Cruel Summer Season 2 Episodes 1 and 2 Review: Welcome to Chatham / Ride or Die

Cruel Summer Season 2 Episodes 1 and 2, “Welcome to Chatham / Ride or Die,” introduce a new small town with a murder mystery that hinges on Megan and Isabella’s complicated friendship. 

Beyond repetitive reminders that word travels fast in Chatham, “Welcome to Chatham / Ride or Die” instill enough intrigue around the characters to pull viewers into a season divorced from Kate Wallis and Jeanette Turner’s story in Texas in Season 1.

Despite its noticeable differences, Cruel Summer Season 2 is like the debut season in that it takes time to adjust to the distinctions between July 1999, December 1999, and July 2000. Nevertheless, the new season diverges into a more truncated timeline than Season 1, adding even more urgency to the mystery.

The cast’s chemistry will likely strengthen as the season progresses and the characters evolve, but “Welcome to Chatham / Ride or Die” benefit from the angsty and awkward energy between its main trio — Megan, Isabella, and Luke.

Every interpersonal shift feels as life and death as the murder mystery that rocks Chatham. However, the most considerable blowback comes from Megan telling Luke that she is her ride-or-die after everything Isabella does to help and protect Megan. That scene alone reveals the layers of their complex and concerning friendship.

Still, that turn plays as a knife twist in Isabella’s back because Cruel Summer shifts from favoring Megan’s perspective on “Welcome to Chatham” to Isabella’s on “Ride or Die.” That framing grants Sadie Stanley and Lexi Underwood a level playing field to exercise their talents and equally amplifies the conflict from a viewer’s perspective.

In turn, Cruel Summer challenges the first impressions made in “Welcome to Chatham” by reinforcing how Isabella and Megan’s points of view could position the other as unreliable narrator. So, because of the story’s dependence on the girls’ viewpoints, neither episode sells that anyone other than Luke could be in the body bag.

The first episode attempts to string along theories that Isabella may be the one who dies because her only appearance in Summer 2000 comes in the closing minutes. However, Isabella and Megan’s relationship being at the crux of this story, in which Luke already plays a pivotal role, means losing Luke causes an intense ripple effect.

Accordingly, the two-episode premiere gradually documents Luke’s relevance to the story, his relationship with both girls, and his ambitions. Griffin Gluck’s personable performance makes Luke’s death an intriguing heavy-hitter for the season to unpack.

It’s entertaining that much of the interest in Luke results from his relationship with his father, Steve, because Cruel Summer reunites Gluck and Paul Adelstein for the first time since they last shared the screen on Private Practice in 2013.

Their dynamic on this show is like an elevated, more mature version of their previous one, and it’s a treat to watch Adelstein and Gluck’s familiarity and chemistry add depth to yet another complicated father/son relationship.

Similarly, Cruel Summer reunites Adelstein and KaDee Strickland as on-screen business and romantic partners after playing Cooper Friedman and Charlotte King for six seasons on Private Practice.

Their chemistry is as natural and present as ever, lending itself to the scene on “Ride or Die” when Steve opens up about all the losses in his life. Strickland has few lines, but her presence genuinely supports Adelstein’s performance.

Sometimes teen dramas can work overtime to make the adults relevant to the story, but Cruel Summer Season 2 does a fine job of showing their reach in Chatham and the teens’ lives. For instance, the script signals a disconnect between Megan and her mother early on when Megan casually refers to her as “Debbie” to Luke.

As it weaves the adults into the story’s fabric, the episodes also sprinkle Y2K-related clues — some more accurate than others — throughout to fit the scene and the turn into more invasive and immediate technology.

That technological progression intensifies and immortalizes the coming-of-age experiences that already crescendo with the theory that the world will end in 2000.

“Welcome to Chatham” and “Ride or Die” harness that equal measure of uneasiness and invincibility best with the interpersonal drama amongst its leading trio.

Cruel Summer‘s other ensemble members only start to make their marks as “Ride or Die” comes to a close. The story signals that characters like Brent and Parker will emerge as more significant players even if they have yet to make a lasting impact.

That is partly because, unfortunately, the scripts often divert to characterization and exposition. Nevertheless, despite how heavy-handed some of the dialogue can be, Cruel Summer often tries to find an engaging execution in how any new piece of information shifts the central dynamics between contentment and turmoil.

Cruel Summer‘s production details assist that narrative with the blue hue icing the divisions of Winter 1999 and the green one highlighting the rotten or algae-like aspects of Summer 2000. Those visual cues lend themselves to the story — as does the fantastic soundtrack. What’s a Y2K teen drama without a great soundtrack?

Isabella and Parker stomping on Brent’s VHS tapes to Meredith Brooks’ “Bitch” is a standout scene from “Ride or Die” that would only excel better if Cruel Summer carved out more space to detail Brent’s inappropriate pattern of behavior prior. Either way, it works because the song takes it to another level, as any good track can.

Ultimately, “Welcome to Chatham” — the stronger of the two episodes — introduces a perceived comfortability in a serene, waterfront town that opens the floodgates for “Ride or Die” to take a few smaller jumps so that Megan and Isabella make a definitive splash when they jump off that cliff together.

At its best and worst, Megan and Isabella’s friendship is the glue of Cruel Summer Season 2, which makes it all the more enticing to see how it turns sour and falls apart so quickly — and with deadly consequences.  

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What did you think of the two-episode season premiere of Cruel Summer? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Cruel Summer airs on Mondays at 9/8c on Freeform.

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Sadie Stanley on the Y2K Setting and the Joys of Filming ‘Cruel Summer’ [Interview]