Cruel Intentions – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

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Episode 8 of Cruel Intentions begins with the news about Lucien’s exploits spreading around campus. Apparently all those years of sleeping with women and gaining a reputation for being a womanizer have gone under the radar until this one video has released. Go figure.

Annie is understandably disappointed but it doesn’t change the way she sees Beatrice. After visiting her room, Beatrice explains that it was difficult to try and bring this up. Beatrice doesn’t feel betrayed by it though as she’s sex-positive, and believes it’s certainly not Lucien’s doing. She knows that someone else is behind this and has main-character syndrome, believing it’s revenge against her; a stunt from Alpha Gamma to promote their “misogynistic culture”.

Caroline is ready to just double-down on being there for Annie and bring her into the Sorority, while Lucien is the talk of the town in Alpha Gamma. Everyone should have already known what he’s like but they all high-five and slap his back here. Lucien is in the dark until he finds one of the videos has gone viral, and knows this is Caroline’s doing.

Lucien is angry and after smashing up the mirror, points out that he knows how to hurt her. However, Caroline continues to throw around her weight and reports Chadwick for sexual misconduct. He thinks this is Cece’s doing, until she brings up that she’d never do that. Cece then speaks to Beatrice and finds out that the complaint was regarding sex, not just kissing.

Meanwhile, Caroline approaches Beatrice and decides they should team up to take down the “real predator” here – Lucien. Tis is certainly a change of tune but partly thanks to Caroline’s influence. Blaise is also trying to work his way out of trouble here, in the firing line for embezzling money and blaming Lucien. He tries to talk both Blandsman and Scott into siding with him and pinning the blame on the guy, but it doesn’t seem to work.

With nowhere else to go, Blaise shows up to see the Congressman to try and iron things out. Specifically, in blackmailing him surrounding Scott’s sexuality. The thing is, Scott has already come clean about everything and his father is completely accepting of his sexuality, even agreeing to front the money and sort out the books. This one act not only lifts the veil of innocence from Blaise’s character, it also completely besmirches him and makes him look like an opportunistic fool.

Scott is ready to cut ties with Blaise, even back at the dorm as the latter tries to talk his case. Blaise brings up how hard he’s been working for money and how he’s always struggled. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work and he’s forced to leave campus. Just before he does though, he throws out a nice retort to Blandsman, whom he’s been tormenting all season. He also takes Lucien’s book too, protecting him from incrimination.

Through all of this, Lucien shows up to see Annie but Caroline is already there. She manipulates Annie, bringing up Lucien’s current behaviour and how he’s a master manipulator. Lucien eventually decides to distance himself from Annie, believing he can’t win against Caroline (or trying to protect her from being destroyed). He eventually claims he doesn’t care and that they need to stay away from him.

When Lucien leaves, Caroline speaks to Cece and claims that they’re best friends. Cece promises never to leave her side and do what she can to help Caroline. And just like that, the pledge night arrives and the women – including Annie – pledge themselves to Delta Phi.

Annie and Cece talk about the past.in the aftermath of the ceremony. That Adrian fellow we’ve been hearing about happens to be the old tennis coach at school. It’s also the same Adrian that Caroline allegedly lost her virginity to. However, Annie starts to have doubts that Caroline may not be a good friend after all. Speaking to Beatrice only reinforces that, as she finds out that Caroline was the one who made the complaint.

As for Lucien, he heads over to see Claudia and the pair hook up. He records the whole thing and intends to use it against his sister. In fact, he shares it with her and then rides off into the sunset. Or, well, until school starts again.

The Episode Review

So the ending of Cruel Intentions leaves everything wide open for a potential second season, with no triumphant reveals or big moments that give payoffs to the narrative threads across the season. Instead, we get Lucien sleeping with his step-mum and sharing the video with Caroline, and the drama with Annie left wide open.

In fact, none of the plots are actually resolved with the exception of Blaise’s, and even then that’s open for another season.

The characters have been disappointing throughout and toward the end of episode 7, we get this hint that there may still be the tragic ending for Lucien… which is then abandoned. Instead, we see him driving off rather than serving as a martyr with his tragic death showing off the diabolical schemes he and Caroline embarked on.

There’s the perfect opportunity to do that here too, with Beatrice or one of the other women killing him in their rage at being used by him for his sexual gain. That way it would reinforce the messages being pedalled this season about revenge, misunderstandings (of which there are a ton in this adaptation) and also how Caroline is the real master manipulator here.

The film and the book both understand this and the latter in particular had a really satisfying end, with Madame de Tourvel losing her one asset – her beauty. Instead, we get no pay-offs to any of the drama, no resolution and no big bouts of drama either.

A disappointment in all regards; Cruel Intention’s ending only exemplifies its problems, making for a very easy show to avoid.