Ride or Die

Season

2

Episode

2

First Aired

June 5, 2023

Writer

Matt Morgan

Director

Laura Nisbet-Peters

Episode Guide
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Welcome to Chatham	Bloody Knuckles

Ride or Die^[1] is the second episode of the second season of Cruel Summer. It is also the twelfth episode overall and aired on June 5, 2023 on Freeform.

Synopsis[]

In Summer 1999, Isabella grows closer to Luke, while struggling to connect with Megan. In Winter 1999, Isabella searches for justice following the disastrous Christmas party.^[1]

Plot[]

The events that are about to unfold take place on or around:
July 18th, 1999
December 18th, 1999
July 18th, 2000

1999, Summer: Isabella writes a letter to Lisa, hoping she's in a place amazing as she reads this. People in Chatham look at her like she's an exotic creature from another planet, which makes it fun to mess with them. She thinks she's really going to like it here, but there's one obstacle. She waves to Megan who drives up to the house, but the girl ignores her.

1999, Winter: Isabella gets out of the airstream to find the lawn riddled with blow-up sex objects, including a doll with the words “go home, slut” sprayed on the chest.

2000, Summer: Isabella joins Megan on the front porch of the Landry house. They both said things they shouldn't have, but now that they found Luke's body people are going to ask questions. So Megan can't shut her out forever. Megan looks over at her and then stands, walking inside without a word.

1999, Summer: Debbie shows Isabella how to make eggs but she smashes the egg on the counter. It takes practice, assuring Isabella she'll get it one day. When she was younger, they moved around a lot so it made it hard to make friends. She went to boarding school one year, though she didn't miss her parents much as it wasn't that different. She tells Lily that in boarding school, friends become like your family - at least Lisa did. She's super fun, smart, and incredibly ambitious, super driven, but a total control freak. It sounds like someone Debbie knows, except Lily knows they aren't friends. Isabella smirks that it takes time to get to know someone, but sooner or later, she'll crack it.

She walks upstairs to Megan's room and looks at her things. She runs her hand over the keyboard and taps it, but the computer is locked. She spots a wallet on the desk.

1999, Winter: Debbie finds Isabella in the kitchen making breakfast. She just spent an hour trying to convince Principal Bowers not to suspend her. The whole town saw her having sex, but she agreed to probation instead. One false move and she'll be expelled. Isabella thanks her and appreciates it. Debbie doubts it's enough to convince Megan to forgive her, but she has to start somewhere.

1999, Summer: Isabella goes into the Shoreline and Megan greets her from behind the counter. She gives her the wallet she left at home. Megan asks if she was in her room, and Isabella smirks that she thought it was the Chatham way. Luke walks up in line to order food, greeting Isabella as he does. She was just leaving but asked about his plans for the day. He's going to swim and play video games. Megan warns him about cramping up, but he cites experts who say greasy food is key to a good backstroke. Isabella wants to test that theory and orders a dozen more subs on her since one won't feed an entire party. He invites Megan and she might stop by after her shift. Isabella doesn't want to pressure her, as Megan knows where to find them if she wants to.

1999, Winter: Isabella brings Megan a tray of food. She's watching the rest of the sex tape and Isabella apologizes again. She knows already and pauses the video, shocking both of them to see Megan's face instead.

Megan worries that Principal Bowers will find out it's her on the tape and she'll lose everything, including her scholarship. Isabella offers to keep it a secret, to make sure no one finds out the truth. She'll be gone in a few months anyway, so it doesn't matter if people think she slept with Luke. She can handle people calling her a slut. She's not going to let Megan, who is like a sister to her, lose her scholarship over this. Megan thinks it's too much of a sacrifice, but it's what best friends do - they take bullets, give kidneys - she's not going to let the tape ruin Megan's future. She loves her and wouldn't do it for anyone else. Ride or die isn't just words, because they actually mean it, and Megan agrees.

2000, Summer: Deputy Hardwicke delivers the coroner's report to Sheriff Myers, who learns the cause of death is drowning. There's an abrasion on his ear just above a gunshot wound, but it's more of a surface nick. Someone took a shot at him but the toxicology report says there was a serious amount of benzodiazepines in his system at the time. It could be pain meds or muscle relaxants. Whoever killed Luke wanted to make sure he was severely impaired before he went into the water, as they didn't want any chance of him coming out alive.

Isabella and the Landry family drive up to a memorial for Luke. She knows he'll have a million new best friends soon enough, just like Princess Diana. People who never cared when she was alive suddenly started crying at her memorial, as they loved her. Debbie merely drives on while Isabella looks at the memorial, then Megan in the backseat.

1999, Summer: Luke asks Isabella about what made her decide to come to Chatham. It was more the people than the palace. She's an only child and always wanted brothers or sisters. He always wished he was an only child, but it might be more Brent-specific. The family option really appealed to her, especially when she read Debbie's letter. She loved the pictures she sent and it seemed like a fun palace to spend the summer. He's glad she chose them and hopes they live up to her expectations.

Brent grills while making innuendos to Parker, who sarcastically remarks how great it is when Isabella and Luke drop off more food. The amount of people at the party surprises Isabella, and Luke attributes that to the small-town nature of telling one person and suddenly everyone knows.

1999, Winter: Megan and Isabella pour gasoline on the sex tape, while Megan tries to make sure Isabella is okay with taking the blame. Chatham won't ever let her forget the tape, but she gets it, as Americans are prudish about sex. She promises not to regret this - as long as the truth stays between the three of them, no one will ever find out. Megan keeps trying to figure out who would do this. Isabella can think of one aspiring filmmaker with a grudge. Everyone talks about a woman scorned but men are even worse. Megan isn't convinced as it doesn't seem like his style. Isabella promises to find out who it was. She lights a match and sets the tape on fire.

2000, Summer: The Landry family and Megan arrive at the Chambers house looking for Steve. Brent is there, telling them that Steve got called down to the station. Luke didn't just drown, they think he was murdered. The news scares Megan and Isabella.

Parker walks onto the airstream where Isabella is frantically packing while trying to book a flight to Paris. Parker takes a seat and Isabella forces a smile, as she needs to get out of Chatham. She opens her drawer and sees a Polaroid of her, Luke, and Megan together from last summer. Parker sighs that Paris will have to wait because Sheriff Myer is making everyone go back down to the station. He's going to interview everyone all over again.

1999, Summer: Jeff records Brent making a drink and Isabella flirting with him at the bar. She compliments two girls' suntan lotion smelling great, learning its baby lotion. She's had enough of Jeff's camera and pushes it down as she walks past. She compliments the song Parker played the other night, then starts to go through her music book. Parker quickly closes it as no one goes through the book, especially not strangers. Isabella insists she comes in peace, just wanting to see what Brent had for options. They aren't Brent's though, but Parker's, which makes sense to Isabella. Parker tells her to help Luke put on sunscreen as he's looking red. She forces a smile and walks off, finding Luke by the pool.

1999, Winter: The girls tell Luke their plan to let everyone think that it's Isabella on the tape. He's not sure he's okay with everyone thinking he cheated on Megan, including his dad, who is throwing a family meeting because of it. Brent will deny any involvement and his dad will buy whatever bullshit he's sold like always. Isabella still thinks Jeff made the tape, but Megan doesn't think so as Jeff's stuff looks more professional. Luke thinks it reeks of Brent. He just got a video camera for his birthday and is always bringing girls to the cabin. Megan isn't convinced he would play it at the party, not in front of Steve, leading Isabella to think it was a team effort. Jeff and Brent working together. But either way, they have to talk to both of them. Luke isn't convinced, agreeing to go along with whatever they want, but will handle his brother himself. Isabella doesn't think that will ever happen, and Megan cuts them off when she notices Deputy Hardwicke staring at the trio. Isabella thinks Luke owes Megan and threatens him if he doesn't make things right, angering him, as he's known Megan all her life. Isabella's known her for five minutes and is just a tourist. Megan separates them, but Hardwicke calls Luke over. He tells the girls to lay low until he talks to Brent. The last thing they need is to make things worse. When he walks off, Megan wants to go home and gives Isabella the keys. She'll drop her off but has something she wants to do.

2000, Summer: Isabella and Parker arrive at the station. Freddy snidely asks if she killed Luke to have Megan all to herself, with Jeff commenting on the bizarre love triangle. Parker tells her to ignore them as their assholes, but Isabella knows they're just saying what everyone thinks. She sees Megan in the car and joins her. Megan tells her to get out, but Isabella needs to know what she plans to tell the sheriff. They have to stick to their story so it'll all be over. She's leaving on Tuesday which angers Megan. As happy as she'll be to never see Isabella again, she's not going anywhere until this is over. Not if she wants Megan to keep her mouth shut. She gets out of the car and stalks into the station.

1999, Winter: Isabella peeks into the Chambers' house but it's dark. She finds Parker outside even though they broke up. Parker admits that Brent tried to film her once even though she said no, but now she's worrying that he did and she doesn't know about it. Isabella wants to get in the house, offering to help her find the hide-a-key that Parker knows is hidden somewhere. As they search, she asks if Megan kicked her out. It surprises her that Megan didn't, because Parker would be pissed if her best friend slept with her boyfriend. Things are tense for sure, but Isabella is only worried about getting in the house to find those tapes. She picks up a planter in search of the key, to no avail. She turns and throws the planter through the plate glass door, shattering it instantly. She merely asks if Parker is coming.

1999, Summer: Isabella makes drinks while Brent flirts with her. She tells him to stick to squeezing his own and is sure Parker would love a demonstration. He thought European chicks would be more open-minded. She is open-minded, but not European. Megan greets them and asks Isabella to store her bag behind the counter while asking if everything is cool. Brent warns Megan to be careful as Isabella has a knife, sulking away after. Isabella offers Megan non-alcoholic lemonade, then imparts that she should pay attention as details are everything. Megan doesn't seem to think Isabella misses much, then walks away with her cup.

1999, Winter: Parker and Isabella open the VHS closet, and Isabella starts pulling the film out of them. Parker stops her before she can ruin the ‘88 tapes since their mother was alive then. She shows her a row of Brent's “sports” tapes, so Isabella sweeps them off the shelf. They stomp on them, jumping up and down, and chuckling after a while. They hear the garage open before they can get to the stash in Brent's room. One of the tapes that were destroyed reads, “Football Playoffs”.

1999, Summer: Luke opens the garage door to help Isabella find something. She's still trying to figure Megan out and asks for tips. It isn't personal as Megan isn't great at letting new people in. It's worth the struggle because once she can get through it, she's the most loyal friend - help you bury a body, loyal. Isabella asks if he's speaking from experience, though a good friend never tells. He tells her to be herself because she's kind of awesome, so Megan will come around. She asks him to put a good word in for her, and he already did. He hands her some tiki torches, leaving the fireworks behind.

1999, Winter: Steve kicks aside the ruined tapes as he steps over the glass, confronting his sons who are on the couch. The tape is the gift that keeps on giving. He demands to know what comes next if someone will burn his house down. He asks if it's the only tape. Luke suggests Steve ask his number one son, and Brent starts to complain about Luke until Steve shouts to ask if that's only tape. Brent says it is though Luke calls it a lie. Steve tells him to stop talking and to clean up the mess. He's done cleaning up their messes. Luke stops him from leaving to say he's sorry. Steve suggests he says that to Megan. They have no idea what it might cost their family.

2000, Summer: Debbie finds Steve on the porch about to smoke a cigarette, ruining eight years of not smoking. He admits to cheating once before, on the first anniversary of Jane's death. She doesn't know where to begin but is there for him anytime. He doesn't think she'll want to be. It's like he's cursed, being punished for something. First Jane, now Luke. She tells him not to go there, but it's hard not to. Even when all those weeks and months went by with no word, Steve kept thinking Luke would come home.

1999, Summer: Isabella spills soda on Megan's backpack and dries it off. She finds a bag of pills inside.

By nightfall, Megan plays Marco-Polo in the water while Parker and Brent make out. The sound of fireworks exploding startles everyone at first but they go back to their activities. Isabella and Luke play with sparklers while Megan stares at Isabella. She gets out of the water and Luke hands Megan a sparkler. She's guessing it was all Isabella's idea since she loves the attention, but Luke insists it was a joint idea. He tells her to cut Isabella some slack as she's been in town for a minute and Megan's acting like she's radioactive. It wouldn't kill her to make a tiny bit of effort. Isabella watches them from a distance.

1999, Winter: Isabella tells Megan about her adventures at the Chambers residence that afternoon, shocking Megan with the planter incident. It's a little crazy, but there's nothing Isabella wouldn't do for her girl. She knows Megan's scared but promises this is all going to work out. They hold hands and Isabella promises not to go anywhere because she's stuck with her. This will all blow over soon and everything will go back to normal.

1999, Summer: Isabella asks if she can join Megan in the hot tub. Megan remarks it's her party so she can do what she wants, but Isabella knows the real party is in Megan's bag. She's guessing the squeaky clean girl has her share of dirt. She was trying to rescue her bag when she found her secret stash. Everyone around thinks they know her, but clearly, they don't. She doesn't judge as everyone has their thing. Megan insists they're for school so she can stay up late and study. She's doing what she has to to get what she wants. Isabella remarks that the real Megan Landry has entered the building. She knows it wasn't Megan's idea for her to come here, and there's no rule saying they have to get along. She proposes they find a way to be okay with each other. Isabella assures Megan that her advantage is safe with her, then leaves.

2000, Summer: Sheriff Myer asks Parker about the last time she saw Luke. It was at the New Year's Eve party when he wore the 2000s glasses. He seemed fine and happy. Kellie thinks that Luke and Megan got past the stuff with the tape and were all over each other, it was really cute. He asks if she saw Luke leave, and Jeff, now in the interview, saw Luke leave with Megan. They seemed really chill when they left like things couldn't be better. As for Isabella being there, Amy saw her fighting with Megan so she left early. They used to be besties, so close, the whole town saw her and Luke together on tape. She could never forgive them if it was her. Tim didn't know what the fight was about but was bummed because Isabella was his resolution for the day. Another teen called it dope as people thought the world was going to end but it didn't. Sheriff Myer doesn't think Luke would see it that way. Isabella takes a seat across from the Sheriff, Debbie to her left, as he asks her about her relationship with Luke. How they dated then broke up before he dated Megan. Then came the illegally recorded tape of them having sex. He muses about how things changed after that. She scoffs - she's a minor and thinks he should be more concerned about who made the tape. Debbie asks what his question is. After all, he's been through, he asks why she's still in town. She corrects his question as being why she didn't let herself get run out of town. Debbie stands up to leave, but Isabella tells her to sit as she's got this. When he talked to her back when Luke disappeared, she was ready to leave town once school ended. That's true, but Debbie got sick so she decided to stay and help out. He calls it kind of her but also convenient, given her situation before she came there. She went to three schools in three years and didn't even finish her junior year, having left before she could finish. She asks if that's all he has on her, and it is, for now. It's kind of hard not to notice a pattern of trouble following her wherever she goes. She stands up, but he's not done. She insists they are and won't be saying another word without her lawyer. The women leave and Deputy Hardwicke emerges from the observation room. He asks Myer what seventeen year old knows to ask for a lawyer. It's one who had to ask for one before.

1999, Winter: Brent comes downstairs to talk with Luke now that their father left. They haven't seen him that angry in a while. Luke scoffs over Brent and his tapes, but the elder sibling insists they weren't his. Someone else made Luke the celebrity. From what Luke hears, Brent has a whole collection, asking if he even cares about the girls. Brent takes a seat and insists the skanks love the attention. He got the idea from a girl named Jenny that he dated freshman year, who recorded everything they did together. Luke calls him an asshole, but Brent stops him from passing him on the stairs. These girls love being small-town famous, and when Isabella is forty, she'll look back on these as the best days of her life. The pathetic part to Luke is that so will Brent. Brent can't understand why Luke is being a little bitch about this. Those girls have him by the balls. Luke gets that he doesn't give a shit about the girls, he does, but he can't believe Brent would humiliate their dad like that. Brent insists he doesn't have a death wish. He doesn't know who put that tape in, but it sure as hell wasn't him.

1999, Summer: Isabella is in the pool with Luke. They both love night swimming. His mom used to take him and he remembers the lights casting these shadows that looked like monsters. It was so quiet, and Mom had one rule - not to get her hair wet. But she always got her hair wet. They smile at one another before Isabella realizes her earring is missing, calling it special as her friend Lisa gave it to her. He tells her not to worry as it's probably in the pool. He dunks down to look for it, finding it under them. He gives it back to her and their hands linger. They kiss twice while Megan watches.

1999, Winter: Megan and Luke lay on her bed together. He lets out his frustrations about Brent getting away with everything while he's a constant disappointment. His dad might technically love him but doesn't like him very much. He's not a jock, has no interest in business, and was on a sex tape at Steve's big party. The only worse thing is that he, and everyone, thinks he cheated on Megan. Megan knows the truth and that's what matters. She kisses him and then asks if Brent knows it's her on the tape, but Luke assures her that he doesn't. He stopped watching when he saw Luke on it and still thinks it's Isabella. Brent might be a creep but he can't keep a secret. She rests her head on his chest. He's the most important person in the world to her, and she's not going to let anything, or anyone, get between them. Ride or die. Unbeknownst to either of them, Isabella eavesdrops from the top of the stairwell and leaves angrily.

She comes downstairs to find Debbie at the table. She stands in front of her and admits there's something she needs to know.

1999, Summer: Luke and Isabella laugh together at the bar before Jeff tells them it's time for a photo. Megan is in the background, and he tells her to move, though Isabella insists she stays as she's meant to be in it. Luke puts one arm around each of the girl's shoulders, and Luke snaps the polaroid. Isabella asks to do another one and he does, printing out two versions of the Polaroid before the funny one.

2000, Summer: Isabella makes a phone call to her mom, who asks if everything is okay since it's late. Isabella needs her help, as she's in trouble. She takes a prescription from the bathroom and opens the bottle, pouring the green pills into her hand. She smashes the bottle under her foot, throws away the plastic, tears up the label, and then flushes the pills down the toilet.