[This story contains spoilers to Cruel Summer season two, episode seven, “It’s the End of the World.”]
In Cruel Summer season two’s seventh episode, the world is ending. That is, it’s the night before the year 2000, and the teenagers of Chatham are partying like there’s no tomorrow.
“Teenagers feel like they’re invincible,” says Sadie Stanley, who plays Megan Landry in the show. “For them, it’s just an excuse to party.”
Throughout the Freeform series, Megan and Isabella (Lexi Underwood) have seen their fair share of ups and downs in their evolving friendship as they deal with heavy themes of death, loss, infidelity, manipulation and more. During those darker moments, the actresses tell The Hollywood Reporter they made sure to check in.
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“Sometimes when I leave set, I’ll still kind of feel that residue,” Underwood says about the emotions her character experiences. “There were a lot of times where I had to make sure that I was checking in with myself, my wellbeing.”
“When you’re doing these really high-stress and darker scenes, it can kind of stay in your body, too,” adds Stanley.
With only three more episodes left in the season, the stars are doing their best to keep series secrets under wraps. “[Audiences on social media] will critique or criticize a certain character, and I want to be like, ‘No!’ and back that character,” says Underwood. “Then, I’m like, ‘Oh, wait, but they’re supposed to think that, so let me just keep my comments to myself.’ I’m just ready for it to be out.”
THR chatted with Stanley and Underwood about all things episode seven, new developments in the murder mystery and whether or not they’re satisfied with the show’s ending. Read on below.
Have you guys been watching the new episodes as they come out?
LEXI UNDERWOOD: Each week, a different cast member will host, and we’ll sit down and watch it. It’s fun to watch, especially with all the theories.
SADIE STANLEY: We’ve already seen all of them, so it’s fun to watch them as they’re airing live with the commercials, and watch the live tweets come in.
I spoke to your showrunner Elle Triedman, and she said she’s been lurking on some of the Twitter theories. Are you guys keeping up with that, too?
UNDERWOOD: There are a lot of good ones, honestly. A lot that I didn’t even think of. The latest ones from episode six, I was like, I wish I would have thought of that.
STANLEY: But as we were shooting, we were coming up with so many theories too, because we didn’t have all the scripts at first. So every time we got an episode, we had more theories to go through. It’s fun to watch people go through the motions that we did.
In episode seven, one of the timelines takes place on New Year’s Eve 1999, the night before Y2k and the possible world ending. What was it like getting to play that out?
UNDERWOOD: It was so fun. I knew that it was a thing. But I didn’t really know how much of a thing that it was until we got the scripts. I did my research and I remember talking to my parents and asking, “Did you really think that the world was gonna end?” Like the survival kits and people were planning if they needed a safe room or a bunker. I can’t even imagine, in this day and age, really feeling like the world is gonna end. But it’s so cool to be able to play it out. Especially because none of us were alive. Well, I wasn’t, but [Griffin Gluck] was alive, at least. But we weren’t necessarily really conscious and didn’t know how much of a moment it was.
STANLEY: We have some characters in episode seven, like Ned who is really freaking out about it. He’s really stressed and is trying to instill that into Meghan, and then to Luke. But we’re all kids, we’re playing teenagers, and teenagers feel like they’re invincible. So it’s scary, the world’s gonna end or whatever. But for them, it’s just an excuse to party.
And at the top of the episode Isabella says that her New Year’s resolution is to start fresh and leave the last year behind her. Lexi, I’d love to hear how you interpreted that moment?
UNDERWOOD: I think that Isabella, just in general, is very used to not having that sense of stability. She’s very used to constantly having to change, constantly having to adapt to new scenarios, new situations, new places. And I think that whenever she goes to a new place, it’s kind of in her nature where she feels as though it’s an opportunity for a fresh start. So I think that’s especially true when it comes to New Year’s. Tere’s been so much that has happened over such a short period of time. It’s winter and we just met the characters during summertime, so it’s really only in the span of like six months. She’s come into her own in a very different way. She’s definitely settled into Chatham. She knows what she wants from Chatham and from the people in Chatham. And everything that has happened within those past six months, she’s ready to let it go, to turn a new leaf and step into her potential. She feels as though she could really flourish there.
And Sadie for you, we learned so much more about Megan’s relationship with Ned in this episode. And it’s still sort of unclear what Ned’s true intentions are. What was it like getting to dig into that a little bit and develop their friendship?
STANLEY: It was interesting. We were learning things about our characters as we got those scripts, and I was like, “Okay, what’s going on?” They’re like, “I don’t even know yet.” And I was asking them, “Is this a situation where it’s like Martin Harris from season one? Should we be concerned about that?” I don’t want to give away too many spoilers, but it was definitely a conversation. I think right now, Ned is just a mentor to her. And he represents what’s waiting for her outside of Chatham. She feels like he’s the only one who understands her, her dreams and passions. I think that’s why she keeps him to herself and keeps that relationship secret. She wants something that’s just for her. She knows that people are going to judge her for having a relationship with him, whether it’s platonic or mentorship, or anything, because he’s seen as an ostracized, weird man. So that’s why she just wants to keep it a secret. She wants to be able to make that decision for herself.
Near the end of the episode, Megan overhears Luke boast to a group of guys that he’s playing both Megan and Isabella. What were your reactions to seeing that progression for his character?
STANLEY: I think we both kind of saw it coming. Those discussions had been had, and we kind of knew there had to be some reason for whoever did [it] to do what they did. We knew from the jump that he’s not the best guy, but it definitely is still a shock. When he kisses Isabella in episode six, or when she hears him talking that way about her in episode seven, that’s a punch to the gut. This boy is also the boy whose baby she’s pregnant with, and that’s huge. That’s heartbreaking. All of a sudden, she feels betrayed, like she was being gaslit and manipulated this whole time. Maybe he never really loved her the way that he said he did. Why is he acting all tough with these people who don’t matter, when she’s the one who’s been there for him this whole time? It’s really painful.
UNDERWOOD: It’s really interesting to see the progression with Luke. Even as we get into later episodes, and you get to see the background and his upbringing. I think that with Luke, those are the cards that he’s been dealt. His father is a prime example of what it means to be a toxic — toxic masculinity at its finest. And also, I would say privilege. We get to see that over the past six months, a lot of things have happened, where Luke has been able to get a pass and get away with it, as we see usually with men, especially men that come from families that are very powerful. It was bound to happen; it was destined to happen. That’s what happens when you consistently let somebody do something, get away with it, and just give them a slap on the wrist. You don’t actually give them real consequences. Same with Brent. And I think from there, it all goes downhill. And I think that it’s important that we see it and touch on it, the mere fact that toxic masculinity and privilege are really what’s driving Luke. It’s his downfall. It’s the whole family’s downfall.
Both of your characters grapple with some heavy stuff. Did you ever feel like you needed to take time or step away when you were filming some of those darker scenes?
UNDERWOOD: I consider myself to be kind of a method actor, in a sense. Like, not full-blown method, but I definitely carry some of that emotion that I am dealing with on a day-to-day basis into my character. And sometimes when I leave set, I’ll still kind of feel that residue, emotion-wise. And so there were times, especially as you get further on in the series, things get really dark. They’re all dealing with very, very interesting things. And I think, Isabella, specifically, after episode seven, we really get to see the spiral, and how she has completely lost it. And so there were a lot of times where I had to make sure that I was checking in with myself, my wellbeing.
I’m a very, very big advocate for therapy in my everyday life, but also when I’m working. Just so that I’m giving myself the space to also tap back into Lexi and how I’m feeling, and how I’m dealing with everything. It was definitely a push and pull. There were times where I would carry it, and I would just bask and sit in it, because I felt as though that’s really what made me connect to Isabella the most when I was just sitting in those raw kind of deep feelings. But outside of that, I definitely tried to make sure I was tapping in with myself and making sure that I was okay mentally every step of the way.
STANLEY: I think it’s important to acknowledge that our characters are going through a lot, but also us, as people, are going through a lot. It’s a balance. I think there’s a part of me that likes to really just dive in and stay in Megan’s world, so that I don’t have to deal with Sadie’s world, but you figure it out. I also think that like when you’re doing these really high-stress scenes, and these darker scenes, it can kind of stay in your body, too. Even if your mind [is] stepping away from it, that stress level still stays in your body. So, it’s so important to, like Lexi said, check in with yourself. I think what helped me in this project is that I didn’t have a lot of time to wallow in any sort of feelings. It was weird jumping back and forth constantly, and so it was just a real exercise. Being able to jump in and out, even if I’m still feeling those residual emotions, I have to tap into these other parts because it’s time to go.
And as we inch closer to the finale, has it been hard to keep things under wraps?
UNDERWOOD: Yes, especially with social media. They’ll critique or criticize a certain character, and I want to be like, “No!” and back that character. Then, I’m like, “Oh, wait, but they’re supposed to think that, so let me just keep my comments to myself.” But we only have three or four weeks luckily until everybody else has the secret, so I’m just ready for it to be out. It’ll be so good to no longer have to bite our tongues.
STANLEY: My family is dying to know.
Although the season isn’t over yet, are you satisfied with where your characters ended up in their journeys?
UNDERWOOD: Yes, and no. I’ll be honest. I wish honestly now looking back, I think I really would have liked to see or hear a little bit more of Isabella’s backstory. I would have went a little bit more in depth and explained a lot more. I think there’s so many interesting parts of this story. And it’s not even just me, like I’m thinking about Parker, I’m thinking about Jeff, I’m thinking about all the different cast members. And there’s just things when I watched the show, where I’m like, “Oh, this could have been a thing. And this could have been a thing. I wish we would have teased this out just a little bit more.” So I would definitely say there are a lot of things that pop up in mind, but all in all, I am satisfied with Isabella’s ending, where she goes, and how I kind of interpret how her future will look like after this.
STANLEY: I think I’m satisfied. It’s hard for a story like this to end in a satisfying way because there will be pieces that the audience is going to have to put together for themselves, which I think is satisfying, in and of itself. I like to do that as a viewer. I like when you’re left with a little bit up to interpretation. You can go back and rewatch scenes and be like, “Oh, that’s what they meant by that. That’s what they were planting there. That makes a lot more sense. I didn’t see that at first.” So I’m satisfied with Megan’s journey. As like Lexi said, we had a lot of characters in the show, and we only have a limited amount of time, so you can’t always dive into everybody the way that you want to. But I hope that — at least through all the deep work that we did with our characters — people can see enough.
Interview edited for length and clarity.
New episodes of Cruel Summer debut Mondays on Freeform.
