Spoiler Alert: This article contains plot details from season three of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”
This summer, we all turned pretty. Well, at least according to Jenny Han, the writer of the hit novel and Amazon Prime television series, “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Admittedly, I have been a bashful watcher since the first season’s debut in summer 2022. But the third, and final, season released this summer has turned millions into faithful followers. The heroine, Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung), embraces her freedom and youth from the tumultuous summer she “turns” pretty. She navigates grief and love as she embarks on an intricate romance with each of the Fisher brothers, Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney). The close friendship of the matriarchs, Conrad and Jeremiah’s mother Susannah Beck Fisher (Rachel Blanchard) and Belly and Steven’s (Sean Kaufman) mother Laurel Conklin (Jackie Chung), created the tradition of spending the summer at their beach house in Cousins, a charming New England town. From before Belly was born, summer had revolved around Cousins Beach. Conrad, the oldest of the two, is the boy Isabel has loved since she had a memory of what love could be. Jeremiah, described as her best friend, shares a connection with Belly that only evolves into love at the start of the show.
The show had already become a guilty pleasure for some, but the most recent season became an ideal blueprint for romantic dramatization. Conrad Fisher is the perfect example of a “man written by a woman” in that he embodies a deeply flawed and moody stereotype, as well as a responsible caretaker and certified yearner. He is anxiety-ridden and sensitive. The show spans five years, and we follow Conrad from a seventeen-year-old teenager to a 23-year-old adult. Dealing with his mom’s sickness and death, Conrad tentatively drowns in his grief and sentiment. He was prone to pent-up emotions and unwilling to share his pain with others, which ultimately led to the demise of his and Belly’s six-month relationship when he was eighteen. After their breakup, Belly embarks on a four-year relationship with Jeremiah. It is this separation between Belly and Conrad that gives Conrad space to realize and take accountability for easy mistakes in communication while they were together. As he is unable to be with her, we see the intensity of his affection in other ways. Unsurprisingly, viewers are irresistibly drawn to this romantic depiction.
Beyond this artful romanticism, it is Han’s intimate depiction of realistic, deficient, and insecure characters that makes the show endlessly bingeable. Throughout the series, Belly Conklin’s egocentric and impulsive nature evolves. After Susannah’s death, Jeremiah notably mentions that Belly has become “everything” to him. As Jeremiah begins to treat Belly as the center of his world, he relies on her for the comfort and stability he once sought from his mother. By stepping into that maternal role, Belly becomes more than a girlfriend — she becomes his emotional anchor. Slowly, by the end of the series, Belly evolves into a maternal, responsible, loyal girlfriend. This shift also fuels their codependency, as their relationship turns into a shared coping mechanism for their grief. Both Belly and Jeremiah believe that staying together is the only way to keep Susannah’s memory alive.
Conversely, Conrad, the first-born Fisher and Belly’s first love, resembles the necessary recipe for change. After his move to California and his breakup with Belly, he deals with grief in a more substantial, reliable way: working on his flaws and creating healthy coping mechanisms. Aware of his shortcomings — a tendency to avoid communication and his emotions — he spends four years “changing everything about himself.” He grieved his mom in private, without the confines of a safety net. He exiled himself without the comforts of those he should’ve depended on the most, which left him extremely self-reliant. This independence is what Jeremiah and Belly eventually have to find without each other.
Han soberly depicts the realization and existence of a soul-shattering, all-encompassing love. When Belly is with Jeremiah, she represses and displaces her irrational affection for Conrad. She ultimately chooses not to marry Jeremiah, and with this choice, she gets back together with Conrad. In a completely unrealistic but classically romantic scene, Belly stands on a train and professes her love for Conrad: “I choose you Conrad Fisher, of my own free will.” In the realm of romanticized “meant to be”s, the concept of choice defines any realistic relations. So, allow us our Taylor Swift fantasies, train chasers, and passionate love confessions on beaches. It’s not a crime to enjoy a love story. Jenny Han’s authenticity makes her tales both swoon-worthy and remarkable.
