After becoming a hit sensation almost immediately after the release of the first season, Prime original “The Summer I Turned Pretty” debuted weekly episodes for its third and final season on July 16. With half of the episodes already released, the newest season is all fans could’ve asked for, even with all of the drama and indecisiveness from the main character. And with so much more to see, fans eagerly await the last three episodes to be released on Sept 3, Sept 10 and Sept 17.
Picking up four years later from where season two left off, Belly (Lola Tung) has officially finished her junior year of college. She looks forward to an exciting summer with her boyfriend, Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), in the fictional town of Cousins Beach, where they plan to get married. However, with both of their families against the decision to get married, Jeremiah takes an internship with his dad to stay in his good graces, and Belly spends time in Cousins alone with Jeremiah’s brother, Conrad (Christopher Briney), her first love. As the two reconnect, Belly soon realizes that she still loves Conrad and soon must choose who to be with.
The story has grown from the original plot of the book “We Will Always Have Summer,” adding more screen time and plot lines for different characters, such as Belly’s brother Steven (Sean Kaufman), and her best friend Taylor (Rain Spencer). Despite some slowness in the first two episodes, the pace picked up significantly in episode three. Though some of the subplots are not entirely necessary, they provide a deeper glimpse into characters viewers have known since the first season.
In fact, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” creating nuanced and well-developed characters is something the show does incredibly well; the main character and narrator, Belly, is one of the most complex and intriguing characters in the show.
Belly’s complexity really comes from her big heart, as she cares so much about the people she loves. So much so that she sometimes makes decisions based on — or denies her own feelings off of — what will make those around her happy because she fears losing them. From the very beginning of this season, she gives up bits and pieces of herself to appease those around her, mostly Jeremiah, her fiancé. She gave up going abroad to Paris for her fall semester because she didn’t want to leave Jeremiah by himself. She let Jeremiah and his father Adam take over almost all of the wedding decision planning, thus making her feel as though it wasn’t her special day. Most of all, as viewers saw in episode seven “Last Hurrah,” Belly denied the love she still held for Conrad, thus pushing him away and hurting him because she was about to marry Jeremiah.
The other two captivating characters of this season, with their respective arcs and complexities, are Conrad and Jeremiah. Although brothers, they could not be more different from each other. Jeremiah from the start has been problematic. In the third season alone, his actions have shown that he is not ready for commitment and makes poor decisions without first thinking of the consequences. Episode one “Last Season” and episode two “Last Christmas” gave fans a glimpse of Jeremiah’s character, as they find out he cheated on Belly during their break and didn’t tell her, and that the fight that led up to the said break had a lot to do with his inferiority complex. Much of Jeremiah’s decision-making is based on envy and feeling constantly compared to his older brother.
Then there is Conrad, the older brother, whose character has changed significantly from season one. He had worked on himself, gone to therapy and gotten some space from the other characters. It is clear from episode one that he still loves Belly, and his feelings are also apparent in episode five “Last Dance,” which is narrated by Conrad himself. The whole episode is about the two of them — how Conrad loves Belly and just wants her to be happy — and gives fans a glimpse of Conrad’s character and the difference in how the two brothers are affected by Belly. This distinction between the two brothers is one of the most noteworthy aspects of the show, as it hints to who Belly will eventually end up with by the season finale.
Since the first season was released, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” has grown in popularity, taking over social media platforms. With every new episode released, fans make new edits of the characters, analyze every detail and interaction and theorize about what might happen next.
And while the show is cheesy, the script could use some work and it is obviously made for young adults, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” is one of the best shows on right now. The story is captivating, and after each episode is released, fans are left wanting the rest of the season.
Jocelyn Cosgrove is an Arts & Entertainment Staff Writer for the summer 2025 quarter. She can be reached at jmcosgro@uci.edu.
Edited by June Min and Julia Kremenetsky