Editor’s note: This TV series review contains spoilers
The TV series finale of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” aired Sept. 17, with the ending I’ve been waiting years for.
I first read the book series by Jenny Han when I was 15 years old, and it was the first to make me absolutely fall in love with romance books.
While I was thrilled to learn Han would direct the TV version, I was also concerned that, like other adaptations, it wouldn’t measure up to the books or that too many things would be changed. Thankfully, bringing this series to life was everything I didn’t know I needed.
The story centers on Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung), as she experiences heartbreak and love over the course of multiple summers.
Growing up, Belly’s family spent each summer at Cousins Beach with the Fisher family. In essence, it’s a love triangle between Belly and the Fisher brothers, Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney).
Jeremiah is like a playful golden retriever, while Conrad is like an enigmatic, gloomy black cat. Throughout the series fans choose between “Team Bonrad,” (Belly and Conrad) or “Team Jelly,” (Belly and Jeremiah).
Throughout its three seasons, I am glad the show didn’t just center around Belly choosing a brother. It also showed how people deal with grief and finding yourself after losing everything.
When Conrad and Jeremiah’s mother, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), passes away from cancer, the theme of grief is evident throughout the show. Each character deals with Susannah’s death differently, and we see how badly they each were affected.
Belly promised Savannah to take care of Conrad and Jeremiah. Feeling so much pressure to keep the family intact, she struggled being the center of conflict between them.
Although I knew what to expect from the books, I grew frustrated with Belly’s character and watching her relationship with Jeremiah. I would end up standing in front of the TV yelling at Belly (as if she could hear me) for being blind to her codependent, trauma-bonded relationship with him. They were together because they thought it was what Susannah wanted, and they didn’t want to be alone to deal with the grief.
Conrad’s life was what I like to call a tragedy. No matter what he does, the love he has for Belly is irresistible. It was torture watching him pine over her while she almost married his brother.
One of my favorite lines that Briney delivered, “I’ve changed everything about myself and the one thing that never changes is that I love you.”
Eventually, Belly lets her walls fall. They were able to have conversations that needed to happen in order for Belly to accept that she would always love Conrad, and he would always love her. Their conversations helped Belly heal where she was struggling to deal with the mistakes she made in grief and the people she hurt.
The ending was everything that I could have wanted. There were so many special scenes between Conrad and Belly that we hadn’t gotten since Season 1.
The last 40 minutes of the final episode, where Belly and Conrad are finally together, is the closest I’ve ever been to a religious experience.
Briney and Tung performed their roles perfectly. There were so many moments between them where no words were spoken, just the eyes. Their passion, connection and love felt so real, especially in the last episode.
The cinematography was done so well throughout the show. I especially enjoyed the parallels in the last episode that depict their infinite love, as well as how Conrad sees Belly: radiant, free-spirited and stunning.
Belly was so much more likeable when she wasn’t with Jeremiah. She finally came into her own when she moved to Paris, where we were able to see her in a whole new light. She was more confident and seemed so happy.
I will probably never watch this show all the way through again because I can’t stand watching Belly and Jeremiah together, but the ending made every cringy moment worth it.
Few details have been released, but luckily, Han announced there will be a ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ movie. I just hope that she will give us even more of Belly and Conrad together, because one short episode of them finally being happy was not enough.
