'The Summer I Turned Pretty' Faces 1 Big Dilemma In Its New Season

Yahoo

5 days ago

We're deep into the 'magical months between June and August,' which can only mean one thing: It's finally time to return to Cousins Beach for the third and final season of Prime Video's hotly anticipated 'The Summer I Turned Pretty.'
The teen TV series is based on Jenny Han's bestselling YA series of the same name, and it depicts the coming-of-age journey of a girl named Belly (Lola Tung) who has spent every summer of her life at the beach house of her mom's best friend, Susannah Fisher (Rachel Blanchard).
The series starts the summer Belly turns 16 and begins to 'bloom.' That summer, she also becomes caught in a love triangle with Susannah's boys: Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno). Conrad is the boy Belly has always loved who finally wants her, and Jeremiah is Belly's best friend, who actually lets her love him.
Their heated love triangle perfectly conjures the adolescent feelings of falling in love for the first time and pining for someone you're not supposed to want. The intensity of the emotionally charged moments that Belly shares with both boys has led fans to proclaim fierce loyalties to Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah, and has also spawned countless TikTok videos.
It's this nostalgic yet timely take on growing up that has catapulted 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' from a Gen Z teen drama to a hit show with a multigenerational audience, resonating especially with millennials.
During the second season, Belly is finally forced to make a decision between Conrad and Jeremiah. Spoiler alert: She chooses Jeremiah, and after two long years, the show has finally returned for its last 11 episodes to show how that decision will play out over time.
While the books, which were originally published between 2009 and 2011, have been updated to take place in today's world, the show's largest plot points have historically been faithful to the trilogy, and each season has covered the storylines of each book. That means Season 3 was expected to pick up with Belly at college, and it does.
The first two episodes, 'Last Season' and 'Last Christmas,' dropped Wednesday.
'Last Season' begins with Belly driving to Finch University for her first semester of college. Instead of summer, she's looking forward to the school year because she'll finally be at the same place as her soul mate, Jeremiah, whom she wants 'for all seasons, not just summer.'
True to this sentiment, the first two episodes dive into what 'all seasons' looks like. Time jumps ahead to the end of Belly's junior year of college. Jeremiah is about to graduate, and they are finally supposed to reunite with Conrad at the dedication ceremony for Susannah's memorial garden. Conrad has been across the country finishing his first year at Stanford Medical School.
Fans, especially those on Team Conrad, who are looking forward to those Cousin Beach moments at the summer house may be disappointed by how much space the show gives Belly and Jeremiah at college. Two episodes seem like a lot when there are only 11 left. Fans on Team Jeremiah may also be disappointed that there weren't more flashbacks to the development of his relationship with Belly before she joined him at Finch.
However, for fans who've read the book, it's clear that these episodes are being used to tee up the major storylines of the trilogy while changing aspects that seem irrelevant or could unintentionally evoke the culture wars of today.
The time lag between the books and show has given Han, who is a showrunner for the series, the unique opportunity to modernize and depoliticize her original storylines in a way that feels like Taylor Swift rewriting the lyrics of 'Better Than Revenge' for the 'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' album to avoid slut-shaming.
For example, in the third book, 'We'll Always Have Summer,' Belly is still a virgin. Today, this could be construed as supporting purity culture, which is likely why the show negates the virginity issue entirely. Belly has sex with Conrad in Season 2 and is in bed with Jeremiah in the opening minutes of Season 3. Similarly, Han creates a context for Belly and Jeremiah's engagement that is more nuanced so as not to tread into conservative discourse.
There are also smaller changes that alter the tone of the original novel. For example, in the book, Belly worries about gaining the 'freshman 15,' but there is no mention of her weight in the show. The exclusion of this minor subplot feels like an intentional choice that makes the show more body-positive than the book.
Other small changes to the story are used to create more Easter eggs for the show's eagle-eyed fans and heighten the emotions of the love triangle. One such moment that has already become a fan-favorite online occurs during a sentimental flashback to Belly's accidental run-in with Conrad at Christmas when he leaves an incomplete crossword puzzle for her. The unexpected note and erased letters are sure to have Team Conrad swooning.
this is the most brilliant thing jenny han has ever done. not only did she shout out p.s. i still love you, but conrad clearly erasing the word "still" and belly filling it back in. this is exceptional writing. #thesummeriturnedprettypic.twitter.com/6DLWtpLREe
— bree ❀ tsitp spoilers (@chappellofliv) July 16, 2025
However, no matter how big or small, none of these changes alter the three main characters' paths — at least, not yet.
Without spoiling anything, the biggest impacts to the plot occur in the storylines that have been expanded for Belly's best friend, Taylor (Rain Spencer), and her brother, Steven (Sean Kaufman). Taylor is at Finch with Belly and Jeremiah, and Steven is working for Conrad and Jeremiah's dad, Adam (Tom Everett Scott). Belly and Seven's mom, Laurel (Jackie Chung) and dad, John (Colin Ferguson), are also given the beginning of their own storyline.
Overall, if these episodes can be trusted as a good indicator of what's to come, it looks like this season is going to stick pretty closely to the books to maintain the essence of Belly's story even though it's expanding the storylines of the secondary characters.
However, this execution may feel less perfect than the series' first two seasons. Based on the first two episodes, the show is going to have the same problem that all teen shows eventually encounter: the college years. How does a coming-of-age story transition from the universal angst of the teen years into the almost-adult years of one's early 20s without losing the nostalgic elements that made the original high school seasons so great?
For 'The Summer I Turned Pretty,' I think the answer lies in the summer house. In the same way that summer ties many of us to the most carefree days of our youth, I'm hopeful that next week's episode will take us back to Cousins Beach and the elements of the show that make it shine.
But, at the same time, I wonder if the storyline has the stamina for nine more weeks of weekly releases. Because it's an adaptation that some fans have spent more than a decade waiting to see onscreen, will every episode feel like a disappointment when it's only giving pieces of an anticipated whole? Is the plot going to be different enough to keep viewers engaged on both sides of Team Jeremiah and Team Conrad? Will the show be able to use summer magic to solve the 20s problem that bogs down most teen shows?
Only two months will tell.
Episodes of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' will drop weekly on Wednesdays on Prime Video at 3 a.m. ET.