Alpha – As the opening episode of Cruel Intentions begins, students are shown at Manchester College. CeCe (Sara Silva) tells the Delta Phi girls that their welcome presentation is not good enough. She tells them she’s embarrassed. CeCe complains about Tanya’s piercing little soprano. Tanya (Dawn Ngo) apologizes. CeCe insists this won’t fly when Caroline Merteuil (Sarah Catherine Hook) gets here because she is going to be their president. Rourke (Stephen Thomas Kalyn) drops off Caroline moments later. Caroline gets caught up with CeCe who insists her rush will go down in Delta Phi history. Caroline mentions an optics issue. She asks CeCe if she’s forgotten about last year’s spring formal. Three months earlier, Lucien Belmont (Zac Burgess) arrives at the formal. He has sex with Beatrice Worth (Brooke Lena Johnson) in the bathroom. CeCe keeps messaging Lucien. After that, Lucien goes back to the party and picks up Kate.

When Beatrice tries to get in, she’s told she’s not on the list. Blaise Powell (John Kim) speaks to Lucien. He tells Lucien he wants him to do terrible things to him until he begs him to continue. CeCe joins them and tells Lucien that the candidate is looking for her. Lucien forgot about something. CeCe talks to Blaise about their chances of winning the election. She finds out that Rourke is with Jenny Davenport (Holly Jade Balmer). Caroline tells others that she always gets what she wants. She argues with Lucien. CeCe says they have a small issue. CeCe tells Caroline that Rourke came with Jenny Davenport who is running against her. Caroline wants to speak to Rourke right now. Once they find them, they discover that Scott and others are being hazed. Scott gets hit in the head and collapses. Caroline admits this is a disaster for her. In the present, Rourke is asked where he was during the spring formal last year.

Others are asked as well. Dean Sheffield (Adam Arkin) asks if they saw anything illicit. He just wants to know if they saw anything hazing activity that may have contributed to Scott Russell’s hazing injury. Congressman Russell (Jon Tenney) asks why they haven’t seen any repercussions. Scott (Khobe Clarke) claims he can’t remember anything. Sheffield says all fraternities and sororities are on probation until the responsible party can be found. They’ve doubled campus police with the Vice President’s daughter coming. Outside the school, the Congressman is asked if he’ll be supporting federal anti-hazing legislation. He says they’re dealing with the administration and working to ensure no student will be damaged like this again. The Congressman speaks to Blaise who looks forward to working for him. CeCe talks to Caroline about Scott Russell potentially causing an optics issue for them. Claudia Merteuil (Claire Forlani) speaks to Lucien about his future and other things.

She touches his leg and admits she’s only his stepmother. Still, Claudia always thought of Lucien as a little bit of hers. She drops him off and leaves. CeCe and Caroline talk about the Vice President’s daughter Annie Grover. Lucien returns and gets naked. Caroline asks him about Annie Grover. He claims she’s the most nothing girl he’s ever had the pleasure of not knowing. Caroline admits she wants the VP’s daughter. She says they’re not going to kick the sorority of the VP’s daughter off campus. Caroline asks Lucien to convince her in the way only she can. He asks what is in it for him. Caroline agrees to give him her for up to an hour. Annie Grover (Savannah Lee Smith) arrives at the school. Lucien keeps an eye on her from a distance. Rourke tells Blaise that he had to take one for the team to get Caroline back. Jenny is out of the picture and he has Caroline eating out of the palm of his hand.

Next, Blaise tells Lucien he got the key to the safe. Professor Hank Chadwick (Sean Patrick Thomas) says hello to CeCe who introduces herself as Celeste Carroway. She explains she’s his TA. She goes on to say he’s the only professor with a lecture size of over 100 students without a TA. Professor Chadwick doesn’t think he needs a TA. CeCe explains why she needs to be his TA. She promises to cut his workload in half. The Professor eventually relents and agrees to give her the job. Caroline tells Rourke she has things to do and people to see. Blaise tells Scott he wouldn’t show him this unless he had complete trust in him. He explains it’s a record and a written history of brothers. It’s a logbook featuring a bunch of written stories. Blaise suggests they could track down whoever did this to him and make them pay. Scott claims it doesn’t matter because he doesn’t remember anything.

Annie speaks to her mother on the phone. Lucien approaches her after the call and tries to introduce himself. Her security, Sandy (Nia Cummins), stops him until Annie says it’s okay. Annie tells him he has quite the reputation. She insists she’s not going to have sex with him. CeCe speaks to the sorority girls. They go through their targets. CeCe asks Miranda (Cynthia Ritchie) to add Annie Grover to her list. Miranda asks if they want to start poaching legacies. CeCe insists they’re not poaching anyone. Lucien walks Annie to Sigma. He knows her big issue is anti-kill shelters. Lucien knows what it’s like to have everyone have a preconceived notion of who you are. After the police leave, Blaise tells everyone that they’re clear. He asks about Lucien who is not around. Lucien manages to get Annie into the pub. They order drinks. Caroline speaks to CeCe who says no one can find Annie. Caroline isn’t worried about that. Lucien asks Annie about Sigma and why she’s going to join. They eventually find something they agree on.

Lucien doesn’t want to talk about his family because it’s complicated. Caroline confronts Rourke who agreed to stop by but didn’t. She’s done protecting him so she wants him to admit what he did last year to Scott Russell. In private, Rourke insists he didn’t do anything. Caroline says she can no longer be complicit. She admits they could lose their chapters so she can’t stand by in silence anymore. Rourke doubts she has anything on him. CeCe calls Caroline to say a student life officer is there testing the tea. Caroline tells her to do whatever they ask because they have nothing to hide. CeCe reveals there are a couple of legacies in the basement. Caroline tells her to handle it. Rourke is still upset. He tells Blaise that he wants Caroline gone and banned from the house. Caroline interrupts and accuses him of hurting Scott. Blaise turns on Rourke and sides with Caroline. When Lucien arrives, Rourke tells him he better have the key. CeCe tries to stop the student life officer.

Lucien gives Rourke his key. Rourke opens the safe only to find that the book is missing. The student life officers walk into the basement. Rourke gets upset and attacks Lucien. Blaise tries to convince Scott this is what happened to him last year. Campus police arrive and stop the fight. Scott becomes convinced that Rourke threw the beer can last year. Rourke is taken away by campus police. Later, Lucien speaks to Caroline about Rourke. Lucien insists she’ll have Annie if she wants her. CeCe says Annie was a no-show for Sigma yesterday. She also reveals that there is bad news. Caroline asks Lucien to finish the job. She mentions the name Beatrice Worth. Meanwhile, Beatrice tells Annie that the Greeks think they own the campus and some are worse than others. Annie finds out that Lucien is outside. Annie asks Beatrice what she needs to know. Lucien leaves without speaking to Annie.

 

Cruel Intentions Review

The opening episode of Cruel Intentions felt familiar. Anyone who watched the original movie will see glimpses of the same storyline here. The performances are mostly okay although the characters are juvenile and a bit over-the-top at times. The original had a sense of class that really isn’t present in Amazon’s remake.

That was one of the aspects that made the original so unique. Everyone was hiding something and pretending to be someone else. Everyone around them actually saw them that way. In Amazon’s Cruel Intentions, there is no façade since everyone knows that all of the characters are horrible already.

The sex scenes in Amazon’s remake are a bit overdone already too. That’s another thing that set the original apart. The original wasn’t full of sex scenes so the scenes it did have really felt important, including the infamous kissing scene. As a result, the 2024 version of Cruel Intentions probably won’t hit the target like the original did.

Some of the actors appear more authentic for the role while some appear a bit too old or too young. The Australian actor looks far too young for the role of Lucien when compared to the other cast members. The series also has eight episodes so the story is likely going to be drawn out and stretched thin.

When comparing the new series to the original movie, it’s easier to just say that the series is trashier than the original and that was likely the goal here. With more viewers turning away from sex scenes and trash television in general, this may not be accepted. The opening episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Cruel Intentions can be found here.

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