On September 17th, the massively popular show The Summer I Turned Pretty released its whirlwind finale on the streaming platform Prime. Viewers were left shocked and satisfied with the show’s ending, and were delighted to hear the announcement of a movie! Now that season 3 has been fully released, we can digest the show as a whole, and acknowledge what the season did right, and what the season could’ve improved on.
The season opens with Belly, the show’s main character, arriving at the fictional school ‘Finch College.’ She says that the college has everything she wants, but it’s not hard for the viewers to read between the lines and realize that the main reason she chose the school is because that’s where her boyfriend, Jeremiah, is attending. I thought this detail perfectly showed Belly’s character development. In the earlier seasons, she had aspirations to go to higher ranked schools. While we don’t know exactly where Finch falls on the prestige scale, the viewer can assume it’s not exactly on the Ivy level, as Jeremiah, the all-star party boy, made it in. This perfectly shows that after Susannah’s death, Belly became more reliant on her loved ones, and she now clings to Jeremiah so much that she based her college choice off of him.
Another thing I think the show did right was the Jeremiah cheating scandal. After a 2 year time skip, the episode shows Belly and Jeremiah attending a party. Belly overhears a sorority girl, Lacy, talking to her friends about how she and Jeremiah hooked up during a spring break trip to Cabo after Belly and Jeremiah had an argument. This rightfully sets Belly off, and she confronts Jeremiah and even slaps him! The two break up, but reunite and get engaged after Belly’s brother gets in a car accident. While many people thought Belly shouldn’t have let Jeremiah back into her life so easily, I like how instantaneous their reunification was. It shows that Jeremiah took advantage of her at a vulnerable moment, and perfectly displays why their relationship won’t last.
While all of this drama is occurring, we get scenes of Conrad, Jeremiah’s older brother and Belly’s former boyfriend, studying at Stanford Medical School. I think this perfectly contrasts with Jeremiah. While Jeremiah is partying and missing emails about required classes he has to take in order to graduate, Conrad is studying to become a doctor. It further proves why Jeremiah isn’t the right fit for Belly, because while Belly did base her college choice off of Jeremiah, she still has some of her ambition intact, as shown by her applying to a study abroad program in Paris. Conrad would perfectly match her goal oriented personality, unlike Jeremiah, who is rather unsure about his future.
Throughout the season, Belly and Jeremiah (or really just Belly) plan their wedding. The way in which Belly was left alone to make decisions for their shared occasion was perfectly done. It showed that Jeremiah disregarded her feelings to impress his dad at work, while Belly was left to deal with the hardships of planning such a big event on a tight budget. It’s even worse, because the wedding was Jeremiah’s idea in the first place.
Belly having to navigate the wedding planning process alone would’ve been enough to show the viewers how Jeremiah isn’t a good match, but the show decided to take it even further by having Conrad help Belly. Through cute banter and domestic tasks like shopping at Michael’s, the viewer can perfectly understand that Conrad is a much better match for Belly. This was an amazing idea, as it sets up what’s to come later in the season.
The night before the wedding, Belly and Jeremiah hit downtown Cousins Beach for their bachelorette/bachelor parties. When Jeremiah gets super drunk and throws up in the bathroom, his friend from his frat exclaims that Jeremiah was just as drunk when he hooked up with Lacy. This is how Conrad finds out about Jeremiah’s betrayal, and leaves the party to gather his thoughts on the beach. Belly, who was supposed to be meeting Jeremiah, shows up at the same beach, and Conrad tells Belly about her husband-to-be cheating. But Belly already knows this, which shocks Conrad, and he angrily tells her that he never thought she was the kind of girl to take stuff like that from a guy. The two argue, and Conrad confesses that he’s still in love with her. Belly yells at him, and runs away crying. I think this scene was perfectly done, as it affirms the notion that Belly has changed for the worse during her relationship with Jeremiah. It was also super satisfying to see Conrad confess his love after so long of watching him yearn for Belly. The actors, Lola Tung and Christopher Brinley, also did an amazing job with this scene, and perfectly portrayed the high stake emotions the characters were feeling.
The entire episode of the wedding was also amazingly executed. When Jeremiah runs off after finding out Conrad confessed his love to Belly, the viewer can just feel the anxiety of the situation. Belly is sitting at the vanity, doing her makeup, panicked that her fiance will leave her stranded at the altar. The stress is suffocating, and visceral to the point where the viewer feels like they themselves are being abandoned by their spouse. The wedding gets cancelled, ending Jeremiah’s and Belly’s relationship. The dramatics of the situation were once again perfectly shown, and seeing the relationship end was like taking a breath of fresh air. The episode concludes with Belly in the airport, buying a ticket to Paris.
In the final episodes, Belly is living out her dreams in Paris. Well, actually, not quite. Because Belly gave up her spot in the study abroad program, she is completely on her own to pay her way through the foreign country. She works two under-the-table jobs, lives with roommates that aren’t particularly kind, and struggles with her French. I think this was perfectly executed, because you would expect in this kind of show for everything to be perfect after she leaves the drama behind in America. But, it’s a lot more accurate to the reality of living in a foreign country at the age of 21, and having to work your way up to earn your place.
In the finale, Conrad goes to Brussels for a Medical conference, and decides to buy a ticket to Paris so he can surprise Belly. After an awkward reunion, the two quickly pick up where they left off, and spend the day doing touristy activities. I loved the opportunity to see Belly and Conrad doing things that aren’t arguing, and the viewer could perfectly picture the two as a couple.
And, after a lifetime of yearning and hoping, Belly finally confesses her love to Conrad. On a train, might I add. Some may think the trope of confessing your love in an airport (well, in this case, a train station) is generic and overdone, but I thought it perfectly suited the vibe of the situation, and was overall just a cute scene to watch. The final scene of the show is Belly and Conrad driving through Cousins, and arriving at their beach house, as Scott Street by Phoebe Bridgers croons in the background. The visuals and music choice of the scene were just a massive dose of serotonin, and it was a fittingly emotional way to end the show.
As much as I liked this season, I do have some criticisms. First of all, I think the side plot of Taylor, Belly’s best friend, trying to help her mother save her salon was boring and unnecessary. Taylor’s mom was never a character in the show before, so it was a weird choice to just randomly include her in the final season.
I also think the finale should’ve focused more on Belly and Conrad. After all, they are the main couple of the show. Whenever it would flash from Belly and Conrad in Paris to Jeremiah becoming a TikTok chef, I would groan and exclaim, “I don’t care about this!”
I think in general the main issue with season 3 was the lackluster side plots, but, I can forgive that when the main plot was amazingly done! The ending felt satisfying, and it definitely made me excited for the movie that’s on its way. In my personal opinion, this season was the best out of the three, and I hope the movie will be just as good!