It’s official, The Summer I Turned Pretty is the show of the summer. Amassing over twenty-five million views from the first week of its premiere for its latest season, fans all over the world have united to find out: who is Belly going to choose?
Since the start of season 1, the show has become #1 in 120 countries and came to be known as the top show on Prime Video, including its widespread popularity being fueled by social media. Based on the infamous books by Jenny Han, the show follows the main character Isabel “Belly” Conklin and her childhood friends Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher who are brothers. As a young girl, she visited the same beach house owned by Jeremiah and Conrad’s mother every summer. As she got older, she found herself in a love triangle between the two brothers. As the show progresses, we follow Belly and her journey through womanhood and the navigation of her choices.
In season 1, the story follows Belly after turning 16 visiting Cousins Beach as a young woman. When the brothers view her in this new light, Belly is stuck between the two very different brothers. Jeremiah is seen as outgoing and friendly while Conrad is seen as brooding and more reserved. The main theme in season 1 follows Belly and her journey to adulthood while navigating the difficult path between two conflicting decisions.
In season 2, the summer begins on a darker note, with the mother of Jeremiah and Conrad (Susannah, played by Rachel Blanchard) who was also a close friend of Belly’s mom (Laurel, played by Jackie Chung) passing away from cancer. This sets the conflict for season 2, with the Fisher beach house in danger of being sold. While the characters are forced to work together to prevent this, Belly is still stuck between picking the right “Fish” in the sea. By the finale, with emotions high and grief lingering, Belly makes the final decision to be with Jeremiah instead of Conrad, seemingly putting an end to the love triangle. But is it really over?
The main exposition for season 3 follows this decision, with a time skip to Belly’s junior year of college. With yet another summer at Cousins Beach, Belly’s “set” future with Jeremiah takes a halt when Conrad’s presence rekindles old feelings. As the season plays out, things with Jeremiah take a negative turn when his infidelity is discovered.
With this in mind, this sets the conflict for the rest of the season. As this happened, social media began to catch fire. This sparked heated discussions on who Belly should end up with. All while Belly discovers Jeremiah’s cheating scandal, this causes a rift between them forcing her to re-examine her decisions. It seems everything around her causes her to reevaluate her choice: her mother’s disapproval, her unresolved feelings for Conrad, and her own personal conflict with her brother in critical condition. With this being the last season, the audience is left wondering once again, who is Belly going to pick?
“I loved the ending, but Belly is annoying and selfish.”
says HPHS student Emily Negrete. “I’m team Conrad,” She admits. The most appealing feature of the Summer I Turned Pretty seems to be its controversy surrounding the brothers’ characters and who is a better fit for the leading lady. This is a notably popular phenomena, as this can be seen in other shows or movies such as Twilight, Gilmore Girls, The Vampire Diaries, and more. Each of these televisual pieces attracts the audience to step into the cinematic atmosphere and make their choice along with the main character.
“We want to know who she’s gonna end up with, that’s why it’s so addicting. It’s so cliche, two guys fighting over one girl. It’s really repetitive but that’s what hooks you.” says Gracie Delgado, a senior at HP.
With the rest of the world tuning in for the very last season, people over social media, specifically TikTok, have also added their input on the ending. “Unpopoular opinion: Belly doesn’t deserve him [Conrad]”, says TikTok user doroteagiuffrida. The comment, receiving 84 thousand likes, shows how much other people agree. Jenny Han, creator of The Summer I Turned Pretty, surprised show-watchers when admitting that the ending of the show deviated from the original plotline from the books. With this confession circulating the internet, many people thought this meant that Belly would not choose Jeremiah or Conrad, and would instead choose herself. However, in the finale it’s finally revealed that Belly chooses Conrad.
In the final episode, we are led through themes of growing up and reaching an end of youth. On top of this, in the final episode we’re met with Belly going forward with her wedding plans, leaving herself conflicted. Conrad is still around but distant. After confronting Jeremiah, this forces Belly to call off the wedding and also confront her feelings for Conrad head-on. For some time now, she comes to reflect how her feelings for him have always been there and never faded.
Amidst this confrontation, Conrad admits that he has always been in love with her. This fleeting declaration makes Belly realize that she belongs with Conrad, leaving this decision as her final one. Eventually, she comes to realize that she chooses true love and maturity over something juvenile and fun, contrasting the difference between her mindset now and her mindset seasons ago, when she was still a young woman.
From being the top show on Prime to releasing their finale to end off this summer, The Summer I Turned Pretty has become The Summer It Ended. This begs the question: What other shows will come along to top this show as the next summer must-watch, and who is the next cinematic love triangle to come?
Written by Melany Gomez, staff writer