Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 9 Review: The Miseducation of Luke Chambers

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 9, “The Miseducation of Luke Chambers,” steps away from Megan and Isabella to get inside Luke’s head before (further) disaster strikes.

Written by Elle Triedman and directed by Laura Nisbet-Peters, this episode is a change of pace and perspective — a bold move during Cruel Summer Season 2’s ninth hour.

Considering the emphasis the other eight episodes put on Megan and Isabella, this break from form makes “The Miseducation of Luke Chambers” an engaging and retrospective penultimate episode. The show re-examines everything from Luke’s eyes after the bombshells of Cruel Summer Season 2 Episode 8, “Confess Your Sins.”

“The Miseducation of Luke Chambers” does a satisfactory job of extending empathy to look when necessary while never excusing him for his conscious actions that cause irreparable ripple effects to those around him. It’s a fine line to walk, but Cruel Summer pulls it off by honing in on Luke’s dynamics with Steve, Megan, and Isabella.

Consequently, the episode discovers a new level of self-doubt and vulnerability within Luke while highlighting his selfishness and rashness.

The intimate direction brings viewers closer to Luke so that Isabella’s comments sting as they would to Luke. Steve’s unparalleled expectations and pressure weigh on the viewer as they do Luke. Nisbet-Peters’ directorial choices inspire a level of sympathy that the script confronts at every turn, creating a cohesive conversation.

With Season 2’s showrunner penning the script, Cruel Summer confidently (re)asserts that two things can be true at once for Luke — bad things happen to him, and he does bad things to others. Hurt people hurting people isn’t an unknown phenomenon. 

Teen dramas, especially, weave that concept into stories because of coming-of-age experiences’ heightened emotional stakes — everything feels like life or death. Cruel Summer has a sharper edge to its execution because of the murder-mystery element.

Season 2 adding Y2K into the mix elevates the “end of the world” of it all.

“The Miseducation of Luke Chambers” juxtaposing what are likely the last moments of Luke’s life with the moments that metaphorically feel like them is a clever method to approach the story. Isabella saying there’s no room for Luke in Megan’s life and Steve giving his son no way out of being a “Chambers man” is suffocating to watch.

Nevertheless, that sympathy rightfully does not extend to Luke wanting to prove he is one of the boys by recording a sex tape without Megan’s consent and then screening that tape at the Christmas party — without considering its irreparable impact on Megan and Isabella — to sabotage his father’s desired future for Luke.

“The Miseducation of Luke Chambers” also finds that clash of sympathy and hostility when Megan tells Luke she’s pregnant. Luke’s reaction isn’t the best, but the circumstances of his learning the news aren’t the best either.

It’s one of many points when Cruel Summer‘s story makes sense of Luke’s actions from his perspective while holding up a mirror to how wrong they are. That sentiment rings true for Megan and Isabella, too, who leave Luke tied up after being drugged and shot. This show loves to play with extremes, doesn’t it?

The decision to show Isabella and Megan’s very different expressions while they lay in bed and Luke tries to find his out of the woods is perfect and unnerving. It’s a chilling reminder that Cruel Summer is a psychological thriller.

It’s a great scene for Sadie Stanley and Lexi Underwood to express Megan and Isabella’s more immediate reactions to that night — removed from the time and space of the investigation in July 2000. Because they have to be silent, the show encourages the viewer to lean in so as not to miss any subtle shift in their expressions.

Griffin Gluck is the standout performer of “The Miseducation of Luke Chambers.”

The amount of work Gluck does during this episode is more than any other this season. He goes toe-to-toe with Paul Adelstein in some of the episode’s most dynamic scenes, in which Gluck’s performance feels the most lived-in. “The Miseducation of Luke Chambers” gives Griffin Gluck center stage to show his range.

The prioritization of Luke’s POV develops his relationships with everyone, which reframes the mystery. Until its recent episodes, Cruel Summer offers unparalleled insight into Megan and Isabella’s friendship without raising the stakes between them and Luke. Now, all the drama and tension and suspense are dialed up to 100.

Accordingly, “The Miseducation of Luke Chambers” is a functional (and stressful) penultimate episode — fit with a propulsive cliffhanger. So, while some questions still loom large ahead of Cruel Summer‘s finale, one thing is certain after this episode — no one is coming out of Season 2 better than they started it.

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Cruel Summer airs Mondays at 10/9c on Freeform.

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Cruel Summer: Griffin Gluck Discusses Luke’s Relationship with Isabella and Megan [Interview]