The time is finally here. I made the choice not to wake up at 3 am – because I wanted to savor every moment of The Summer I Turned Pretty. My life has been measured in summers after reading the books years ago. Every summer, I order the book series, a bunch of tabs, highlighters, and stickers, and I reread. I annotate and cry myself through the moments that have defined a part of my book-loving life.
The Summer I Turned Pretty isn’t a love triangle for me. Nor is it about ships (though I have mine). It’s a story about growing, loving, and figuring out who you are. Yes, I love Belly and Conrad. Yes, I think that the passion that people show for the adaptation is amazing. I won’t deny that I cried from the moment that I pressed play.
It feels like the start of an ending for me.
In 2009, I picked up an ARC of a book – a book called The Summer I Turned Pretty – that changed my life and made me believe in the magic of friendships and family, as well as falling in love. So, as I press play on the final season of the show, I know that I will always have summers, I will always have cousins, and I will always feel the magic of this series, both book and television show.
JELLY
I have made no secret that I am not team Jelly. It has taken me a while to realize that everyone has opinions about relationships, and I felt like, when reading the books, that Jeremiah was her safety, and no, I don’t think that means she’s settling. I think that for Belly, she really loves Jeremiah, and that safe space isn’t a bad thing.
Jeremiah and Belly – I will be honest, everything that happened until that final scene of this episode. I broke – that final scene of this episode was everything. Before you think it’s because I don’t want them together – that’s not it.
It’s because Lola Tung and Gavin Casalegno– the way that they brought that scene to life – HOLD S***! I watched that and I cried and then rewatched it again. The emotion that these two brought into their characters had me snatching my chest, and I ugly cried.
The way that Jeremiah admitted what he’d done and the pain in his eyes – well, even I felt bad. I never would want anyone to feel that much pain.
Yet we do need to talk about Lola Tung and her performance. We all need to stand up and cheer, because this girl was MAGNIFICENT. Holy cow, I fell out of my chair in tears when she said they can’t get it back, what they had.
What a scene!
TAYLOR GIRL
I admit that Steven and Taylor – I didn’t like them together initially. But the thing is that as people grow and change, I believe that you find a way to either evolve with them
Steven and Taylor have broken up and are now hooking up on the down low. Their relationship has always been filled with ups and downs. Though I can’t imagine it being normal when you are dating your sister’s BFF. But neither here nor there.
The two need to find their way back to each other, on the up and up, and not so that they are cheating on their significant others.
Taylor seems to have stayed the same, and hear me out before you tear me apart. She’s somewhat like Conrad when it comes to emotions. He hides and withdraws, she hides feelings and acts out – but both paths are destructive.
And I think that if I am gonna call out other people’s ways of dealing with things, I have to do that to her too.
But in the same breath, I will say that has always been the beauty of Jenny Han’s writing. She knows that people are complex and writes them that way. She writes characters that have layers and are filled with this hope that no matter what happens, they can get through. They can journey to the other side, and they can find hope in themselves.
They can love themselves.
The pain of the past doesn’t have to define their past, present, or future.
CONRAD
I first fell in love with the idea of a man like Conrad in 2009. Let me tell you why. Maybe it’s because I related to his wanting to be loved and love everyone. Maybe it is because what I saw was this person who was vulnerable and put a wall up, and wanted to please the world, and forgot himself.
I think a lot of times we forget that people deal with life differently and that it’s normal to find fault with things if they don’t do things our way.
Conrad has been a person afraid of being worthy of anything. And I loved that about him. I loved that he’s the person that grown the most throughout the books. I love a character that has a lot of development, and he’s that person.
The moment that I saw him on the screen, I didn’t see the boy who was afraid of losing his Mom and everything that came after. I saw the heartbroken boy mixed with the man who is honoring memories, while creating standards for himself. And yes, he’s still the man who is filled with innocence and love, as well as fear.
But sometimes overcoming fear of expectations, fear of love, and being loved, and moving forward keeps a part of us trapped in the past. Belly was his home.
Belly is his summer, spring, winter, and fall. Everyone needs their seasons. Everyone needs their home.
THE CLINIC
Conrad has turned his life down a road of following his dreams. What killed me was the moment when Conrad was in the bar and talking about being in love. About how one day he just woke up and saw Belly and knew that his heart washers.
Forever.
Telling the story of the way that he and Belly fell in love and fell apart – it’s seeing the look in his eyes was a lot. Seeing him relive the moment that he first saw Belly and Jeremiah together, I had to press pause.
He kept everything inside. But realizing that he couldn’t be around Belly, the look in his eyes was heartbreaking.
Conrad knows that he needs to go to Cousin’s for Susannah’s garden dedication, and has been torn between the prestigious job that he got and starts when he is supposed to be there.
I truly believe we need to cut him some slack, because the pain of losing his Mom will always stick with him. Coming face to face with her being gone again, as well as with Belly.
That’s a lot.
I understand why he left Jeremiah a message that he couldn’t go. I understood why in that moment – it was the best choice for him. And I do believe Susannah would have understood.
You can only keep your feelings compartmentalized for so long, but you can keep them to yourself.
And that’s what he’s trying to do. Having been there in life, I get it.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- If I were Conrad’s friend and just learning bout Belly, I would be upset and question if I was his friend
- God, I hate a frat party
- Belly, get on that plane to Paris
- I hope that Taylor reads Jeremiah to hell for cheating
- When Belly ran out, I was like Wait, your purse! Belly, that’s Coach. We don’t leave a Coach bag behind.
- We all need to love Laurel – she’s the best.
- Steven – a finance bro. FFS – if he breaks out the Patagonia, ugh
The first two episodes of Season 3 of The Summer I Turned Pretty are streaming now on Prime Video.
