The Arrangement Season Finale Review: Megan’s New, Dangerous Narrative For Season 2

The season finale of The Arrangement is appropriately titled “The New Narrative” because that’s exactly the course that’s set for Season 2. The first season danced around the full dangers of the cult institution Terence ran, and for good reason. Megan did not understand the full extent of what she was entering into when she signed her contract. It went beyond the confines of building the perfect Hollywood lifestyle. Terence and DeAnn wanted to rewrite Megan’s narrative, loosely translating to reprogramming her mind. The scary thing is that they were successful, though by the end of the hour only one person knows in what way.

For the sake of getting rid of Megan’s blackmailer, Terence and DeAnn’s ruthlessness comes in handy. If anything, DeAnn proves she is scarier than her husband given the blackmailer’s grisly fate face down in the ocean. Everything else is a lie. They can say it’s for Megan’s own good, they can say spout off whatever they must in order to justify it, but at the end of the day they are committing crimes in order to protect themselves. Killing her stepbrother years ago was the most traumatic moment of Megan’s life. Some of Terence’s rhetoric rings true. Megan has lied to herself about the circumstances of that time, but nothing justifies what the Institute stands for.

I’d be royally ticked and resistant if someone kidnapped me and told me it was for my own good. Megan would have every right to punch someone in the face, but she figures out pretty quickly that she has to be smart. She tries to escape the Institute in hopes of getting to Kyle, and is met with an even worse realization. Kyle knew about the whole thing. He’s even been through the process himself, and still he signed off on it. This is the moment that changed everything. Megan stays at the Institute, is pumped with drugs, and remembers that she didn’t kill her stepbrother in self-defense, but revenge.

It’s not as if Kyle isn’t going through hell the entire time Megan is gone. Yet he still finds solace in the Institute. Therein lies the problem. IHM didn’t just give him the resources to fame. It purposely became the only place Kyle could go to be left alone. That’s why Kyle was so upset with Terence. It wasn’t about Terence pimping him out, it was about taking away the place and the person Kyle felt safest with. It’s become such a stronghold in Kyle’s life that he is dependent on it. When Megan returns, there’s an unspoken expectation that she should feel the same. She wouldn’t have been allowed to come back to Kyle if she didn’t. Immersing herself completely in Kyle and the Institute is the only way Megan can be free, so that when the time is right, she can “burn the whole thing down”. As the only person Megan trusts, hopefully Shaun will be able to help.

Megan is a good actress, but will she be good enough to fool everyone in her life? See if she can when Season 2 of The Arrangement premieres in 2018. Sound off in the comments on the show’s first season finale.