was fake, as she gives another name and identity to a fellow passenger on an airplane.
Luke’s Relationships with Steve and Brent
Other than that Luke hates Steve and Brent’s attitudes, there is not much to say about the Chambers family dynamic.Luke inevitably transforms into a problematic young man, just like Brent, given how Steve had raised them. It is always clear that Luke and Steve have had problems since Luke’s mother’s death, but the show could have expanded on it more to show the inner workings of their family. While “The Miseducation of Luke Chambers” does give a bit more insight into the Chambers family,Cruel Summercould have expanded on the pressures that Luke faced regarding his father and brother, and how those relationships eventually broke him into the person he became beyond Luke saying that he believed he had an out.
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Debbie and Megan’s Father
Debbie’s relationship with Megan’s father seems to be a one-off for the sake of throwing in drama. But, Megan’s father is never really relevant in the show again, other than to perhaps help pay for Megan’s lawyer. He does not play an important role in the story to such an extent that he may as well not have been there at all. Debbie’s character suffers enough between her diagnosis, her troubled relationship with Steve, and the uncertainty about what really happened between Megan, Isabella, and Luke.
Megan’s Sister
Megan’s sister, Lily, is basically a ghost. She appears very few times, as if just to show that she exists at all, then goes on to disappear from the series entirely. What was the point of introducing her as a member of the household if she was barely going to be there at all? Did Lily have any opinions about the Landry’s financial situation? What were her thoughts and reactions to the sex tape? Did Lily have any suspicions about Isabella? Had she overheard Luke lying about his relationships with Megan and Isabella? There are plenty of things thatCruel Summercould have done with Lily had the season remembered that she was even supposed to be there.
Brent’s Guilt
It makes sense that the summer of 2000 did not spend too much time on Brent or his guilt if they wanted to keep attention away from him. However, focusing entirely on Megan and Isabella was the wrong move, especially with the plot twist ending.Brent’s guilt is valid, but in the end, he was not the one who was responsible for Luke’s death. The season finale spends the most time on Brent’s guilt toward what happened to Luke, and how it results in him confessing to make sure that Megan does not go down for his actions. Still, pinning Brent as a more obvious potential suspect earlier, and showing more guilt from him, even if it was framed as guilt toward not being closer with his younger brother, could have explored his thoughts and feelings about his brother’s death.
Isabella and Luke’s Competition For Megan’s Attention
Only in the final episodes of the season doesCruel Summerspend more time discussing that there were undertones of competition between Isabella and Luke for Megan’s attention. Megan wanted to have it all. Isabella as her ride-or-die best friend, and Luke as her boyfriend. She did not see the problem between splitting her time with them, or all three spending time together. However, were Luke’s previous claims about Isabella wanting to drive a wedge between him and Megan right? Not that Megan would have noticed if Isabella had any nefarious intentions, with her believing in the best of both of them. Still, showing more competitiveness between Luke and Isabella could have given the trio more depth beyond the sex tape scandal and lies.
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Ned’s House
Ned’s house feels like it will be a far more dangerous plot thread than it turns out to be. Ned is a suspicious and potentially dangerous person, but the suggestion that he has scary ulterior motives never gets the exploration that season two teases it has the potential for. At one point, Megan goes to Ned’s house and questions a mysterious door that Ned warns her not to open. Such a declaration is immediately suspicious, especially withCruel Summer’shistory of hiding people away in houses. Still, there is never a payoff for Ned other than making his house relevant because of the security cameras.
Megan’s Pregnancy Test
Other than it being clear that Megan was not pregnant by the summer of 2000,Cruel Summer’ssecond season never explicitly states what happened to the baby that Megan believed she was pregnant with.Cruel Summer’sshowrunner separately statedthat Megan’s results were a false positive. However, it would not have been difficult to throw that line into an episode, just to clarify for the audience’s sake if Megan had an abortion or miscarriage somewhere along the way.
The Town’s Reaction To Luke’s Disappearance (And Death)
In a town where everyone knows of the Chambers family and their wealth, no one seems all that interested in the disappearance, and later revealed death, of Luke Chambers. Why is that? It does not seem like anyone cares about such a huge scandal in a boring town where nothing ever happens. While there are some moments that show people give a brief questioning as to how Megan is doing as she hands out flyers regarding Luke being missing, there is nothing else that highlights that anyone noticed he was gone at all.
