The Summer I Turned Pretty: Sunshine, Heartbreak, and a Lot of Confused Feelings
Calling all rom-com fans with a hankering for sunshine, nostalgia, and a healthy dose of teen angst! Buckle up because we’re headed once again to Cousins Beach—the picture-perfect backdrop of The Summer I Turned Pretty. Based on Jenny Han’s beloved trilogy, the show has all the makings of a summer escape: laughter, heartbreak, tangled relationships, and that hazy warmth that makes you nostalgic for a version of summer that probably never existed.
Season 1: Belly, the Fishers, and a Summer of Self-Discovery
Belly Conklin (played by the effortlessly charming Lola Tung) is our 16-year-old protagonist, coming back to Cousins Beach for another annual getaway with her family and the Fishers—Susannah, practically her second mom, and her two sons: Conrad, the brooding intellectual (Christopher Briney), and Jeremiah, the sunshine in human form (Gavin Casalegno).
This time, things feel different. Belly’s growing up, noticing things she hadn’t before—her changing body, the shift in her friendships, and the confusing thrill of being seen differently by the Fisher boys she grew up with. The season blends summer magic with the messiness of teenage emotions: first love, heartbreak, friendship, and insecurity all wrapped up in golden-hour lighting and beachside nostalgia.
Lola Tung brings a lovely vulnerability to Belly, while Briney and Casalegno make the love triangle surprisingly believable. It’s familiar territory, sure, but handled with charm. It’s fun, light, and even when it gets messy, it’s the kind of mess that feels oddly comforting—like watching a storm from the safety of a beach house.
Season 2: Picking Up the Pieces and Diving Deeper
Season two picks up where the first left off—Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah are now deep in the fallout of their choices. It’s more emotional, more introspective, but also slower in pace. We get glimpses into their grief, especially as Susannah’s absence looms large over everyone. Conrad struggles to process his pain, Jeremiah tries to hold things together, and Belly is left confronting who she is outside of the “summer girl” identity.
But here’s the thing—by Season 2, the charm starts to fray a little. The tension that once felt exciting starts to feel stretched out, and the emotional beats sometimes repeat themselves. Still, there are highlights: Steven and Taylor (Sean Kaufman and Rain Spencer) steal scenes with their grounded chemistry, and the mothers—Laurel and Susannah—remain the emotional anchors of the show.
It’s easy to get swept away in the mood of Cousins Beach—the music, the sunsets, the wistfulness—but there’s also a growing sense that this story might be running in circles.
Season 3: The Summer I (Almost) Stopped Caring
Honestly, amidst my K-drama binge-fest over the last few months, I had completely forgotten about The Summer I Turned Pretty. By the time Season 3 dropped, my taste had shifted. I wasn’t exactly Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah—I was more like Team “Can Everyone Please Make Up Their Minds?”
Somewhere between the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3, I’d lost patience with Belly and the Fisher boys. It’s hard to root for a love story when you’re not too fond of the storyteller. Belly, bless her, is fine—but she’s also kind of exhausting. There’s always someone she’s emotionally tangled with, barely a pause between heartbreaks. And the brothers? Ridiculous. They’re still competing for her affection like it’s a sport, ignoring the emotional carnage left behind.
When the new season opens, Belly’s been dating Jeremiah for four years after rejecting Conrad. She’s older, supposedly wiser—but the emotional immaturity still lingers. Conrad is in med school, finally getting therapy and figuring himself out, while Jeremiah clings to his relationship out of insecurity more than love. When Belly and Conrad cross paths again, their unresolved feelings resurface like waves you thought had settled long ago.
A chaotic engagement, disapproving parents, and another round of “should we/shouldn’t we” later—Belly finds herself realizing what viewers already knew: she never really moved on from Conrad. The ending is almost poetic in its frustration—after years of detours, heartbreaks, and wasted time, Belly and Conrad finally end up together. Jeremiah, now older and wiser, finds someone else and some much-needed peace.
The finale gives closure, but it also leaves a lingering irritation: why did these people take so long to figure out what was glaringly obvious to everyone else?
The Final Splash
If I had to sum up the TSITP experience, I’d say it’s like sipping a glass of lemonade on a hot day—you enjoy it in the moment, even if it’s a little too sweet sometimes. The show is comforting, beautifully shot, and emotionally evocative, but it also overstays its welcome a little. The characters, while relatable at first, start to feel stuck in a loop of indecision and emotional messiness that’s more draining than romantic.
Still, there’s something about Jenny Han’s storytelling that keeps you coming back. Maybe it’s the nostalgia, or maybe it’s that small part of us that still believes in summer love stories. Either way, The Summer I Turned Pretty ends with warmth, closure, and just enough imperfection to feel real.
Would I rewatch it? Maybe on a lazy afternoon. Would I roll my eyes at Belly again? Absolutely. But that’s the beauty of it—it’s messy, familiar, and a little frustrating. Just like summer itself.
Overall I’d rate the series 7.2/10.
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