The Summer I Turned Pretty just got ringed and entered its villain era

India Today

24-07-2025

If you, like the rest of us, are emotionally invested internet dwellers, tuned into the latest episode of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty', chances are you haven't stopped screaming into the void since. And if you haven't watched it yet? Firstly, why are you living under a rock? Secondly, brace yourself, because things went from beachy to brutal faster than Jeremiah's second proposal.advertisementAnd if you're sitting there wondering what all the chatter is about, allow me to catch you up. 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' is a hit Prime Video series based on Jenny Han's novel of the same name. The show follows Belly, a teenager trapped in a love triangle with the Fisher brothers, the quiet, brooding Conrad, and the sunshine-coded Jeremiah. The latest episode dropped on July 23, and it detonated the fandom. Right. Now let's talk about why everyone's losing it. Spoiler alert, because unprocessed drama needs context.
The episode opens mid-chaos, his first proposal still echoing awkwardly in the air, no ring in sight, no grand gesture, no actual logic. Just Jeremiah being Jeremiah. Honestly, it felt less like a proposal and more like he remembered the word 'marriage' existed and decided to toss it out like a Frisbee.But then, at the next moment, Jeremiah came up armed with a ring. Although calling it a ring feels incredibly generous. It looked like it had been thrifted from a 13-year-old's jewellery box or panic-bought during a Shein flash sale titled 'Last-Minute Weddings for People With No Taste.'The ring in question:
(Still from The Summer I Turned Pretty)
Now, while Jeremiah's up here fumbling his way through romantic milestones like he's in badly written Wattpad fiction, everyone else is looking around like, 'Is this real? Are we being pranked?' Laurel, Belly's mother, was visibly two seconds away from pulling the fire alarm just to stop this madness. Her disapproval wasn't subtle, it was practically a character of its own. We love a mother who senses danger and says, 'Absolutely not, not on my watch.'But let's address the moment. The one that turned the entire fandom into a sobbing, screaming, emotionally devastated mess, the one that broke the internet's soul and Conrad Fisher in the same breath.When Conrad finds out about the engagement, he doesn't speak. He doesn't blink. He doesn't breathe. Man goes straight into an existential crisis in real time. Like, full-on, 'is this real life or am I hallucinating this horror in real time' mode. You could see the heartbreak travel from his brain to his chest like a physical injury. Like someone took a sledgehammer to his soul.
(Still from the show)
If heartbreak, disgust, and anger formed a boy band, Conrad would be the lead singer, centre stage, eyeliner smudged.He couldn't process the moment. And once everyone left the restaurant, he stepped out like a man who'd just watched his life implode in slow motion. It had 'love of my life is marrying my brother, and I've officially entered my villain origin story'-energy written all over it.And if you've ever heard Taylor Swift's 'Right Where You Left Me', you know the devastation. He was living that line: 'Help, I'm still at the restaurant, still sitting in the corner I haunt.' Conrad was the lyric. Taylor wrote it for him. And I swear, in that one walk, Team Jeremiah lost half their members. Conrad didn't even say anything. He just looked like he'd been hit by a truck made of regret and emotional repression, and we all collectively said, 'Yeah, that's my man.'advertisementBecause a man who yearns? Who hurts quietly? Who tries to fix himself to be better for you? That man is dangerous. And I mean that in the most swoon-worthy, ruin-your-life kind of way.Meanwhile, Team Conrad fans are in full force, flooding TikTok with edits, writing dramatic fan essays, and tweeting like it's a full-time job. Emotional growth? Check. Tragic backstory? Double check. Working on himself because he wants to be better for her? Triple check. The internet is in mourning with him.And Team Jeremiah fans? They're out here trying to justify that proposal to trees, because frankly, no one else is listening. What's the defence, exactly? That he smiled through the chaos? That he tried? That effort is cute until you remember he cheated, is slower than dial-up internet, and he proposed with what looked like a cursed ring from a forgotten Etsy shop.To quote the collective mood of Jeremiah in a Sabrina Carpenter song, he is 'stupid, slow, useless, oh wait, there's a cuter word for it, MANCHILD'. And he can't be anyone's choice, and the internet agrees.advertisementPersonally, my editor and I agree that Belly needs therapy. Not the 'light a candle and journal it out' kind. No. She needs certified, billable hours, dig-through-your-attachment-issues therapy. Immediately. Someone hand this girl a therapist, a timeline of red flags, and a playlist titled 'What Was I Thinking?'As for what's coming next? No one knows. Will she choose the right brother? Will she finally listen to Laurel? Will someone throw that ring into the sea where it belongs? Unclear. But one thing's certain, if Belly ends this season making the wrong decision, we should all agree to never speak of it again. Ever.Until next week, may your heartbreaks be poetic, your rings not look like party favours, and your love interests come with actual emotional intelligence. The first three episodes of Season 3 are available to stream on Prime Video. The season finale of the show is scheduled to release on September 17.- Ends