S02.E06: The Plunge

[peachmangosteen]

Quote

In summer 1999, sparks fly at Luke's birthday party. In winter 1999, relationships are tested as Megan becomes more distant from Luke. In summer 2000, Megan obsesses over an interesting letter she received.

Airs July 3rd.

[mandymax]

I've really been enjoying this season.  I like that it's a completely different story than the first one and a whole new feel.

What I still don't understand is why, in both this season and the first, the appearance of the main character in the "one year later/two years later" has gone completely dark with absolutely no explanation.  Jeannette chopped her hair short and became practically goth-like, but we never saw that happen or found out WHY.  Megan has the slicked back hair and facial piercings and "edgy" clothes - again, with no sense of WHY.  I get that they need to distinguish the time difference, but doing it this way both times makes it hard to take seriously and kind of gives this sense that they just plain didn't know what else to do, which doesn't really reflect well on them as writers/directors.

Otherwise, I'm happy with this season.

[jsm1125]

When did Matt and Megan officially start dating? I feel like we didn’t see the beginning of that, and all of a sudden they’re in a relationship? 

I assume Luke is purposely trying to drive a wedge in between Isabella and Megan? I can’t figure out why else he’d not only lie about Isabella initiating that kiss after the plunge, but why he brought it up at all.  

Isabella and Megan: storing Luke’s blood on your property? Oy.

[RachelKM]

5 hours ago, mandymax said:

I've really been enjoying this season.  I like that it's a completely different story than the first one and a whole new feel.

What I still don't understand is why, in both this season and the first, the appearance of the main character in the "one year later/two years later" has gone completely dark with absolutely no explanation.  Jeannette chopped her hair short and became practically goth-like, but we never saw that happen or found out WHY.  Megan has the slicked back hair and facial piercings and "edgy" clothes - again, with no sense of WHY.  I get that they need to distinguish the time difference, but doing it this way both times makes it hard to take seriously and kind of gives this sense that they just plain didn't know what else to do, which doesn't really reflect well on them as writers/directors.

Otherwise, I'm happy with this season.

I get the impression that, in both cases, we are supposed to read the dark/edgy/etc. affect by one of the protagonist to show how hurt and disaffected she has become after whatever major event occured. In Season 1, Jeanette had spent a year being shunned and harassed because of Kate's accusations.  This season, I suppose that whatever happened on NYE 1999 to NYD 2000 was super traumatic and/or the loss of Luke and Isabella essentially simultaneously sent her carrening headlong into the nearest Hot Topic. 

1 hour ago, jsm1125 said:

When did Matt and Megan officially start dating? I feel like we didn’t see the beginning of that, and all of a sudden they’re in a relationship? 

I assume Luke is purposely trying to drive a wedge in between Isabella and Megan? I can’t figure out why else he’d not only lie about Isabella initiating that kiss after the plunge, but why he brought it up at all.  
 

Who is Matt? Were you referring to the video camera guy?  I thought his name was something else. Jeff? Anyways, if that is who you are referring two, I agree they sort of skipped them becoming official. They did seem to be at least seeing each other or starting to in the last episode. But it has been less than a week, right?  Of course, they're teens. So maybe I've just forgotten what dating at that age even looks like in its early stages.

I was stunned that Luke lied about Isabella.  I can see him telling Megan because he believed Isabella would and he wanted to be the one to say it and have the opportunity to frame it. But outright lying about how it happened was pretty shady.

[AstridM]

Ugh. The misogyny and blatant disrespect towards women was overwhelming in this episode.

[Cranberry]

Luke's a little asshole. That tech guy is right; he would have ended up just like his dad.

I'm finding it harder to get into this season than last season. I don't like any of the characters. Nothing is happening. Megan is lying for no reason -- she wasn't even doing anything illegal with the tech guy; she was helping him Y2K-proof his house. And I found all the misogyny in this episode really unfun to watch. 

[AstridM]

11 minutes ago, Cranberry said:

Luke's a little asshole. That tech guy is right; he would have ended up just like his dad.

I'm finding it harder to get into this season than last season. I don't like any of the characters. Nothing is happening. Megan is lying for no reason -- she wasn't even doing anything illegal with the tech guy; she was helping him Y2K-proof his house. And I found all the misogyny in this episode really unfun to watch. 

Team Isabella all the way. I can’t stand Megan and all of the boys and men on the show are awful. 

[jsm1125]

42 minutes ago, RachelKM said:

I get the impression that, in both cases, we are supposed to read the dark/edgy/etc. affect by one of the protagonist to show how hurt and disaffected she has become after whatever major event occured. In Season 1, Jeanette had spent a year being shunned and harassed because of Kate's accusations.  This season, I suppose that whatever happened on NYE 1999 to NYD 2000 was super traumatic and/or the loss of Luke and Isabella essentially simultaneously sent her carrening headlong into the nearest Hot Topic. 

Who is Matt? Were you referring to the video camera guy?  I thought his name was something else. Jeff? Anyways, if that is who you are referring two, I agree they sort of skipped them becoming official. They did seem to be at least seeing each other or starting to in the last episode. But it has been less than a week, right?  Of course, they're teens. So maybe I've just forgotten what dating at that age even looks like in its early stages.

I was stunned that Luke lied about Isabella.  I can see him telling Megan because he believed Isabella would and he wanted to be the one to say it and have the opportunity to frame it. But outright lying about how it happened was pretty shady.

Sorry, I meant Jeff instead of Matt. Thank you!

I wonder why Harper was at Megan’s home in the first place? From what we’ve seen so far, they don’t have much of a relationship. Was Harper there to see Isabella? Or did that overhearing scene take place outside of Megan’s home?

[RachelKM]

7 hours ago, AstridM said:

Team Isabella all the way. I can’t stand Megan and all of the boys and men on the show are awful. 

Not sure that I'm team anyone yet. But I'm definitely NOT team Luke. Isabella is the least annoying so far of the main three. But I think the only person among the named characters whom I have not wanted to throw something at yet is the girl who dated Luke's brother in the Summer 99 line and was with Isabella when she broke in to destroy the tapes. 

Edited July 5, 2023 by RachelKM

[LuvMyShows]

49 minutes ago, RachelKM said:

Not sure that I'm team anyone yet. But I'm definitely NOT team Luke. Isabella is the least annoying so far of the main three. But I think the only person among the named characters whom I have not wanted to throw something at yet is the girl was dated Luke's brother in the Summer 99 line and was with Isabella when she broke in to destroy the tapes. 

1 hour ago, jsm1125 said:

I wonder why Harper was at Megan’s home in the first place? From what we’ve seen so far, they don’t have much of a relationship. Was Harper there to see Isabella? Or did that overhearing scene take place outside of Megan’s home?

Isn't the girl RachelKM mentions, the same as the girl jsm1125 mentions? And yes, I agree with the questions about why she was at Megan's.  BTW, her name is Parker, not Harper.

 

 

[truebluesmoky]

Megan went to Parker’s to confront Isabella. Parker is Isabella’s only friend in the Summer 2000 timeline and who comes to pick her up when Debbie says she can’t stay at Debbie and Megan’s house anymore. Isabella is staying at Parker’s now that she isn’t staying in the airstream anymore.

[jsm1125]

16 minutes ago, truebluesmoky said:

Megan went to Parker’s to confront Isabella. Parker is Isabella’s only friend in the Summer 2000 timeline and who comes to pick her up when Debbie says she can’t stay at Debbie and Megan’s house anymore. Isabella is staying at Parker’s now that she isn’t staying in the airstream anymore.

I totally missed that Isabella moved to Parker’s in the 2000 timeline after leaving Megan’s.

[KaveDweller]

10 hours ago, mandymax said:

I've really been enjoying this season.  I like that it's a completely different story than the first one and a whole new feel.

What I still don't understand is why, in both this season and the first, the appearance of the main character in the "one year later/two years later" has gone completely dark with absolutely no explanation.  Jeannette chopped her hair short and became practically goth-like, but we never saw that happen or found out WHY.  Megan has the slicked back hair and facial piercings and "edgy" clothes - again, with no sense of WHY.  I get that they need to distinguish the time difference, but doing it this way both times makes it hard to take seriously and kind of gives this sense that they just plain didn't know what else to do, which doesn't really reflect well on them as writers/directors.

Otherwise, I'm happy with this season.

We did see Jeanette cut her hair off in season 1. I forget what specifically triggered it, but it was after Kate was found and accused her of knowing where she was. Everyone started harassing her and her mother didn't believe her, and she got pissed and chopped it off in a fit of rage.

I assume we will learn more about what made Megan go all goth at some point.

5 hours ago, jsm1125 said:

I assume Luke is purposely trying to drive a wedge in between Isabella and Megan? I can’t figure out why else he’d not only lie about Isabella initiating that kiss after the plunge, but why he brought it up at all.  

I assume he thought Isabella was going to tell Megan that he tried to kiss her, so decided to cast doubt on Isabella first. Then if Isabella tells Megan what really happened, Megan won't believe her.

It's really sad if that lie from Luke is what drove a wedge between Megan and Isabella.

2 hours ago, RachelKM said:

Not sure that I'm team anyone yet. But I'm definitely NOT team Luke. Isabella is the least annoying so far of the main three. But I think the only person among the named characters whom I have not wanted to throw something at yet is the girl was dated Luke's brother in the Summer 99 line and was with Isabella when she broke in to destroy the tapes. 

I do like Megan's mom. I haven't gotten mad at her yet.

[AllyB]

I'm wondering what's going on with Megan's mother in summer 2000. In the first episode she looked extremely ill in that timeline and it appeared as if Megan had taken on the responsibilities in the home and with her little sister as a result. We also saw her going for her mother's medication. But since then, she's been up and about, seeming every bit as healthy as she is in the other timelines.

I also don't get the constant accusations that she leans heavily on Megan, especially financially, in the earlier timelines. When the plumbing issue happened, Megan offered up her savings and her mother immediately told her no, she needed those for college. That's not how someone who relies on her child working to support the family behaves. Megan needing to work to support her own social life/tech and to save for a financial cushion in college to help with expenses not covered by her scholarship isn't her mother leaning on her. Her mother deciding to get an extra income by taking an exchange student in the airstream isn't her mother leaning on her. Even if her mother is honest that she is doing it because they need the money and Megan is losing the den she has in the airstream. Especially when she has her own, pretty substantial, bedroom. They are treating it as if her mother being straightforward about what they can and can't afford is her leaning on Megan.

I could understand it if this is what is happening in the last timeline where her mother is sick and possibly can't work while having substantial medical bills and needing Megan to do practical tasks in the house. But that was not the case in either 1999 timeline yet it's regularly stated that it is. 

[RachelKM]

17 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

Isn't the girl RachelKM mentions, the same as the girl jsm1125 mentions? And yes, I agree with the questions about why she was at Megan's.  BTW, her name is Parker, not Harper.

Thank you. I can barely remember anyone's name this season. I am 70% sure that Luke's brother's name begins with a B. and I keep wanting to call the sheriff Sean because it is the actor's name (as well as his character's name on General Hospital). I do seem to remember Lisa's (who's name I also remember, ironically enough) brother was Trevor. 

I forgot to mention, I am super tired of Megan and her "class divide" BS. She's the one making everything about money and sneaking away to do extra jobs for the town recluse (name also forgotten).  But she acts all indignant if they don't understand her despite not telling them what is going on. 

And, as much as I think Luke is an asshole after that move throwing Isabella under the bus, Megan essentially gaslit him with that "You and Isabella have money and can't understand" shit.  He has legitimate concerns about you constantly sneaking off, lying about where you are, and generally acting shady. He's an asshole, but so are you.

And, yes, even as I typed that I realized that these are supposed to be teenagers; and teenagers by right and tradition are impulsive, often irrational, selfish assholes.  But endless petulance is not endearing regardless of the age appropriateness. 

[izabella]

I’m trying, but am honestly having trouble with understanding what is going on.  The timelines are confusing, and so far, it seems their problems are all self-inflicted and annoying.  Maybe it will be clear when we finally get to the murder or accident or whatever it is.

[CarpeFelis]

Luke will definitely drive a wedge between Megan and Isabella with that lie, but I think his real intent was just to beat Isabella to the punch so Megan will believe his version. He’s a teenage boy and they’re not exactly known for always thinking things though. (ETA: Especially when they have a rich daddy who loves to rug-sweep.) They often seem so surprised by the consequences of their actions!

When Megan was doing the “roll the date to 2000” thing and the light on the doorlock turned red I thought the guy was going to imprison her down there like the teacher did to Kate in season 1. As I mentioned in a previous thread, I’m retired now but I was a software engineer who got dragged in to do testing on NYE 1999-2000, and IMHO that task was complete BS. Unless the coder was making things way too complicated, all it should be doing is a loop in which 60 seconds are counted off and the camera snaps a picture. The date doesn’t matter. Also, the guy said he’d been a coder at Apple—and yet he needed a high school kid to do this task for him?! (Partly why I thought he lured her down there for nefarious reasons.) If that’s true I can only assume his firing was due to gross incompetence. I’d have been laughed out of the office if I couldn’t figure out how to do that.

I think the blood was Megan’s. Either she had a miscarriage or she had a an abortion that led to bleeding afterwards. And I don’t think Isabella killed anyone, because the writers are trying way too hard to make her look shady.

Edited July 5, 2023 by CarpeFelis

[Jax7917]

On 7/4/2023 at 11:32 AM, mandymax said:

I've really been enjoying this season.  I like that it's a completely different story than the first one and a whole new feel.

What I still don't understand is why, in both this season and the first, the appearance of the main character in the "one year later/two years later" has gone completely dark with absolutely no explanation.  Jeannette chopped her hair short and became practically goth-like, but we never saw that happen or found out WHY.  Megan has the slicked back hair and facial piercings and "edgy" clothes - again, with no sense of WHY.  I get that they need to distinguish the time difference, but doing it this way both times makes it hard to take seriously and kind of gives this sense that they just plain didn't know what else to do, which doesn't really reflect well on them as writers/directors.

Otherwise, I'm happy with this season.

I said that to my husband yesterday . It’s too much with the goth and they did it both seasons to differentiate between years but they could’ve just dyed Megan’s hair a darker color lol . Didn’t have to do so extreme . 

[AstridM]

51 minutes ago, Jax7917 said:

I said that to my husband yesterday . It’s too much with the goth and they did it both seasons to differentiate between years but they could’ve just dyed Megan’s hair a darker color lol . Didn’t have to do so extreme . 

Especially since Megan is such a basic bitch and REALLY can’t pull it off. 

[Bobcatkitten]

I have trouble distinguishing the summer 1999 and winter 1999 timelines and keep getting confused. Points to someone above who mentioned everything is self-inflicted. They are lying over weird, stupid stuff and it makes me hate them all. 

[LuvMyShows]

21 hours ago, truebluesmoky said:

Isabella is staying at Parker’s now that she isn’t staying in the airstream anymore.

If I were talking about the sh*t they are talking about, in someone else's house, I would damn sure have the door closed and be using my very quietest "indoor voice"!

[Cranberry]

I'm sometimes having trouble remembering what happened in which timeline (when people dated/broke up/didn't get along/were friends, etc., and especially the mom's illness progression and love life), but as far as telling what season it is, that's pretty simple -- the lighting changes drastically. Summer 1999 is white, Winter 1999 is blue, and Summer 2000 is a yellowy-green. The girls also look pretty different; Isabella's hair especially is very different (straight instead of curly) in the middle timeline.

[Pallida]

4 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

Luke will definitely drive a wedge between Megan and Isabella with that lie, but I think his real intent was just to beat Isabella to the punch so Megan will believe his version. He’s a teenage boy and they’re not exactly known for always thinking things though. (ETA: Especially when they have a rich daddy who loves to rug-sweep.) They often seem so surprised by the consequences of their actions!

When Megan was doing the “roll the date to 2000” thing and the light on the doorlock turned red I thought the guy was going to imprison her down there like the teacher did to Kate in season 1. As I mentioned in a previous thread, I’m retired now but I was a software engineer who got dragged in to do testing on NYE 1999-2000, and IMHO that task was complete BS. Unless the coder was making things way too complicated, all it should be doing is a loop in which 60 seconds are counted off and the camera snaps a picture. The date doesn’t matter. Also, the guy said he’d been a coder at Apple—and yet he needed a high school kid to do this task for him?! (Partly why I thought he lured her down there for nefarious reasons.) If that’s true I can only assume his firing was due to gross incompetence. I’d have been laughed out of the office if I couldn’t figure out how to do that.

I think the blood was Megan’s. Either she had a miscarriage or she had a an abortion that led to bleeding afterwards. And I don’t think Isabella killed anyone, because the writers are trying way too hard to make her look shady.

I’m probably giving the show too much credit, but I assumed recluse guy has extreme paranoia and wanted Megan to do the clock change so he wouldn’t be locked in his computer bunker if things went poorly. Of course, a little bit of competence would have him do a delay release so he could leave the room himself before it triggered but maybe he wanted to have a person as backup to fix things? 
 

I wish the show did a better job of saying the money disparities instead of just showing since we don’t all have a good idea of how prices have changed. (I know - this is backwards from what I’d normally want…) For example, I bought a monitor similar to what Isabella got Megan in 2001 or 2002 for $1,000. That’s not a typo. Does the average viewer know that LCD was still new-ish and expensive at that point? Fun article from 1999 on prices of LCDs: http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9901/22/lcd99.idg/index.html

[CarpeFelis]

38 minutes ago, Pallida said:

I’m probably giving the show too much credit, but I assumed recluse guy has extreme paranoia and wanted Megan to do the clock change so he wouldn’t be locked in his computer bunker if things went poorly. Of course, a little bit of competence would have him do a delay release so he could leave the room himself before it triggered but maybe he wanted to have a person as backup to fix things? 

My point was that he should have known such a test was not even necessary.

[KaveDweller]

4 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

When Megan was doing the “roll the date to 2000” thing and the light on the doorlock turned red I thought the guy was going to imprison her down there like the teacher did to Kate in season 1.

Yes, I totally thought she was going to get locked down there too.

Anyone remember why everyone thinks this Ned guy is so weird? He seems perfectly nice/normal to me. Worrying about Y2K seems silly now, but it was pretty common at the time, so I don't know why people would hold that against him. And having a cabin in the woods seems a little odd, but Luke and his family have a cabin there too. 

[Black Knight]

4 hours ago, CarpeFelis said:

As I mentioned in a previous thread, I’m retired now but I was a software engineer who got dragged in to do testing on NYE 1999-2000, and IMHO that task was complete BS. Unless the coder was making things way too complicated, all it should be doing is a loop in which 60 seconds are counted off and the camera snaps a picture. The date doesn’t matter.

There was no camera taking a picture every 60 seconds. It's a security system where the door and window sensors let the server "know" that the doors and windows are all still closed like they're supposed to be, and if not, then the house gets locked down. And for that, you want date and time stamps. It's important evidence if someone breaks in.

I wasn't surprised Luke threw Isabella under the bus. After all, in the car, he claimed that he'd thought Isabella was feeling it too. But Isabella had just got done telling Luke that she didn't regret breaking up with him so Megan could have him. He tried to gaslight Isabella, so of course he then went and threw her under the bus. 

I did not miss Luke's dad or brother in the last episode. Whoever drowned Luke should feel free to drown them too.

[AstridM]

38 minutes ago, KaveDweller said:

Yes, I totally thought she was going to get locked down there too.

Anyone remember why everyone thinks this Ned guy is so weird? He seems perfectly nice/normal to me. Worrying about Y2K seems silly now, but it was pretty common at the time, so I don't know why people would hold that against him. And having a cabin in the woods seems a little odd, but Luke and his family have a cabin there too. 

This older guy is communicating with and inviting a young girl over to his home. Creepy and inappropriate.

28 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

I did not miss Luke's dad or brother in the last episode. Whoever drowned Luke should feel free to drown them too.

And feel free to drown all of their misogynistic, sexist friends as well. 

[AllyB]

11 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

Anyone remember why everyone thinks this Ned guy is so weird? He seems perfectly nice/normal to me. Worrying about Y2K seems silly now, but it was pretty common at the time, so I don't know why people would hold that against him. And having a cabin in the woods seems a little odd, but Luke and his family have a cabin there too. 

He's reclusive, seems shy to the point of barely wanting to speak with people he isn't comfortable with, is very, very security conscious and seemingly randomly shoots his gun at night in the woods. Add to that that everyone knows he's rich in a town where the main rich people, Luke's family, throw their weight around and have their fingers in everything like some kind of Edwardian lord. A reclusive rich guy who moves into his town but shuns him would easily be viewed as a slight threat by someone like Luke's dad. For one, he may be richer and more powerful and he likes being the town big shot. So having everyone think ned is a big weirdo ensures Luke's dad's status.

Someone like Isabella is different, because while her family seem richer and more powerful than Luke's, she's a child who will be gone in a little over a year. Or even better, there was a chance she might have gotten to marry one of his sons and let some of her extra power rub off him. I'm actually surprised we haven't seen Luke's dad be a bit pissed off that Luke went from someone like Isabella to someone like Megan. Though we did see at the Christmas party that he was very much assuming Luke and Megan wouldn't last long. (Which typing that out makes me wonder if he played the sex tape, hoping it would lead to Megan and Luke splitting up. I know it tanked his business deal but maybe he wanted that outcome too.)

[jackjill]

I'm getting very impatient. Luke is dead and obviously that is a big deal, but nothing else seems like a big enough deal for him to die. 

[CarpeFelis]

21 hours ago, Black Knight said:

There was no camera taking a picture every 60 seconds. It's a security system where the door and window sensors let the server "know" that the doors and windows are all still closed like they're supposed to be, and if not, then the house gets locked down. And for that, you want date and time stamps. It's important evidence if someone breaks in.

You’re correct, I remembered that scene wrong. 

[calliope1975]

I've been binging all day and this seems like an overly confusing plot. I'm just along for the ride and something to watch while I work, but S1 seemed more coherent. But maybe it will all come together at the end. 

Was Isabella on an official foreign exchange student program? Can the host family just kick you out when you are having a rift with the family's daughter and also maybe killed a guy or covered up the killing of a guy? Cuz it seems like there should be some fine print in the exchange agreement.

At this point, if Isabella and Megan killed Luke, I'm kinda okay with that. They can run off to [insert state/country] and ride or die together.

Not sure when this was written but I'm getting a hint of the Murdaugh murders. Just a hint but it could be coincidental or rich people's kids' actions resulting in another's death while shielding themselves from accountability is just a trope at this point. 

 

 

[AstridM]

I’m thinking Ned probably had something to do with Luke’s death. 

[peachmangosteen]

Yea, that seems super obvious. Maybe too obvious.

[KaveDweller]

23 hours ago, AstridM said:

This older guy is communicating with and inviting a young girl over to his home. Creepy and inappropriate.

Inappropriate maybe, but no one knows about that. They thought he was creepy anyway.

11 hours ago, AllyB said:

He's reclusive, seems shy to the point of barely wanting to speak with people he isn't comfortable with, is very, very security conscious and seemingly randomly shoots his gun at night in the woods. Add to that that everyone knows he's rich in a town where the main rich people, Luke's family, throw their weight around and have their fingers in everything like some kind of Edwardian lord. A reclusive rich guy who moves into his town but shuns him would easily be viewed as a slight threat by someone like Luke's dad. For one, he may be richer and more powerful and he likes being the town big shot. So having everyone think ned is a big weirdo ensures Luke's dad's status.

Lots of people are shy and Luke and all his friends also were randomly shooting a gun too. But I get Luke's family wanting the other rich guy to look bad.