Hello! Today we will be discussing the second episode in the new Dead of Summer series on Freeform! This is a horror series about a camp in the 1980’s, 1989 to be exact. Its very compelling and creepy and if you haven’t watched it yet, you can still watch these episodes on the Freeform app and sometimes they will go through reruns on Freeform. I highly recommend you give this series a try! I gave this second episode a 96%, which is up from last week’s episode because it went more in depth with the characters and I really appreciated that.
That is the end of the non-spoilery section, so if you haven’t seen this show, you should leave or you will get spoiled for the events of this second episode. If you have seen this episode, keep reading and we can discuss it!
** SPOILER ALERT: IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THIS EPISODE, DO NOT READ ANY OTHER PART OF THIS REVIEW**
Characters:
Amy Hughes: her character took more of a backseat this episode. While we got to know her more this last episode, we got to see more of another character’s story this episode. It was kind of annoying though to see how the girls were starting to hate on her just because a guy one of them liked was interested in Amy.
Joel Goodson: Joel is definitely reading too much into Deb and thinks she has a thing for him. I think some sort of relationship will eventually develop between the two, but it is not something I want to see because I do not at all trust that woman.
Alex Powell: He is actually the main focus of this episode and is revealed to not be a good guy at all, like I originally thought. He is a thief, a liar, and an expert manipulator. He is willing to do anything to get what he wants and that scares me a little bit. He is now my least favorite character because of everything revealed in this episode.
Carolina Diaz: I have less than stellar feelings for her at the moment. She doesn’t like Amy because Alex likes Amy and I find that to be incredibly petty and selfish. I am just not on her side at all right now.
Blair Ramos: he isn’t seen that much throughout this episode too much except at the end when Drew is openly flirting with him. From what I know from the last episode, I still really like his character, but everyone has skeletons in their closet, so I am sure that will change.
Jessie Tyler: I still don’t like her. She keeps causing trouble for Amy and honestly she is just being a jealous bitch. I am looking forward to her backstory because I am still not anywhere near being in her corner.
Drew Reeves: We don’t see much of him in this episode, though he does talk a bit more than he did in the last episode. He hardcore flirted without even saying anything to Blair. Not sure how I feel about that yet.
Blotter: While I do not approve of him using and dealing drugs, I really did like him. I think he genuinely was a good guy. He was funny and I really liked him. My opinion of Alex just lowered even more than it already had because of how he screwed Blotter over.
Garrett Sykes: While he isn’t as involved this episode, I really did like how he was willing to do anything to figure out what happened at the camp. He remains one of my favorite characters on the show right now. He’s up there with Amy.
Deb Carpenter: While she wasn’t quite as suspicious as she was in the last episode, this woman still has my radar up. My gut says not to trust her. I still think she has sinister motives as to why she opened up the camp.
Plot:
This second episode starts off with the kids arriving and we learn more about Alex. His real name is Alexi and he moved to America from the Soviet Union and he had to leave his grandfather behind. His grandfather told him to take what he wanted (I am a bit confused as to whether he stole his clothes or not) and gave him a knife that he still has. He and Blotter make a deal to see if Alex can get Amy in bed with him faster than Blotter can get Carolina in bed with him.
There is a kid that is part of Alex’s group and he has an imaginary friend. He is picked on a lot and he is foreign. His name is Anton and Alex is insensitive about his situation despite it being a lot like his, causing Amy to think of him as a jerk. Blotter is seen possibly dealing something (probably drugs). He was being pretty secretive about it, which obviously makes him suspicious.
After Anton is broken off from the group, Alex goes after him and it is revealed that he is actually talking to one of the spirits at the camp. Later that night, he has a nightmare about the “Tall Man”, who is the piano player that was shown at the beginning of the last episode, and he burns the words, “Find Me” on Anton’s wrist.
It is revealed that Blotter did buy drugs and the guy he bought drugs from is Deputy Sykes number one suspect for what happened at Camp Stillwater. It is also revealed that Alex did steal those clothes from a dry cleaners. Alex asks out Amy and after he is sweet to a kid that is later revealed to have been bribed with candy to go over there, she accepts. She is warned by Jessie (who is helping out Carolina who likes Alex) that will do anything to get what he wants.
Anton goes to the art cabin and finds Anton in there, painting the Tall Man and saying, “He says if I don’t find him, he’ll kill someone.” He says this over and over. Joel goes into Deb’s house (like an idiot) and finds her box. He’s caught by her.
Amy and Alex go on their date. The cabin they go to is the one that the Tall Man died in after there was some mass sacrifice of some sort. While they are on that date, Blotter has a raid with the kids but Anton wanders off with the Tall Man. Blotter tries to kiss Carolina, but fails.
Alex plays the piano for Amy. We learn that his father died. In a flashback scene, it appears Alex talked Nadia into exposing the owner of the dry cleaner where he worked or he could possibly be blackmailing her. In present day, the rocking chair in the room starts rocking on its own. Alex sees the ghost of his grandfather in that chair.
They almost kiss when Blotter barges in because he finally noticed that Anton was gone. A search party is sent out (including the police) when they hear him scream in the woods. Alex finds him exactly where Anton painted that the Tall Man would be. Deputy Sykes paints the picture that the drug dealer he talked to could be the man they were looking for.
In a flashback scene, it is revealed that Alex is not a good guy at all and he blackmailed his boss at the Dry Cleaners into letting him steal from him and in return Nadia wouldn’t show his wife the security tape of him cheating on his wife with her. Alex sees the ghost of his grandfather again and takes some of the acid that Blotter bought, put it in Blotter’s drink, which will then bring him down for the drug deal business.
Deputy Sykes brings in the drug dealer for questioning. Blotter is high off his ass, his pupils completely dilated and he is freaking out. He’s hallucinating because of the drug. He goes digging by the rocks where Anton was and finds the buried bones of the Tall Man. When he brings Alex and Deb over to them, they’re gone. She finds out he is high and fires him.
The police department let the drug dealer, Damon, go. Damon and all of his buddies took the bones of the Tall Man. Drew is totally flirting with Blair. The counselors say goodbye to Blotter and he gives Carolina his tin D&D figurines and Alex his $50 and reveals the bet between them, making Amy break up with Alex, which gives Carolina her opening. After kids start picking on Anton, Alex has a talk with him and tells him to change his name to Tony. Anton reveals that the Tall Man told him its only just begun.
At the end of the episode, when Blotter is walking home, he sees the Tall Man. The Tall Man points to something we don’t get to see and when Blotter turns to see what he is pointing at, he yells out, “Oh my God!” And screams.
And the episode ends.
My Thoughts:
I really enjoyed this episode, even more than the last episode. While Episode 1 was a bit more creepy and horrific than this episode, this was focused on the character development and the interactions between the characters, which I really appreciated. My opinions on a lot of the characters changed throughout this episode as truths came to light and they revealed how they are not good people like they pretend to be. Take Alex, for example. He was playing the good Samaritan when he was really a liar and a thief. The creep factor was still there, what with that camper talking with and seeing the Tall Man, not to mention the creepy and disgusting bones. I am super curious to see how the rest of the series progresses and I am super excited for Episode 3!
So I am curious: What did you all think of how Alex really turned out to be? Were you surprised, angered, upset? Comment down below. I would love to know. I was surprised, angered, and upset. I should have seen something like this coming, but I just didn’t. But that is going to conclude this review. Thank you all so much for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it, and I will see you next time.
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