2022 Silicon Valley – The snow begins with Peter Van Gael (Tom Vermeir) Watching a video filed on July 18, 1992. The video displays a younger Peter Van Gael (Lukas Bulteel), Mark (Felix Meyer), and a young Sophie Geboers (Louis Bergez). Peter and Mark are with an unconscious woman. In one scene, Peter is having sex with the woman as she lays lifeless on the bed. He receives the video in a text message that reads, “This was 30 years ago. Now it’s payback time. Pay 100 Bitcoin before Monday 12am or the video goes viral.” Peter curses under his breath. Romee Tanesy (An Miller) warns him that they will miss their plane if he doesn’t hurry.
2022 Antwerpen, Belgie – Sofie Geboers (Inge Paulussen) picks up Didier Verpoorten (Herwig Ilegems) at an airport. She asks if he is feeling nervous about meeting her after so long. He assures her it will be lots of fun before asking her to remind him of Luk Van Gael’s (Kevin Janssens) girlfriend’s name. She tells him her name is Lia Donkers (Sanne-Samina Hanssen). They greet Luk and Lia.
Saskia Van Dessel (Ruth Becquart) says goodbye to her dad. As she gets her luggage, Luk speaks with his son. She greets, Sofie, Didier, and Lia.
Stef Van Gompel (Koen De Bouw) speaks to someone on the phone about taking care of a problem. He admits dealing with their friends is more stressful than his business deals. Luk is the first to greet him. When he greets Didier, he compliments his appearance. Didier tells him that he could lose a few pounds. Stef suggests not doing it this weekend. He continues to greet the rest of his friends. Luk tells Lia that Stef’s nickname is Mowgli. He explains how he earned the nickname, being too poor to afford fancy clothes. Lia describes his story as “sad.” He assures her that what someone becomes is not determined by the things they have, but don’t have.
1992 Cote d’Azur, Frankrijk – Peter has a flashback of Didier encouraging him to be the first to have sex with the unconscious woman. In a second flashback, he is having sex with her.
Didier and his friends board the plane. Stef asks Sophia if she is all right. She admits to being nervous. He asks if her nervousness is associated with flying. She describes her flying anxiety as “ridiculous.” He assures her everything will be okay because she is with friends.
The friends ride out to the island, where they meet Peter and Romee. They are in awe of the large in-ground pool. She informs them that there is no cellular reception on the island. They question how he discovered the island. He claims it was through a friend named Derek. Didier jokingly asks if Derek is Google’s CEO. Romee says the CEO of Google owns a private island that isn’t available to rent. She shows the friends to their rooms.
A video dated July 15, 1992, shows Luk Van Gael (Tijmen Govaerts) recording the others frolicking in the pool. They smoke cigars, run around nude, barbecue, make silly faces, and drink beer.
Didier suggests Peter and Romme brag about their wealth. Sofie reminds him that they have invited them to enjoy it. She accuses him of being enamored with Lia. He asks if she is being serious. She describes her as being “cute” and approximately 10 years younger than him. He denies Lia being his type.
Stef takes a seat beside Saskia at the pool. She looks over to see Luk applying sunscreen to Lia’s back. He asks if she is finding it difficult. She admits it wasn’t initially easily but after getting to know Lia through Sofie, she is fine. She describes Lia as being a “great girl.” She assures him that cordial divorce is better than a miserable marriage. He suggests she is single because she made the wrong decision. She explains how her son needs her for everything.
A nude Didier looks at his private parts while walking out of the restroom. When she shows it to Sofie, she doesn’t seem impressed. She informs him that she is going to go to the pool for a swim.
Zandhove, Belgie July 1992 – Peter plays the guitar while the others join in singing. When Saskia Van Dessel (Tine Roggerman) gets out of the pool, Mark says her legs are sexy. Peter and Stef Van Gompel (Vincent Van Sande) agree. Sophie and Romee Tanesy (Marieke Anthoni) watch as she sits down. When Luk arrives, Peter runs to greet him. Luk questions what happened to his hair. He admits to cutting it short. Peter tells him that Sakia is in her bikini for now. The remaining friends greet him. Stef hands him a present, which turns out to be a wig.
Saskia calls dibs on Luk who she describes as bald and hot. Sophie tells her to imagine if he is a virgin. She asks her about getting back with Peter. Saskia assures her that she no longer wants Peter. Romme asks what she thought about having sex with Peter. She describes it as “good.” Sophie suggests if it was good, they would still be a pair.
2022 Antwerpen, Belgie – Romee gives a speech about how she benefits greatly from spending time with them. She admits to not giving much thought to her 50th birthday. Peter informs them of his and Romme’s decision to let the staff have the weekend off. He tells them there is plenty of alcohol and food, including vegan food in the refrigerator. He says if anyone thinks he is lazily living in luxury in America, they are right. Didier makes a toast to Mark who isn’t with them.
In a flashback, Mark is having sex with an unconscious Sophie. He kisses her unresponsive lips. Stef informs Sophie that they were asked to not bring her a birthday gift. He asks, what is the appropriate gift for people who already have everything. Sophie hands her a small gift bag. As she explains it is from Philip Pessimiers, Didier assures her Romme knows. Peter is given a guitar that Rocco Granata utilized to record his song, “Marina.”
Zandhove, Belgie July 15, 1992 – Peter and Stef medicate before jumping in the pool for a race. Stef reaches the other end of the pool first. Peter, with Mark’s help, pulls Stef’s swim trunks off and tosses them in the pool. The expression on Stef’s face show he isn’t happy. Peter holds up to fingers, showing the size of his tiny penis. Stef jumps in the pool to retrieve his trunks while Luk films.
2022 Antwerpen, Belgie – Peter asks to speak with Stef in private. He leads him to a remote area, where he shows him the video on his phone. In the video, a lifeless Sophie is laid on the bed. He asks where he got the video from. Peter says the sender was anonymous. Stef questions if Romee knows about what happened. Peters denies he ever talked to her about it before showing him the monetary demand. Stef says they were all friends. He assures him that the person responsible is on the island with them now. Stef asks if anyone else knows about the video. He says just the two of them. Peter tries to keep a panicky Stef calm.
Zandhove, Belgie July 1992 – Peter tosses the tape into the charcoal. Mark approaches to ask what he is burning. Identifying it as the tape, he says they are cleaning up his mess once again. Mark reminds them that he didn’t do it alone. He suggests nothing happened if she has no memory of it. Peter accuses him of being too cheap to pay his share for 10 years. He orders him to leave because he will never be like them. Didier asks what is happening with him. Saskia questions what is happening. Stef assures her it is nothing more than an argument. She describes Mark as a “good guy.” When the scooter doesn’t run, Mark pushes it into the pool. When Luk tries to talk to him, he shoves him down. Peter, Stef, and Didier pull the scooter out of the pool. Mark sits alone sobbing.
An electrical spark ignites a fire that spreads throughout the house. Peter is the first to notice the fire. He and Romee wake the others to get them out of the house. Peter goes back to get Mark, but the house is engulfed in flames. Outside he asks the others about Mark. Luk immediately runs back into the house, with Stef in tow. They only get a few feet when a piece of burning wood falls in front of them. Everyone stares at the burning house in horror. Luk kneels on the ground, crying.
2022 Antwerpen, Belgie – Peter and Stef return to the house. They convince him to play “Marina” on his Rocco Granata guitar. Stef looks at each of his friends.
Two Months Later 1992, Brussel, Belgie – Examining Magistrate Ondezoeksrechter Salima Mitonga (Jennifer Heylen) looks at a group photo of the eight friends.
2022 Antwerpen, Belgie – Peter and Stef try to figure out who sent the video.
Two Summers Review
The pace is slow, but not unbearably. The plot is enough to pique your interest. I had some difficulty identifying the characters due to poor cinematography and the constant jump cuts. It felt like there were two separate casts, one for the 1992 presentation and another for 2022. I question if it would’ve been more effective for character development to start the show in 2022 and jump back to 1992, instead of jump-cutting every few minutes.
The cast is doing a great job developing their characters for what little airtime they’re allotted. However, personability is lacking, which is making some very weak on-screen relationships. There is already no explanation as to how the friendships developed.
The episode was packed with filler. The quality of the editing is also questionable.
So far, so good in my own opinion. There is enough to pique my curiosity. The question is will people tune in to watch it.
The episode deserves a 6.5. Get more Two Summers recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by clicking on the link.
Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
Who was it that got raped? I can’t tell these white blonde people apart.
Sofia. Yes, it has been very difficult to identify some of the characters. The rape victim is blonde in the present, but not the past. Strange. Worth sticking with if you stomach some of the tough scenes. Will try adding captions to the images to help next episode.
Too confusing as to who, what and when … too artsy-fartsy. Not going to watch anymore of this mess. They should learn how to go from the past to the present from the U. S. Series This Is Us..
Can’t argue with that. It was difficult to really find out who was who at times. Too many shows are using flashbacks in unconventional ways and making everything so confusing. The biggest problem is so many of the characters looking nearly identical. Worth sticking with if you can though.