By Audrielynn Dombrock “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” the Amazon Prime series your sister, mother or maybe even you were obsessed with, has concluded its third and final season, having generated significant online attention this late summer. In this season, Belly (short for Isabel) Conklin (Lola Tung) and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) are still going strong, and the couple, plus Taylor Jewel (Rain Spencer), Belly’s best friend, are making the most out of their time at Finch College and are looking forward to spending the summer at Cousins Beach. Steven Conklin (Sean Kaufman) is working as an intern in Boston after graduating early, and Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney), the other brother in this messy love triangle, is entering medical school in Los Angeles. Many fans of Jeremiah have switched to Team Conrad, and Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship has been slammed everywhere online. What made everyone swap sides? With all the cinematography, emotion and questionable writing of this show, how did Jenny Han get all these women hooked on The Summer I Turned Pretty? And is it a good guilty pleasure show…or just cringe? SPOILERS AHEAD… In the first few episodes, we are welcomed with a time jump headfirst into college days and lots of drama. Before I knew it, we were finding out about a spring break split over Jeremiah’s infidelity, Taylor and Steven’s complicated, on-and-off relationship, and Steven’s car accident after a fight with Taylor. I’m trying to figure out everything thrown at us as I write this, since the pacing was quick. Then, the grand plot twist that Team Conrad people (me included) internally screamed at, Belly and Jeremiah make up while Steven is still recovering in the hospital. Jeremiah proposes with the tiniest engagement ring ever; even a little elf would scoff at that “rock.” We learn about the bombshell moment in Cousins Beach at Christmas, when Belly and Conrad both end up there for the holiday, and there is still something there between them, which we find out caused Jeremiah and Belly’s spring break fight and eventually will ruin their four-year relationship. We also take in the subplots of Steven’s life, Taylor’s life, and how they are entangled and both connected to Belly and the two brothers, plus the TikTok-popular music and Taylor Swift songs playing in the background. Throughout season 3, I admired the cinematography in many scenes, and there were moments where Lola Tung was so beautiful. I fully understand how Conrad fell for Belly all over again. This is why I strongly side with Team Conrad Fisher. Conrad is Belly’s true love. In the last two episodes, we catch flashback glimpses of their memories together, where Conrad would go out of his way to treat her well and protect her when they were younger. He’s fallen in love with her over and over for his entire life. And this is what causes Jeremiah to call off the wedding, and Belly to run away to Paris to start over, rethink her life and rejuvenate, where she does restart and meet new people. After all, Jeremiah and Conrad are the two boys she’s ever loved. Some of us may have considered her taking a break and exploring dating, while others may have wanted her to come home earlier. In the end, Belly and Conrad had the ending most of us were anticipating when Conrad went to Paris to see her before going to Brussels for a conference. Belly figures out she’s also loved him for so long after a romantic evening together, and the chemistry between the two is still electric even after being apart for so long. All the drama and buzz on social media made fans want more and caused more people to jump on the TSITP bandwagon. Coming-of-age awkwardness and young love are all too relatable, even enjoyable, to adult and teenage viewers alike. Jenny Han and other geniuses behind the show knew how to capture the drama. I was totally satisfied with that ending, although I was also a little happy that all the second-hand embarrassment I had was all over. “The Summer I Turned Pretty: The Movie” was unexpectedly announced shortly after the finale was released. Now, all of us on Team Conrad are hoping for another good ending for this movie as well! In the end, I became very into the drama of Belly and the Fisher boys and was all in rooting for Conrad. So I wouldn’t say “The Summer I Turned Pretty” was cringe in its third season, or a masterpiece, but an enjoyable, perfectly messy teen romance series you should watch before calling it cringe.
By Jonnelle Davenport (Why Team Conrad Wins: Loyalty, Vision and Results that speak for themselves)
In this series of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Conrad Fisher was one of the main love interests. He was known as the “depressed, there for others, but never wanted to accept help himself,” type of character. He was the only one who was always there for his family and friends, no matter where he was. Conrad cared for Isabel more than anyone in the series.
"I think about her all the time. And it hurts like my chest, physically hurts to not be able to tell her that I'm in love with her," Conrad Fisher said.
Throughout seasons two and three, Conrad openly expresses his feelings to Isabel, known as "Belly.” As each season went on, you could see how much he genuinely cared. Since they were kids, Conrad has always been by her side. Susannah Fisher told Belly in season 2, episode eight “When you were born, I knew you were destined for one of my boys.” Ever since, Belly has always known Conrad was the boy she was talking about.
“Don’t hate Conrad, he’s having a really hard time with all of this. Please don’t let him push you away. He needs you. He loves you, you know,” Susannah said.
Susannah always knew that Conrad and Belly would always end up together in the end. On Belly's wedding day, she wrote a letter to Belly and Conrad before she passed. Susannah and the rest of the family had always seen the connection between them, too. No matter what was happening, in each episode, Conrad always shows that he will endlessly love Belly forever.
By Stella Cearly (Wherever Jeremiah goes, drama follows. Are you ready for the chaos?)
In the series “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” Jeremiah is one of the main characters. Throughout the show, he is known as carefree, a frat boy and selfish. He was always emotionally unavailable for Isabel, known as Belly, which always led to them being off and on.
“Look, I majored in beerology,” said Jeremiah. After failing his senior year and having to repeat as a super senior, he was always seen as a failure.
In season three, Belly finds out Jeremiah cheats on her. She doesn’t take it well, and they break up. Despite what happened, Jeremiah and Belly get back together as he proposes to earn his forgiveness back. During the engagement period, he was never focused on Belly, being selfish and unhelpful throughout. The other brother, Conrad, who Belly had been with before, helped her plan the whole thing, which led to him confessing his love for her. This confession drove a wedge between Jeremiah and Belly emotionally and caused many problems. In the season finale, Belly and Jeremiah are seen calling off the wedding, and she runs off to Paris. After living in Paris for a year, she sees Conrad waiting for her at her doorstep and they are seen getting back together in the finale episode “At Last.”