Cruel Summer Season 2 Wildest Fan Theories, Ranked

Cruel Summer is back for its second season, which combines the three-timeline narrative and addictive suspense of Season 1 with even higher stakes. Now it's a murder mystery, and the format has changed from a who-did-what into a who-done-it, offering fans plenty of room for speculation. Let's see what viewers think will happen in the upcoming episodes of Freeform's teen mystery series. Spoilers ahead.

So far, Cruel Summer has aired three episodes that tell the tragic story of three teenagers living in a fictional town in Washington State in the late 1990s. The friendship and love triangle between 17-year-old Megan Landry, Isabella LaRue, and Luke Chambers ends with the death of one of them and murder charges brought against the other two. But the more we delve into the story, the more dark secrets are revealed.

So who is the murderer? And did the murder even happen? Here are the most popular fan theories about Cruel Summer Season 2, ranked by how plausible they are.

6. Luke is alive

We and the characters are told that it was Luke's body that was found in a lake in episode 2, but was it? Some fans think that Luke might be alive and hiding in his family cabin for some reason.

5. Isabella made the sex tape

A sex tape of Megan and Luke that turns up at the Chambers' Christmas party becomes the shocking development of the winter 1999 timeline. But who made it? Obviously, Megan and Luke weren't aware they were being filmed. And judging by Isabella's reaction, fans think she may very well have been the person behind the camera.

4. Girls didn't kill Luke

Although all the suspicion for Luke's murder falls on the girls, some fans think this could be a trick. They say Isabella and Megan are innocent and acting suspiciously because they have other secrets to hide.

3. Luke killed himself

Fans think that Luke's death could have been an accident. He could have taken drugs, messed with a gun, and shot himself. If he did it in front of the girls who could not save him, they could then have covered up the incident.

2. Isabella and Megan are in love

Many fans have noticed the chemistry between Isabella and Megan and think the two protagonists might be having an affair, which could be the secret they are trying to hide, leading them to act weird.

1. Luke's death is self-defence

Considering that Isabella and Megan could be lovers, fans think it is possible that Luke caught them together and freaked out, threatened to ruin their lives, and even tried to kill one of them. Then one of the girls might have accidentally killed him while trying to protect her girlfriend.

Episode 4 of Cruel Summer Season 2 lands on Freeform on 26 June 2023.