S02.E05: All I Want for Christmas

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

In Summer 1999, Isabella is rocked by a surprise visit from her past. In Winter 1999, Isabella’s concerns for Megan lead her to some surprising news. In Summer 2000, family loyalties are tested.

Airs June 26th.

[jsm1125]

Happy to see no Steve (Luke’s and Brent’s father, whatever his name is) this episode.

What a reveal about Lisa!

 

[Black Knight]

Yeah, they fooled me. When I read "surprise visit from her past" in the episode description, I assumed we'd be meeting Lisa. Instead she's dead! This season has been uneven so far, but between last week's pregnancy reveal and this week's Lisa reveal, they do do a good job with the cliffhanger shockers.

Megan is such a sourpuss that I roll my eyes at how everyone is super interested in her. But I did agree with her that her pregnancy being leaked to the newspapers is a last straw where Isabella is concerned. I know it was technically Isabella's lawyer who leaked it, but Isabella has had a loose mouth at least once already. And of course Isabella on her way out the door tells Debbie there's something else Megan is hiding and where to find it. Definitely not a person to be trusted as far as the secret-keeping goes.

It was nice to have a break from Luke's brother and dad.

I'll be interested to see if Luke just goes along with Isabella passing him off to Megan, or if he at least kicked up a bit of a fuss first, just on general principle that he does have a say too?

[CarpeFelis]

When Trevor first showed up I thought he was just a jerk with a grudge against Isabella, insinuating she’d done something terrible but really just lying to try to make her squirm. But somewhere during the conversation at the picnic table, couldn’t really put my finger on why, but I got the feeling Isabella was the bad guy. Maybe it was her tone or facial expression? And then when she talked about having been drunk I immediately thought, uh-oh, somebody died. I bet it was Lisa. (Either the writing is that transparent, or after 65 years on the planet I’ve seen and read so many murder mysteries that this stuff is becoming intuitive.)

Speaking of that scene, when the other kids came over I initially thought the guy was Brent. Glad it wasn’t.

What I’m curious about now: Megan confessed to having an interest in Luke. Unbeknownst to her, Isabella has just slept with him for the first time. And suddenly Isabella is ready to just hand him over to Megan on a silver platter? WTF, is Isabella Mother Theresa now?! That really, really does not seem like something a teenager would do, not even for a ride-or-die BFF. Hell, I wouldn’t have done it ever.

And what weirdness is going on between Megan and ex-Apple guy? Is he just giving her hacking lessons or is there more?

[KaveDweller]

I thought it was pretty obvious Lisa was dead from the way Trevor kept looking at Isabella in Summer 1999 and making weird comments and how her lawyer kept cryptically referring to "last winter." So are we supposed to think that Isabella killed her and must have killed Luke too? Because I think Isabella is clearly a shady liar, but that doesn't mean she killed anyone. I think she is just a bit crazy and in denial about Lisa.

I wanted to like Megan, but her Winter 1999 and Summer 2000 self is pretty unlikable. I still don't get why she's being so obnoxious to Isabella in the Winter storyline. And she seems morally shady too since she now hacked into the school system to change her grade. And she is chatting about wanting to hack the feds? I wonder if she still has her scholarship in Summer 2000, because they never have her mention anything about leaving for college soon. And her goth makeover would fit with not giving a shit anymore.

 

 

[JAYJAY1979]

I had a feeling Megan was doing something shady that would make her keeping the scholarship not likely.  Changing her grade and wanting to computer hack...hmmm.

And I figured Lisa was dead...but I was most interested in Trevor's comments about Isabella once being a vegetarian, not liking boy bands, and how her type of guy has changed.  I'm thinking Isabella is kind of a female Talented Mr Ripley..imho.

And wow...Luke is a piece of meat being passed around by Isabella and Megan....and then is dead in summer 2000.  

[CAM]

 

11 hours ago, Black Knight said:

And of course Isabella on her way out the door tells Debbie there's something else Megan is hiding and where to find it.

I have a feeling this item is the bloodstained thing (I can't remember what it was, but it looked like maybe pj's or a blanket). But is anyone else thinking  that   might not have anything to do with Luke, but might be from what I'm guessing was Megan's miscarriage?

 

Also did anyone else recognize the the building used for the restaurant (where Megan works) was also in the old CW show The Secret Circle?

Edited June 28, 2023 by CAM

[DigitalCount]

I think Isabella stepped aside when she felt that she'd always be the third wheel. She had sex with Luke and then the way he describes the experience is by quoting Megan's favorite movie, which she then also quotes to Isabella later on. I think she was so shaken by that, combined with being jostled by Trevor's arrival, that she decided to pull away to protect herself.

I freaking knew Lisa was dead, totally called it. Didn't think we'd be confronting that fact already.

[AstridM]

9 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

And then when she talked about having been drunk I immediately thought, uh-oh, somebody died. I bet it was Lisa. (Either the writing is that transparent, or after 65 years on the planet I’ve seen and read so many murder mysteries that this stuff is becoming intuitive.)

Oh yeah, I totally saw that coming too. 

[peachmangosteen]

I figured Lisa was dead the very first second she was mentioned lol. I kinda hope Isabella actually killed her because that's a bit more interesting to me.

[RachelKM]

16 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I thought it was pretty obvious Lisa was dead from the way Trevor kept looking at Isabella in Summer 1999 and making weird comments and how her lawyer kept cryptically referring to "last winter." So are we supposed to think that Isabella killed her and must have killed Luke too? Because I think Isabella is clearly a shady liar, but that doesn't mean she killed anyone. I think she is just a bit crazy and in denial about Lisa.

Same.  I actually had a question about her possibly not being alive from the moment when Isabella looked up at her picture.  I knew there had to be something up with Lisa.  Her prominence in absentia seemed to be pointing to a reveal.  And since the picture of her indicated she at least had existed, dead was the first thought.  About five minutes into Trevor being on site I was reasonably sure she was dead and that the event they kept vaguely alluding to likely had to do with Lisa's death. 

It's the first reveal I think was 1) well telegraphed without being obvious and 2) genuinely goes toward an understanding of a character's behavior. Isabella's seeming desperation to have Megan as her best friend and her brittleness overall fits with grief and guilt (whether actual responsibility or merely recrimination for circumstances) as well as someone lonely and trying desperately to paper over feelings and recapture a feeling of belonging to someone the way only a teenager can belong to their best friend. 

I've probably over thought this and will end up eating my words next week. But that is how it read to me.  Watch this show this time next week completely prove me wrong and establish that it really is as shallow and aimless as it has threatened.  

Edited June 28, 2023 by RachelKM

[tennisgurl]

This season has been pretty messy, but they do have a knack for adding a bit twist at the end of an episode that keeps me coming back to see what happens next. I suspected that Lisa might be dead and the way her brother acted seemed to confirm it, but the way it was revealed still worked. Is Isabella writing to Lisa and pretending she's still alive a coping mechanism? Is she sporadically in denial? This might explain why she's apparently changing herself and has latched so hard onto Megan as a best friend, she's trying to escape the person she was when Lisa died and trying to replace her with a brand new friend. I also suspect that Isabella has something to do with Lisa's death, she probably didn't deliberately kill her, but I bet that when the two of them were living their party girl best lives Lisa died in an accident due to Isabella and her parents covered it up. Maybe that's why she didn't say goodbye to Lisa's brother, she felt too ashamed.

Isabella and Megan just about rock paper scissors to decide on who gets Luke. I think Isabella was ready to step aside after Luke started talking about Megan right after sex, but she's not as over him as she's pretending to be. Megan finally has an actual reason to be pissed at Isabella, it might have been her lawyer that leaked Megan being pregnant but she was the one who told her lawyer. I still don't know why Megan is all pissy with her in the middle timeline, other than being insecure about Luke and Isabella having lingering feels for each other, but it might be just how she's dealing with the shady stuff she's getting into. 

I adore all of these wistful remakes of classic late 90s/early 00s pop hits.

[RachelKM]

1 hour ago, tennisgurl said:

I also suspect that Isabella has something to do with Lisa's death, she probably didn't deliberately kill her, but I bet that when the two of them were living their party girl best lives Lisa died in an accident due to Isabella and her parents covered it up. Maybe that's why she didn't say goodbye to Lisa's brother, she felt too ashamed.

Trevor and Isabella seemed to indicate in their conversation that they had not told Lisa about their relationship and then she found out on her own. I'm gonna be super annoyed if it turns out Lisa died when she drunkenly stumble/ran out into the road while/after fighting with Isabella about lying/betraying her/etc. by secretly dating her brother.  At that point, I'll just make a "teen/YA noir soap" bingo card.  

It's already hit some trope classics. I considered suggesting a drinking game; but I'm not trying to die.

Edited June 28, 2023 by RachelKM

[Black Knight]

At least now it makes sense why Megan remains so insecure about Luke and Isabella in the winter timeline. Luke didn't make a choice between the two girls; Isabella just walked away. Sure, doubtless Luke has said something to Megan about how he really prefers her, and that may even be true, but since he didn't leave Isabella for her, Megan can't be sure she's his first choice. In contrast, Megan actually left Chet for Luke.

To boot, Isabella and Luke both come from money, and we can see how Megan feels like Isabella and Luke understand each other in that way, and do not understand her.