S02.E04: Springing a Leak

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

In Summer 1999, Megan wants to be adventurous and makes fake IDs for the gang. In Winter 1999, a burst pipe leads the Landrys and Isabella to a messy night at the Chambers house. Isabella wants to help but is met with resistance from Megan.

Airs June 19th.

[Black Knight]

Damn, Megan got pregnant? That reveal gives this story a shot in the arm.

So - allegedly - Luke was planning to run away. I theorized last week that two of the core trio were planning to run away together, so I kind of lean towards believing this about Luke.

And now the sex tape is shocking enough to kill a business deal, because an investor is just so horrified that a wealthy guy's teen son would be having sex. LOL I believe this even less than I believe the scholarship nonsense. What do investors care about? Potential profits from their investments, that's what. But if we must play along with this stupidity, that means there's another potential motive for putting that sex tape on display - that is, it wasn't aimed at embarrassing any or all of Megan, Luke or Isabella, but was instead intended to kill Steve's real estate deal.

Heh on Isabella being totally fine with staying at the bar without the boys and Megan not really caring either. And yet another reference to Lisa.

They're making a lot out of how much shit Isabella is taking in order to cover for Megan. Makes me think that in the present day, Isabella has the biggest secret of all and Megan's covering for her as payback. Maybe Isabella was supposed to run away with Luke and things went wrong somehow. It's hard to see Megan leaving her mother and sister no matter how fed up she might get with her mother, but Isabella has no real relationship with her own parents.

[Anela]

I thought megan’s mother worked for they guy she’s dating. Why was her money going to pay for the leak being fixed? 
did Isabella tell the police about something on her computer, or is that another misdirect?

 

[KaveDweller]

4 hours ago, Black Knight said:

And now the sex tape is shocking enough to kill a business deal, because an investor is just so horrified that a wealthy guy's teen son would be having sex. LOL I believe this even less than I believe the scholarship nonsense. What do investors care about? Potential profits from their investments, that's what. But if we must play along with this stupidity, that means there's another potential motive for putting that sex tape on display - that is, it wasn't aimed at embarrassing any or all of Megan, Luke or Isabella, but was instead intended to kill Steve's real estate deal.

Unless the investor is some super religious nut, I can't buy someone backing out of a real estate deal over a sex tape. Rich people want to invest in things that will make them richer, they do not care about morals. And a teen boy having consensual sex doesn't even seem immoral.

But interesting idea that the tape was aimed at killing the deal. Didn't they reference something earlier that it was a really risky deal for him?

2 hours ago, Anela said:

I thought megan’s mother worked for they guy she’s dating. Why was her money going to pay for the leak being fixed? 
did Isabella tell the police about something on her computer, or is that another misdirect?

 

I think she does work for Luke's father and is dating him (at least in the Winter 1999 timeline). But what does that have to do with the leak? The burst pipe was in her house, why wouldn't she have to pay for it? Asking your boss or your boyfriend to pay for it is pretty awkward, when it is the same person that is just asking for problems.

It is really weird that Megan's mom is dating the father of her boyfriend.

I feel like I need more info on Megan and Isabella's relationship to explain Megan going from "you're the best friend I ever had, ride or ride" and cliff jumping with her to seeming jealous and resentful in a few days. She knows Isabella wasn't on the sex tape, and she is doing her a huge favor, so why does she suddenly seem to hate her any way? They also didn't really show how she transitioned from turning down drinks to wanting to make fake IDs in a couple of days either. She spent three years of high school ignoring peer pressure and Isabella comes to town and she is like, "yeah, let's do shots"?

I think Megan was worried about her computer because she has been doing a bunch of hacking/illegal stuff. Maybe she even breaks into the school computer to change her grades? Because an honor student suddenly having grades drop to a C+ may be an actual reason to lose a scholarship. It may have been awarded based on maintaining her same GPA for the rest of her senior year.

[Black Knight]

3 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

It is really weird that Megan's mom is dating the father of her boyfriend.

Agreed, and I was happy to hear the nod to that in this episode. It's not Megan's mom's doing though; she was dating Steve first, and then Megan started dating Luke. Megan and Luke really should have abstained from dating given their parents' pre-existing relationship, but teens can be stupid. But I wouldn't expect two grown adults to end a relationship they've been in for some time because their idiot teenage children decided to start dating as well. Most teen relationships have a short shelf life to begin with, and Megan heading off to college is an obvious breaking point.

3 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I feel like I need more info on Megan and Isabella's relationship to explain Megan going from "you're the best friend I ever had, ride or ride" and cliff jumping with her to seeming jealous and resentful in a few days. She knows Isabella wasn't on the sex tape, and she is doing her a huge favor, so why does she suddenly seem to hate her any way? They also didn't really show how she transitioned from turning down drinks to wanting to make fake IDs in a couple of days either. She spent three years of high school ignoring peer pressure and Isabella comes to town and she is like, "yeah, let's do shots"?

There's a theory that it's really Isabella that Megan is drawn to (platonically or otherwise), and a lot of the above makes sense with that theory.

[Anela]

5 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I think she does work for Luke's father and is dating him (at least in the Winter 1999 timeline). But what does that have to do with the leak?

Megan was saying that her money that she had saved up, would have to used to fix the leak. Not her mum having to pay for it, right? 

[KaveDweller]

1 hour ago, Black Knight said:

Agreed, and I was happy to hear the nod to that in this episode. It's not Megan's mom's doing though; she was dating Steve first, and then Megan started dating Luke. Megan and Luke really should have abstained from dating given their parents' pre-existing relationship, but teens can be stupid. But I wouldn't expect two grown adults to end a relationship they've been in for some time because their idiot teenage children decided to start dating as well. Most teen relationships have a short shelf life to begin with, and Megan heading off to college is an obvious breaking point.

There's a theory that it's really Isabella that Megan is drawn to (platonically or otherwise), and a lot of the above makes sense with that theory.

I am not sure how long Megan's mom and Steve have been dating. They seem close in the summer 1999 episodes, but wasn't Megan's mom kissing Megan's dad in the last episode? Megan got all upset about it. That suggests she and Steve weren't really in a relationship until later.

But I agree I wouldn't expect two grown adults to end a relationship because of their idiot kids.

40 minutes ago, Anela said:

Megan was saying that her money that she had saved up, would have to used to fix the leak. Not her mum having to pay for it, right? 

Oh, I think I misread the "her" in your initial comment. But Megan's mom said she had used up all their emergency savings on other stuff (like the sisters braces) and didn't have enough to cover the plumber. That is why Megan was trying to help out. It seems the richest guy in town doesn't really pay his employees that great.

 

[RachelKM]

On 6/20/2023 at 2:31 PM, KaveDweller said:

I feel like I need more info on Megan and Isabella's relationship to explain Megan going from "you're the best friend I ever had, ride or ride" and cliff jumping with her to seeming jealous and resentful in a few days. 

I agree.  I feel this way about both 1999 timelines.  It's one thing for there to be serious changes between timelines. A lot can happen in 6 months when you're a teen.  But I feel like there are missed beats within each timeline as well.  In one week (Seriously, I double checked, July 16 - July 23) in the Summer 99 timeline, we have Megan and Isabella, mostly Megan, going from animosity to giggling over drinks and sleepovers.  And in that time, Isabella starts dating Megan's best friend, Megan appears not thrilled about it (not clear over whom), the teens go to Luke's family cabin and Meg an Isa ditch out together, and now fake ID's and toasting to firsts.  Even for fickle, volatile teens, that's whiplash inducing.

Not that kids can't fall hard and fast both in love and in friendships.  But It feels like we still didn't see the connective moments, just lurching from one interaction to another.

And yeah, ride or die cliff jumping to resentment and suspicion between December 15 and 23 also feels disjointed and all over the place.  Again, it's not that things cannot change that quickly. But it doesn't feel earned.  So, unless we are going to backtrack within timelines, which would be a bit of a cheat of the show's central conceit, it's just weird.

As for this episode specifically, I honestly don't know what to think. I'm hoping things start to come together in some sort of direction soon. 

Edited June 22, 2023 by RachelKM
Typos.... as always.

[peachmangosteen]

This season is so bad but I admit, they really got me with the pregnancy twist. My jaw actually dropped lol.

[tennisgurl]

The pregnancy twist really might give this season a much needed shot in the arm, I really did not see that one coming. Interesting that Luke was planning to run away for some reason, were all three teens planning on running away? is whatever reason Luke wanted to run away the reason he was killed? With all the talk about how obsessed his dad is with their family reputation, did he kill Luke, maybe in a fit of rage over Luke running away or getting Megan pregnant? 

It really is super weird that Luke and Megan are dating when their parents are also dating. If their parents get married, then they would be hooking up with their step sibling, which would just make this messy situation even messier. 

Why is Megan being so weird with Isabella in the post sex-tape universe? She knows she didn't sleep with Luke, she's doing this all as a huge favor, I don't know how they went from "your my best friend forever" to her being angry and resentful towards her?

I continue to find everyone's reactions to the sex tape to be utterly ridiculous, I just cannot buy that a scholarship committee would be so shocked that they would pull a scholarship or that some rich investor would pull out of a deal over it. The part that's actually a big deal is that Luke's asshole brother is taping people having sex without consent, including minors. Now that's the reason an investor might back out, especially if they think that having a son who might be facing legal consequences could be a liability. 

I feel so sure that Megan is very into Isabella. 

[Black Knight]

22 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I am not sure how long Megan's mom and Steve have been dating. They seem close in the summer 1999 episodes, but wasn't Megan's mom kissing Megan's dad in the last episode? Megan got all upset about it. That suggests she and Steve weren't really in a relationship until later.

I freely admit I don't want to go back and rewatch to confirm, so I could be wrong, but I vaguely recall the summer 1999 timeline had some sort of confirmation that they were involved. The thing with Megan's parents seemed like a one-off rather than something ongoing - like for some reason he came to see her, she fell back into old feelings, and they kissed. So I didn't view it as something that meant that she wasn't already seeing Steve by then. Particularly since she and Steve don't exactly seem locked down - we haven't heard them say they love each other, for instance, have we? And we can see that they're not engaged or married or living together on a permanent basis. I can easily see Debbie having a makeout session with her ex while being involved with Steve.

Setting aside the theory that it's Isabella Megan is really into (whether platonically or romantically) for a minute, just to explore another possibility that we did get support for in this episode: People can feel very uncomfortable with the idea that they owe someone else too much, and sometimes will turn on that person for that reason. Some people do not like to feel grateful. Megan wouldn't accept a dime from Isabella in this episode, clearly because she did not want to owe Isabella even more than she already does. And we have some backing for Megan being someone who thinks like this, because she was so horrified in an earlier episode to learn her dad was funding her lawyer, and was yelling about how she was going to pay him back. A different kind of person would take the view that her dad hasn't been there for her up to now, and so the least he can do is pay for her lawyer now that she needs one.

And Megan learned this, to some degree, from her mother. Debbie mentioned that she'd never asked Megan's dad for anything before the lawyer. And with Steve, Debbie didn't want to ask him for the money for the plumber, so what she ended up doing was creating a situation where Steve felt like he owed it to her to get her the plumber.

[Pallida]

Do we know if Debbie went to college? I’ve gotten the sense that Megan has some ignorance about the actual admission and scholarship process, and if parents don’t have experience with college, it’s not hard to be led astray. In other words, I wouldn’t be surprised if Megan jumped to conclusions and that became the reality. 
 

There is a hole in this that Debbie had to talk to the principal to keep Isabella from getting expelled. But again, we don’t see that and season one definitely used unreliable narrator so I wouldn’t be surprised if that happens again. 

[CarpeFelis]

On 6/20/2023 at 7:35 PM, Anela said:

Megan was saying that her money that she had saved up, would have to used to fix the leak. Not her mum having to pay for it, right? 

Megan only had $900-something saved and the bill was $6000.

On 6/21/2023 at 9:19 AM, tennisgurl said:

Why is Megan being so weird with Isabella in the post sex-tape universe? She knows she didn't sleep with Luke, she's doing this all as a huge favor, I don't know how they went from "your my best friend forever" to her being angry and resentful towards her?

My theory is that either Isabella betrayed her in some other way (other than possibly sleeping with Luke), or something happened that made it appear she did. IDK, maybe she even switched tapes and kept the original. 

21 hours ago, Black Knight said:

And with Steve, Debbie didn't want to ask him for the money for the plumber, so what she ended up doing was creating a situation where Steve felt like he owed it to her to get her the plumber.

Did she really create that situation, though? It seemed to me it was because of the argument at dinner. Although that did start with Debbie insisting on an apology from Brent, I think she would have done that regardless. I certainly would have, because that nasty little SOB owed everyone involved a HUGE apology and, frankly, some jail time. And calling out Steve for caring more about his family name than what’s right was justified. (BTW this and the previous season are interesting to me mainly for the mysteries but also because my own daughter was in the class of 2000, so I’m seeing things from the parents’ POV.)

Brent seems sociopathic to me, so I’m starting to think maybe he’s the one who killed Luke. OTOH, Isabella seems shady and I wonder about Megan’s mental stability with her seesawing from hating Isabella to ride or die BFFs back to hating her. And Steve is so obsessed with his reputation he may have had a motive too.

Edited June 22, 2023 by CarpeFelis

[KaveDweller]

2 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

My theory is that either Isabella betrayed her in some other way (other than possibly sleeping with Luke), or something happened that made it appear she did. IDK, maybe she even switched tapes and kept the original. 

That would make sense, except why didn't we see it. We haven't skipped any days in the Winter 1999 timeline. The set up is the show is that we don't know what happened between each timeline, but not showing us important stuff within the timeline seems unfair.

[LuvMyShows]

On 6/20/2023 at 11:22 PM, KaveDweller said:

I am not sure how long Megan's mom and Steve have been dating. They seem close in the summer 1999 episodes, but wasn't Megan's mom kissing Megan's dad in the last episode?

I wondered if maybe Megan's mom was kissing Megan's dad because she wanted to butter him up because she needed something from him.

On 6/22/2023 at 7:14 PM, CarpeFelis said:

Brent seems sociopathic to me, so I’m starting to think maybe he’s the one who killed Luke. 

I'm starting to wonder if Jeff killed Luke.  Clearly Jeff is very into Megan, and Megan clearly has very deep feelings for Luke. Maybe he knew she would always carry a torch for Luke and he wanted her all to himself.

On 6/22/2023 at 12:47 AM, Pallida said:

Do we know if Debbie went to college?

Debbie did not go to college. IIRC she said something about Megan being the first in the family to go to college.  However, ever since she said that, I have felt that if that is supposed to be miscast, then a different actress should be playing Debbie.  KaDee seems too refined to not have gone to college.

On 6/20/2023 at 5:31 PM, KaveDweller said:

She knows Isabella wasn't on the sex tape

So with this episode, I started wondering why Brent doesn't know it's not Isabella on the sex tape.  If he was watching his own tapes, he would have seen the whole tape and realized it was Megan.  So if he does know and has kept quiet about it so far, does that figure into the plot later on?

On 6/21/2023 at 9:32 AM, peachmangosteen said:

This season is so bad 

I agree.  For me, a huge problem is how short the scenes are from each time period.  I cannot keep straight who is at what stage with whom.

[TattleTeeny]

Quote

I agree.  For me, a huge problem is how short the scenes are from each time period.  I cannot keep straight who is at what stage with whom.

Same as last time, I think -- hair styles, clothing (both stylewise and seasonwise), and lighting. For example, Isabella has big hair with tight spirals and a few blond streaks at first, then black with long, chunky curls, and then (I think?) low ponytail.

ETA: And Megan's progression seems to be about the same as the season 1 girl (Jeanette?): First, kind of childlike with casual hair, then more standard/basic girly-girl with clearly more fussed-with hair, then full-on Hot Topic.

Edited June 24, 2023 by TattleTeeny

[peachmangosteen]

10 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

For me, a huge problem is how short the scenes are from each time period.  I cannot keep straight who is at what stage with whom.

This but I think it was like that in the beginning of season 1 for me as well. It got easier once I became more invested but I don't think these characters are anywhere near as compelling as season 1's so I don't know that I'll ever get that invested.

[LuvMyShows]

2 hours ago, TattleTeeny said:

Same as last time, I think -- hair styles, clothing (both stylewise and seasonwise), and lighting. For example, Isabella has big hair with tight spirals and a few blond streaks at first, then black with long, chunky curls, and then (I think?) low ponytail.

My issue isn't so much that I can't keep straight what era they're in when they show it, although Luke and Brent seem pretty much impossible to tell by appearance and Isabella as easy as Megan, but yes the lighting is definitely different.  It's that I can't keep track of who is at what stage with whom, and what has or hasn't already happened, when we come into an era.  Like, for any given era we enter, has Megan been boyfriend/girlfriend with Luke yet? Has she kissed Jeff? Is the roof leak in era 2 or 3?  I just wish they would let us see longer action in eras, which they definitely did in season 1, to let it sink in. It's particularly difficult for distinguishing between action from eras 2 and 3.

[JAYJAY1979]

13 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

 

Debbie did not go to college. IIRC she said something about Megan being the first in the family to go to college.  However, ever since she said that, I have felt that if that is supposed to be miscast, then a different actress should be playing Debbie.  KaDee seems too refined to not have gone to college.

I think she's well cast.

I knew of a few people that didn't go to college either due to socio economic circumstances, they became young parents, or maybe they didn't have good grades.

Did Debbie marry Megan's father or did she get pregnant and opted not to marry? 

If she had married him, it's possible she viewed that as her ticket to lift herself up income wise..and to ensure her kids could have a chance at college.

If they didn't get married, then it could explain why Megan is the adult.  Working so much, trying to get a scholarship, etc.

I would be more intrigued if the focus had been on the change of Megan from goody goody in summer 1999 to Hot Topic goth/emo of summer 2000...and how much of it was influenced by Isabella..and how much of it was Megan finally revealing the real her.

And perhaps maybe the scandal should have been rather Megan lied in order to get the scholarship (i.e. stole an idea of Jeff's and took credit for it)..and maybe Isabella is covering/blackmailing her.

Lastly, I would have set this in the south instead of Washington.  The whole moral clause of the sex tape and it being why Megan would lose her scholarship makes more sense in the south (and that still is a thing in some parts of the south in the 2020s).

Edited June 24, 2023 by JAYJAY1979

[CrystalBlue]

I just want to sit back and be entertained, not have to do homework and keep a spreadsheet.  Goody-Goody vs Goth/Emo Megan and 1999 Hair vs 2000 Hair Isabella are the only distinct changes to my view.  Luke looks so young!  Jeff doesn't look like he would kill someone to me.

[SunnyBeBe]

I just discovered Season 2.  There’s some portions that I don’t get, but I’m loving the music!  Omg, I never realized how great the music was back then.  Now, I need to go rewatch some scenes, cause they don’t make a lot of sense.  

[Black Knight]

On 6/23/2023 at 8:32 PM, LuvMyShows said:

So with this episode, I started wondering why Brent doesn't know it's not Isabella on the sex tape.  If he was watching his own tapes, he would have seen the whole tape and realized it was Megan.

He said he stopped watching when he saw Luke on the tape, because he didn't want to watch his brother having sex. I think Brent is a sleaze and a liar, but that does seem plausible enough. I think a lot of guys would not consider that jerk-off material.

[AllyB]

Everyone is being very unfair about the expelled from school for having sex in the 90s plotline. I distinctly remember a late 90s tv show where a girl did indeed end up expelled from school after having consensual sex with her boyfriend!!!

Although in that show the boyfriend was a cursed vampire and the sex made him lose his soul which culminated in him ordering a murder in the school library which the girl was found in the aftermath of and so expelled. And her expulsion only lasted a few episodes of series 3. But, um, maybe the whole sex>>>>expulsion message got under Megan's skin?

Edited July 1, 2023 by AllyB

[Black Knight]

That's true! And let us not forget "Donna Martin Graduates!"