Two Summers Ending Explained and Recap – “Two Summers” (or “Twee Zomer” in original Flemish) is Netflix’s latest thriller drama series that seems to break humanity down to a microcosmic level and deconstruct how no one is ever perfect. It touches on a highly severe subject of present times, as a group of friends faces blackmail over their awful secret of sexually assaulting one of their own thirty years ago, choosing to emphasise most human weaknesses.
Although “Two Summers” is a fascinating and dramatic watch for the majority of its six episodes, the series’ definitive treatment of its characters and their judgement is perhaps (and perhaps) out of step with what the world requires right now.
Must Read: ‘Two Summers’ Season 2 Has Been Renewed or Cancelled?
Two Summers Season 1 Recap
The series begins with seven childhood pals, now in their forties to fifties, reuniting for a weekend after 30 years apart for a similar celebration. Romee and her husband, Peter, a successful Silicon Valley executive, invite all of their old friends to their vacation home on a private island in the French Riviera. Didier, a commercial pilot; his wife, Sofie; Saskia, a single mother of a special-needs child; Stef (or Mowgli, as his friends jokingly refer to him); Peter’s younger brother Luc; and Luc’s current companion, Lia are among the circle of pals.
Only Lia had not been a part of the friend circle until she started dating Luc, although she had met Saskia and Sofie at a yoga class they both attended. Another way she knew Saskia was that she had previously been married to Luc, and Saskia had raised their son Jens with love and care. Despite being estranged from his mother, Luc lavishes all of his love and care on Jens. The picturesque location of their upcoming weekend is established once the party is flown in a private jet from Antwerp and then taken to the island by boat, with only one drawback: the island has no cellular network, and communication with the outside world is only possible through emergency flares.
As the pals begin to settle down, they reminisce about the last time they did so in 1992, when they were in their teenage or early twenties. The summer of ’92 had been spent at Didier’s family’s opulent country house, and the story frequently leaps to this time period, when the young men and women spent their days basking in the sun, surrounded by drugs and wine, and flirting with love ideas. Luc had also arrived with an old video camera with which he recorded a lot of lovely and inconsequential film, having recently finished chemotherapy to beat cancer at the time.
However, as Peter eventually explains to Stef discreetly, this video camera had also been witness to a dreadful act. All of the males in the group except Luc had either engaged in or watched and videotaped a sexual assault on Sofie while she was unconscious, inebriated, and drugged one night in 1992. Despite the fact that the offenders allegedly disposed of the video cassette the next morning, the footage has now been recovered thirty years later and is being used to blackmail Peter. Stef and Peter, fearful of the ramifications of the reopening of this long-buried secret, begin looking for clues as to who the blackmailer is, as they are almost confident it is someone from their own circle of friends.
Meanwhile, two months after the events on the private island, a file arrives in the office of a government investigating judge in a brief scene. A photograph of the pals is included in the file, implying that something sinister occurred on the island to warrant an investigation.
What Are The Friendship Secrets That Are Gradually Revealed?
Peter and Stef decide to tell Didier about the secret as well, which makes the pilot even more terrified and concerned because he has been married to Sofie for so long and has never told her about any of it. For a while, it’s unclear what actually happened, as the three men each recollect the episode in their own manner, attempting to show to each other that they were only witnesses, not participants.
Finally, the entire episode is given to the audience when the film is inexplicably played on the house’s big-screen television, and Romee sees it. At the same time, Peter explains the presence of such a pathetic movie to his wife. On the suggestion of Didier, who had gotten hold of it, the companions decided to take a sleeping medication allegedly used as a narcotic on that day in the summer of ’92. Back then, there was also a bold young man named Mark in the group, who died soon after, and Mark is now regarded by all of the pals as the one who started it all.
All of them were exhausted and inebriated by night after nearly a half-day of heavy drinking and pill-popping. Romee was the first to pass out, and Saskia and Luc assisted her to her room. These two were still in the early stages of their relationship at the time, and they headed off to spend some private time in their own room. When Sofie passed out, she was alone in the presence of her four male pals, and it was Mark who proposed she may be used. The woman had intoxicatedly expressed to Peter how she was tremendously excited only a short time before, and when he tells the other men, an evil and vicious plan is put into motion.
Mark, Didier, and Peter escorted their acquaintance to one of the bedrooms while Stef began filming the whole affair on Luc’s video camera while inebriated. Didier had started to develop feelings for Sofie at the time, but he chose not to tell his pals when Mark and Peter undressed her and took advantage of her unconscious body while Stef continued to record. Stef’s face was flushed with guilt and panic, followed by Didier’s and then Peter’s, and they finally pulled Mark (who had persisted) away, bringing the night to a close.
They had evidently decided to tell Sofie the truth the next morning, but they were quiet when she did not say anything, and the guys assumed she did not remember anything. They then asked Stef to get the video cassette from the camera, which she did, and the four of them stood around and burned it in the fire. Despite the fact that they all believe Sofie had no idea what had occurred to her, she is currently seen watching the same video on her personal phone, implying that the blackmailer has also reached her.
Sofie might understand or at least suspect that something strange had happened to her the night before, even if she hadn’t seen the dreadful video. After she awoke sick and with an aching all over her body, Romee questioned whether she was all right and if anything weird had happened with the boys the night before. But Sofie couldn’t recall anything, and whatever hunch she had was squelched by her dread, guilt, and denial; she, too, remained silent for all these years.
Aside from this incidence, there were lots of other secrets that quickly surfaced among the companions, such as garments pouring out of a wardrobe. It’s revealed that the friends’ summer of 1992 came to an end when their country house caught fire due to old defective wiring, and they managed to flee the flaming structure. However, Mark, who was living in a third-floor room, was unable to escape in time and died in the disaster.
It is now, thirty years later, that Luc reveals a guilty secret of his own that he had been struggling to live with for so long—on the day of the fire, Mark had abused Luc’s ailment, and in exchange, he had locked the door to Mark’s room; as a result, when Mark attempted to flee his room that night during the fire, he was unable to do so because the door was locked from the outside. Despite their horror, the friends sympathise with Luc, and Peter also lies, claiming that Mark’s autopsy proved that he died of suffocation in his sleep.
Another mystery concerning Luc’s current companion, Lia, who is a nurse by profession, was exposed around the same time. But Lia had struggled to pay for her studies, and she had worked as an escort in Belgium about 10 years ago. Didier had been her customer for a long time throughout this time, despite the fact that he still pretended to be in a happy marriage with Sofie, and he had never told his wife about it. While Luc supports and cares for his partner (he was aware of Lia’s previous occupation), Sofie is justifiably enraged when he learns of her relationship with Didier.
She was unaware of her husband’s infidelity. Throughout this time, Stef and Saskia spend time on the island together, rekindling an old desire they’ve always had. Stef had always liked Saskia and had even tried to convey his feelings to her, but she had quickly rejected him. Saskia had a convoluted past of her own, since she had been with Peter before he ditched her, and then she became interested in his brother, Luc.
She married Luc soon after, had a son with him, and then divorced him after a few years. Stef and Saskia eventually reunite and begin a love relationship. While one new connection blossoms, another current one crumbles as Romee abruptly reveals her intention to divorce Peter, claiming that she misread him as someone different and can no longer tolerate him.
Who Sent the Video? Who Is the Blackmailer?
Peter discreetly asks his brother if he knows anything and shows him the footage as the three men run out of probable possibilities as to the blackmailer. However, he is taken aback by Luc’s reply, as the younger brother inquires about where he obtained his video, implying that he was aware of its existence. Luc then admits that he had known about the movie for a long time because he had discovered the cassette a few years ago. He had recorded Saskia and him having a chat thirty years before, and the drunk men had continued to record their lousy video on the same cassette.
Because Luc valued and treasured the footage of Saskia, he had hidden the cassette away from others that night after rescuing his camera from a drunken Stef, and it was, therefore, safe from his friends as well as the subsequent fire. However, when Luc tried but failed to have a child with Lia a few years ago, he discovered a terrible secret. He had done clinical tests on Jens, the boy he always believed to be his and Saskia’s, with blazing doubts in his mind, despite test findings plainly stating that he was infertile.
Luc had discovered that Jens was his brother Peter’s biological child and had attempted to confront Saskia, but the woman had not responded. He had devised a strategy to blackmail Peter with the film out of rage and betrayal and had even shown it to Lia. Despite confessing to having created such a scheme, Luc continues to argue that it is not he who is blackmailing the men, thus casting suspicion on Lia.
Peter confronts Saskia about Jens’ origins. She acknowledges the truth, claiming that she never told Peter because he would have forced her to get an abortion, which she was afraid of because it was practically illegal in the 1990s. Meanwhile, knowing that Romee is the only one of the women who know about Sofie’s rape, Stef tries to persuade her not to tell her female friends about it, citing both their high professional reputations and the potential impact of such news on their jobs. He even attempts to tell her how sorry and guilty he feels about the whole thing, but Romee rightfully doubts his decision to keep quiet about it for so long.
Finally, as was becoming clear, it is revealed that the blackmail was perpetrated by all four ladies in the gang rather than by a single woman. The whole ordeal began when Lia saw the film of Sofie’s attack, as the ladies recounted to their male friends and to the government investigator two months later. She had opted not to tell Sofie about it, despite knowing her from her yoga lessons, until she saw Didier pick her up from the gym one day and realised he was her husband. Because of Lia’s previous occupation, she had encountered Didier at a point in time between now and thirty years ago and immediately recognised him as the young man in the film.
She had now realised that Sofie’s husband had not only been aware of it but had also stood by silently watching it unfold and that he had also cheated on his wife by sleeping with her. Lia had brought the video to Sofie at this point. Sofie had discussed it with Romee, her best friend after she had recovered from the first shock and dismay, and they had gotten Saskia involved in the plot as well.
Romee had delivered the blackmailing letters to her husband using all of her technological expertise, and now they’ve all decided to confront the men. Saskia, who has fallen in love with Stef, the woman who shot the video, tries to persuade her companions to abandon the idea, claiming that the men are becoming too serious. The three women recognise that Saskia could be a hindrance to their strategy, so they face the men when she is not there.
The men keep defending their innocence and guilt with their own versions of events, but none of them demonstrates believable regret for what they’ve done. Peter maintains that, despite it appearing as if he forcibly had sex with the unconscious Sofie, he was actually posing to do so with no actual penetration because he thought faking it would be better than denying doing anything in that absolutely toxic-masculine situation. He and Didier maintain pinning most of the responsibility on the now-dead Mark, claiming that he was the one who kept provoking and causing the most damage.
Stef, too, tries to prove that he was merely a bystander who did not participate in the incident, but he offers the most honest apologies and remorse of the three for failing to stop his pals from rapping another friend right in front of his eyes. Things flare up as the friends express their displeasure with one another—Luc says his wrath and anguish towards Saskia and Lia, respectively, for never telling him about his son’s biological father and for not telling him about their complex blackmail scheme. Despite their strong friendship, Romee expresses her shock and annoyance at Saskia for never telling her that her husband is Jens’ biological father.
Saskia’s plea that she wants to keep Romee safe from any damage or misunderstanding is ignored. Stef is also hurt, knowing that his newfound sweetheart, Saskia, was engaged in the act of blackmail that had robbed him of his night’s sleep, and it is with Stef that the day of outbursts comes to an end. Romee lies, claiming that she has already given the footage to three major news organisations in order to scare the males, as she believes that none of them is exhibiting any remorse. This prompts Stef to make a hurried choice, as the government official is concerned that if the tape is released, he will face severe slander. He kills himself with a firearm he found in the house.
Two Summers Season 1 Ending – What Will Happen To The Other Friends?
As the police remove Stef’s body and the others from the island, the government launches an investigation, inadvertently revealing the fate of the other companions. Romee now lives alone, divorced from Peter, but haunted by the guilt of lying to the press about the video that led to Stef’s suicide. Peter, who had never worked a day in his life and had just lived on his wealthy wife’s money, now finds it difficult to be alone and has a strained relationship with his brother.
On the last afternoon on the island, Luc informed Lia that he couldn’t stand the idea that she had kept such an important secret from him, and that he didn’t know if he could trust her in any severe situation again. However, the two are shown staying together again, but probably a little further apart than before. While spending time with his son, Luc keeps in touch with Saskia.
Sofie resolves to stay married to Didier even after everything is disclosed, possibly because she sees in her spouse genuine remorse and guilt for what happened thirty years ago. Finally, the investigating officer informs them all that they will receive letters advising them whether or not the prosecution will initiate a criminal case in connection with Stef’s death.
The officer and her assistant appear to be undecided about whether or not to file the case, and then the letters for each of the characters arrive. The contents of the letters are not revealed because the series concludes with a sobbing Sofie being consoled by her husband. Maybe what it’s trying to say is that no matter what the investigation decides, it’ll be bad news for Sofie in the end.
If no charges are filed, a long history of sexual assaults against her will go unpunished. But if they do file a case, everyone of her acquaintances, including her husband and her, would be subjected to a thorough inquiry for their activities thirty years ago as well as the current crime of blackmail.
Even though the plot tries to bite off far more than it can chew, the plot and the actions of the characters may be swallowed whole, despite a climax that is heavier than necessary. It’s in what the series finally seeks to convey that it gets somewhat contentious, and, in my opinion, a little dubious. “Two Summers” does not explicitly state any of this, but the question of how much and to what extent dark history should be revealed is implied. The characters repeatedly highlight how Sofie’s rape did not affect her well-being, including her health, social status, and so on.
Her decision not to leave Didier in the end also appears to imply that she was not as moved by the acts as her female friends were. The final episode also plainly demonstrates how wrong Romee was in pressuring Stef to commit suicide, as she admits her guilt. Is her lying about a leaked video as wrong as a man who murdered himself out of shame and fear of social repercussions after intoxicatedly taping a sexual assault on a buddy by his other friends? In the grand scheme of things, “Two Summers” appears to convey a subtle slight press of burying dark pasts beneath the surface, which is incorrect.
Any argument in the series that isn’t meant to be taken seriously may be readily rejected, especially because the male characters openly discuss the #MeToo movement and its terrifying impact on many men with violent pasts.
Two Summers Ending Explained:Â Is Stef Dead or Alice?
Yes, Stef is no longer alive. After Romée states that she has shared the video with the press, he shoots himself. Saskia walks to Romée’s room to reassure him that he’s lying, but he’s not there. Following that, a gunshot is heard. Peter discovers Stef’s body at the water’s edge. The authorities are then promptly contacted. Salima informs Romée and the other three ladies two months later that they will be told through letter whether or not there would be a criminal prosecution for Stef’s death.
Only Sofie’s reaction is visible. After receiving the letter, she appears to be crying, yet she and Didier look to be thrilled. As a result, we can conclude that there will be no criminal trial. Sofie had previously told Salima that she does not intend to file charges for what occurred to her 30 years ago. Her tears in the final scene are tears of relief.
What did you think of the first season of Netflix’s Two Summers and the ending? Please leave a comment below.
