If you’re a fan of The Summer I Turned Pretty, you know that this episode, which features Conrad’s inner dialogue, has been something people have been waiting for. We hear from Belly all of the time, and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. But I think that there are a lot of people who don’t get just how hard this is for Conrad.
While I will tell you that I liked the episode, I won’t tell you that I loved it. I felt that it didn’t give enough of Conrad’s inner dialogue, but I also do understand that a man’s inner dialogue is different than a woman’s. Before The Summer I Turned Pretty starts to enter the back half of the final season, I have a feeling that a lot of what is going to happen is going to happen fast.
It’s been a week since Conrad agreed to be the co-best man. That means that it’s been a week since the dirt bombs, and his asking himself what he has done, when he should be asking himself what he’s going to do.
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ROOF TOPS & BIKE STOPS
Conrad Fisher is trying not to be around Belly. He wants to be around her. He wants to be around her – Belly is everything to him. But being around her, he doesn’t know how to keep it all in. So, he’s going to avoid her. Avoiding her is the best thing to do.
Avoidance for him means that he’s going to repair the roof. It’s a choice – a dangerous one – but a choice.
Conrad and Belly have a connection – one that they’ve had since they were kids. He’s trying to fight it because – obvi – she’s moved on with his brother. It’s so hard for him; he doesn’t even want to be in the same room as her, so when she wants to go with him to town? Hard pass.
But that really bothers him because he sees her upset, and he doesn’t ever want to see that. By the time he goes after her, though, she’s gone.
Conrad isn’t trying to be cruel. He’s trying to be a good brother, and he’s trying to honor a deathbed promise he made to his Mom. Though if we’re being honest, he’s taking that to an extreme. Taking care of Jeremiah doesn’t mean letting him have his way all the time. It doesn’t mean that Jeremiah is right in all he says.
Conrad should be stopping this wedding, and I think that Susannah would put a stop to this whole thing immediately. She knew that Conrad and Belly were supposed to be together.
I believe he knows it too.
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When he drives into town, he sees Belly trying to ride, but she has too many bags in her hands. He drives past, and he turns around and drives straight back to her. Conrad has made a lot of bad choices, but every time that he is there for Belly, it’s not a bad choice.
It’s when he makes the choices to let Belly in that he makes the best choices.
HE FOUND THE NUMBERS
Denise and Stephen leave work and leave Jeremiah to do a quick comparison of numbers. It’s the 4th of July weekend, and everyone wants out. Except Jeremiah. He wants to impress his father. It doesn’t matter if he’s letting Belly down.
Now, am I proud of Jeremiah for figuring something out and showing initiative? He doesn’t seem to ever show initiative unless it’s to impress his Dad. Or an attempt to.
Stephen and Denise end up on the same train to New York, and it’s kinda cute. It’s cute because they at first don’t know it, and when they figure it out, they spend the time together. Not arguing, but actually enjoying spending time with each other.
I appreciate any moment that the show takes to show Steven moving forward with his life. I think that he and Taylor are perfect for each other, but I also understand his hesitation to go down that road again with her. They’ve hurt each other too many times.
And I am not saying you can’t recover from hurt, cause you definitely can. But you both have to be willing to do the work, and I don’t think right now it’s possible for Taylor and Steven.
Let’s all cheer on Steven having some fun and embracing his inner geek, though.
Jeremiah calling Belly and telling her he’s not going to be there in time to take her to Michaels – it’s just wrong. That and his toddler tantrum over a cake. A 750 dollar cake!
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Over and over again, we keep seeing how Jeremiah and Belly aren’t on the same page. But who is always there to pick up the pieces? Conrad. And he does that for his brother by taking Belly to Michaels.
Hey, Michaels is a good time. I love it there, so I get why Belly wanted to go and use a coupon.
HURRICANES & FLOWERS & STEAMY
Conrad kept telling himself not to do it – not to take Belly all these places that she wants to go. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to help someone that you are in love with plan their wedding.
That would break me. I know that Conrad wants Belly to be happy, and he loves her so much that he’s willing to do whatever she needs. However, there comes a moment when one has to put oneself first.
One thing that this episode does so well is show just how much Conrad is in pain, but also how much he’s in love. The looks of longing and the looks of feeling destroyed – his eyes give it all away.
While Jeremiah is being a toddler and a narcissist, Conrad is taking care of everything that he wishes for him. I think that Belly is also thinking about the fact that this could be Conrad, too. There is also this part of Belly that is thankful and having fun with Conrad.
With Conrad, things are seamless. With Jeremiah, it is Belly compromising her dreams in order to make him happy.
In the years that they have been apart, Conrad has worked hard on himself. He’s made sure that he worked hard towards his dreams, gone to therapy, and made sure that he’s grown. He’s always tried to shield Belly from everything and make sure that when he’s around, life is easy. He just can’t shield her from the fallout of this wedding.
He tries his best to make sure that she’s getting everything that she wants for the wedding, in any way that he can help. Even so far as to suggest fake flowers.
And those flowers remind him of the last time that he was at Belly’s house. The last time they were together.
I never expected a bedroom scene in The Summer I Turned Pretty, but here we are. And lordy, that was steamy and yet somehow beautiful.
I know that the ships in The Summer I Turn Pretty are very divided, and we’re all set in our ways. While I am not saying that Jeremiah is the devil, I am going to stand by my belief that he’s a toxic narcissist who has never dealt with his own issues, and that has caused everyone to do whatever he needs.
To Jeremiah – in my opinion – Belly is the most important person to him because she was there for him no matter what. I think that Belly puts him before herself, and he doesn’t want to lose that. In the same breath, if he really loved her and wanted to marry her, he would be there for her.
Instead, it’s about him and his dad’s perception of him.
He’s selfish. You don’t even want to get me started on Paris and how he didn’t encourage Belly to go.
I could write a thesis paper on why Conrad is better for Belly. I could also write one about how the person in this show who desperately needs therapy is Jeremiah.
PEACHES
Look, I never thought I would say that eating peaches was hot, but I am going to tell you this – that s*** was hot.
When Conrad drives past a peach stand, he turns around when Belly says that she wants some. First, I will say this – I love that they made sure Belly put some money in the honor box at the stand.
When she grabbed a peach and asked Conrad if he wanted one, I was shocked to find him allergic to them, but I also wondered if every time he’d eaten them, he’d just done it because Belly liked them. But he just let her do it here.
As she was taking a bite, he looked as if he wanted to eat her or suck the peach juice from her lips. Which, if we’re all being honest, I was screaming for him to do it.
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Conrad is torturing himself, and I never thought I would say I was proud of someone for doing that to themself. It’s just in this instance him doing that means that she’s getting a chance to remember who she is with him and how things shouldn’t be so hard.
I fell out of my seat when he wiped her face, and I’m just gonna say lips too (even if he didn’t get them – I am living with the idea that he did). That was legitimately the best scene. That moment – lord, if that was me, my knees would have buckled, and let’s just say I would have been eating all the peaches and being like Do it again.
The two leave and end up having a fun night of eating dinner and laughing. Just really enjoying themselves.
Then Jeremiah shows up, and the whole vibe goes from good to oh great, the boy child is here.
Though Conrad’s inner dialogue in this scene – the nail gun comment – well, same. Just same.
HE’LL PAY FOR IT NOW
I get it – Jeremiah wants to be loved and adored by his father. He wants his father to think that he’s doing the right things and making good decisions. All of that is fine, but what is not fine is that Jeremiah uses that to manipulate Belly.
At what point does he work with his future wife instead of working against her and only for himself?
I get it – Jeremiah is proud that his Dad told him that he did something good. He’s excited that his Dad says he’ll support Jeremiah and Belly’s wedding. It’s the paying for it thing and inviting colleagues and the whole cake breakdown – the wedding that really makes me feel like he doesn’t see what is right in front of him.
Belly wants her Mom to be there. She wants all of these things. Jeremiah just has no tact in telling Belly that his Dad is now paying for the wedding, so it needs to be at the club and such.
Having it at the house in Cousins means something to Belly, and it should mean something to Jeremiah. It’s the closest that they’ll get to having Susannah there. It’s another memory that they are supposed to have at the house. One that they can tell their kids about one day.
Not to mention all the work that she’s put into it already.
They were supposed to do this wedding on their own. Not with Adam’s secretary helping – you know the one that he cheated on Susannah with.
Maybe Jeremiah still doesn’t know about Kayleigh and the affair. But we all do.
Jeremiah is emotionally manipulative to Belly, and she’s willing to give in. I just feel like she’s giving in because she doesn’t want to say that they can’t do this — that they shouldn’t do this. Instead, she doesn’t want to have to admit that she doesn’t want to do it this way, and that breaks my heart for her.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Jeremiah acts like a man-child, and he needs to grow up
- Jeremiah’s fit over the damn cake – WTF.
- The way Jeremiah is selfish over everything is gross. He needs to be quiet
- Jeremiah is his father’s son, and that’s not a good thing
- I love that Conrad – we got his inner dialogue – but I want more of it
- Conrad Fisher is a good brother
- Can we all agree that Jeremiah is a narcissist
- Steven, you better hook up with the coworker
- I can’t even talk about all of the scenes of Belly trying to plan this wedding because this isn’t the wedding that she wants at all
- Belly and Jeremiah should not be getting married
- Taylor and Steven, I really want you two together, but you need to be apart right now
- Steven knowing how Taylor got the money for her Mom – I love that he knows her that well
- Sad that Taylor couldn’t go to Cousins
- Pulp Fiction for a first dance? FFS, Belly, don’t give him that
- Team Conrad til I die.
The Summer I Turned Pretty is streaming now on Prime Video.
