Have you been watching? We’re over halfway through the mazy and mysterious I Know What You Did Last Summer, courtesy of Amazon Prime Video. So it’s time to take a deep breath, wipe the sweat from our brow, and reflect on the the strange, salacious, funny and seriously f*cked up things we’ve witnessed so far. Ready?
If you haven’t seen episodes 1-6, we warn you. Dark and delicious spoilers await.
Episode 1: It’s Thursday
We’re introduced to Lennon (Madison Iseman), who just returned to her Hawaii hometown from college. So far, so ordinary. But what does she look so pissed about?
After almost running over a dog and being reassured that everything is going to be ok by her Dad, Bruce (this is all very unsettling), it’s time for that iconic moment.
She enters her bedroom and there it is, scrawled on her mirror in lipstick. “I know what you did last summer.”
And now, in the neat use of narrative flashbacks, we’re about to find out.
Last summer
Suddenly it’s last summer, and Lennon seems a little more at ease. We watch her sashay her way around a party – the complete centre of attention. Her main hobbies seem to be ketamine and kissing her friends on the mouth.
We’re also introduced to her twin sister, Alison (also Madison Iseman) for the first time, and, as is often the case, she inherited none of her sister’s hedonistic genes. She’s shy and uncertain. But one thing she is sure about, is that she’s got the hots for equally shy Dylan (Ezekiel Goodman).
Throughout the party we’re also introduced to Lennon’s besties, Margot (Brianne Tju), Riley (Ashley Moore), and Johnny (Sebastian Amoruso). We know Lennon likes them because she kisses them all on the mouth.
But there’s mischief afoot. As Alison finally shoots her shot with Dylan, Lennon comes over and flirts with him, heavily implying that they’ve slept together. A huge fight erupts between the twins, the police bust the party, and everyone heads into Lennon’s jeep to make a quick getaway.
In the jeep, everyone is seriously messed up. (Is that why Lennon’s driving is so sh*t?). And it’s little surprise that they soon hit something in the road. But this isn’t an Ibex that’s wandered off the mountain. This is a body. And it looks a hell of a lot like Alison.
After an argument about what to do with the body (as they’re all wasted, they could go to jail), the crew reach a sinister conclusion. Rather than destroy their college careers, they’d rather hide the body in a creepy cave – a cave where Alison and Lennon’s mother apparently committed suicide. These people are messed up!
So we’ve discovered what they did last summer. But this eye-widening pilot isn’t done yet.
FLASHBACK WITHIN A FLASHBACK TIME
In their argument at the party, we see Alison rip off her necklace and give it to Lennon, who had said their mum didn’t love her. We watch the friends bundle into the jeep after the arrival of the police, and suddenly it becomes clear. IT WAS ALLISON, NOT LENNON DRIVING THE CAR!
Therefore, it was Lennon, not Alison, lying in the road. And the most messed up part of all, since the accident, Alison has continued playing the role of her dead twin sister. Yikes.
But someone watched them journey into the cave that night. And we get the impression these guys aren’t gonna get away with this.
Episode 2: It’s not just for Dog Shit
Pick your jaw up off the floor because it’s time for ep 2.
We immediately discover that Alison/Lennon immediately came clean to her lumberjack fashion catalogue Dad, Bruce. And that it was he who decided they should keep up the facade. What the hell is wrong with these people? Why is he so calm? YOUR DAUGHTER RAN OVER HER TWIN SISTER, BURIED HER IN A CAVE AND TOOK ON HER IDENTITY! STOP BEING CHILL!
Bruce helps Alison/Lennon (Alennon?) fake a note that suggests Alison ran away from home. And again he seems surprisingly chill/emotionally repressed. Maybe it’s something to do with the mother’s suicide? This is a family that’s clearly used to trauma.
So Alennon is reunited with her friends, doing her best impression of her cooler twin (Margot seems suspicious), and we learn about what they’ve been up to. Dylan cut everyone off and tends to his goats. Margot had a mental meltdown and now binge-eats on social media. And Johnny got engaged to his ex-closeted gym teacher.
The cave crew speculate on who could have left the ominous message. But before they can come to any conclusions, we’re treated to our first bit of slasher violence.
Johnny finds his coach trapped under a barbell. But it’s an intricate trap. As a dumbell smacks Johnny in the face, he is then promptly decapitated with a shovel. Nice.
The most f*cked up part? Whoever the assailant is, filmed it and sent it to the group from Alison’s number. Is Alison getting her revenge from the grave/cave?!
Episode 3: A gorilla head will not do
Um. That opening shot. With the spider? And the severed head? Let’s never speak of that again.
Moving on, though, it’s clear that the head is going to be an important plot device. After Alennon finds it on the road where she hit her sister, she gathers the cave crew to speculate on who the murderer could be. Alennon decides to be decisive, and messages her stalker, asking to meet.
Then she’s nearly hit by a car. Hmmm.
Bruce has been up to no good (I told you something was up with him), as Alennon finds a video of his kinky sex games with the police chief Lyla on his phone. Bruce admits the affair has been happening for some time. But didn’t have anything to her mother’s suicide. Honest. Would he ever tell a lie?
We head into the infamous cave with Dylan and Riley, who find creepy names etched into the walls – names of the cult members who died there in a group suicide. Meanwhile, Alennon sleuths her way to food stand owner Dale, the drunk guy who saw them all on the road Last Summer. But he’s not a suspect. Know how I know? ‘Coz he is summarily executed by a slushy machine. This is some final destination sh*t.
Chief Lyla (of Bruce’s camera roll fame), and her partner Officer Cruise question Kelly, who fits the profile of a suspect. She’s the ex-wife of Johnny’s murdered fiance, for a start.
“Who are you?” Alennon texts the stalker. “I am you” comes the reply. Followed by a video of Lennon seducing Dylan at the party. WTF!
Episode 4: hot shrimp salad
I was a big fan of the Alison getting her vengeance from the grave/cave thing. But we’re going to have to axe (or shovel) that theory. In a thrilling opening to the episode, we watch Alennon as she bears down on her stalker, but after running into a group of summer solstice freaks, she ends up in the water – next to the very much dead corpse of her twin sister.
So with that out of the way, we get a glimpse of Bruce (I swear he’s up to no good!), and Clara (Brooke Bloom), the mysterious woman who has some sort of connection to the twins’ mother. It turns out Clara had possession of Lennon’s corpse, and wanted to use it in some sort of summer solstice ritual. So she and Bruce were together in the suicide cult? Is that how the girls’ mother met her end?
After a few more murders at Bruce’s restaurant, it’s clear that the killer is still out there. And meanwhile, Alennon is grappling with her guilt at what is essentially her own funeral. She hears Dylan apologise to the casket, and realises he actually loved her (Allison). Naww. It would be romantic if it wasn’t for the rotting corpse.
We also get some juicy goss about Margot and Lennon’s former relationship. They were making racy porn together on their OnlyFans account, but it looks like Margot caught feelings – that weren’t reciprocated. In flashback, Lennon makes this very clear, by being absolutely awful, as usual.
So to the end of the episode, Alennon actually apologises to Margot for mistreating her, and they kiss. The plot thickens. Is Alennon just getting too good at roleplaying her dead sister? Or is there something real here?
Episode 5: Mukbang
First up, Margot has serious issues, and it’s tragic to watch her eating disorder unfold.
Meanwhile, more suspicious Bruce behaviour. My favourite. We flash back to him telling Lennon to have fun at the party. Then in the present, warning Alennon not to get close to Margot, as it could blow their whole messed up ruse.
Fishing around in the cave again (classic Dylan), Dylan bumps into a very creepy Clara, who mutters some morbid cult stuff. Then he finds Bruce and gives him a hug. Don’t trust him Dylan!
Alennon is sleuthing again, but not before Dylan tips her off that he thinks Clara is the killer. Alennon questions Bruce, bringing up all the MIGHTY SUS things about the cult suicide lady who seems to know everything about their family.
The cave crew decided to take decisive action and explore Clara’s culty compound. Margot’s getting suspicious of Alennon’s behaviour. Dylan isn’t digging Riley. But their teenage psychodramas are interrupted by Clara’s return – with a shotgun.
But wait…
FLASHBACK TIME BABY
BRUCE LEFT LENNON ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AFTER AN ARGUMENT! MOMENTS BEFORE SHE WAS RUN OVER BY HER SISTER!
I knew it. Didn’t I say he was up to something?
Meanwhile, someone has been attacked on Clara’s estate. But who?
Episode 6: At least you had a spare
Ah, Riley! We hardly knew ye. After getting a machete in the ribcage on Clara’s estate, and having a hand chopped off, she crawls home like the badass she is, but tragically bleeds out. The killer also finishes off her mom, for good measure. What an a**hole.
Chief Lyla seems to finally be getting somewhere, linking the weird spiders with Clara. All roads lead to Clara, to be honest. So why do I feel like she might not be the killer after all?
Bruce clearly suspects Clara, anyway, and tells her to clear off the island. “Even if I left, your secrets would still be here.” She replies. Ooooh.
Buckle up, guys. It’s time for another seriously juicy revelation, courtesy of Bruce. He tells Alennon that HER MOTHER IS ALIVE AFTER ALL! She was in the suicide cult with Bruce, before suddenly walking out on her husband and twin daughters. Her suicide was merely Bruce’s cover story. He loves a good cover story, does Bruce.
We then find out that Lennon KNEW this dark secret, and even used it to taunt Allison at the grad party.
As if things couldn’t get more WTF, we’re treated to the gruesome sight of Clara dragging Riley’s corpse into the cave. Uh, looks like I was wrong, guys. Clara is totally the killer, and is as bad as bad gets.
But also, what the hell is Dylan doing here? And why is he looking so unsettling? Don’t tell me Dylan is in on it too? SURELY NOT SWEET SENSITIVE DYLAN?
So where we’re at: Riley’s dead. Johnny’s dead. Dylan has potentially formed some sort of murderous culty duo with Clara, who may or may not be the twin’s supposedly dead mother. And breathe.
What secrets are Bruce hiding? And is Margot going to uncover the truth about Alennon?
Truth be told, with the recent revelations about Dylan, all of that seems a bit less important now.
One thing’s for sure. We’re getting to the final sprint of our journey. And more murderous mysteries are waiting to be uncovered…
