It’s official, after three summers of heartbreak, love triangles, and growing pains, the teen TV sensation The Summer I Turned Pretty has come to a close. Premiering in June of 2022, The Prime Video series, based on the popular book trilogy by Jenny Han, quickly became a hit for its complicated, and often messy, relationship dynamics. The show revolves around the life of Isabel (Belly) Conklin, played by Lola Tung, as she navigates young adulthood while simultaneously finding herself in a dramatic love triangle with her mother’s best friend’s sons Conrad (played by Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah Fisher (played by Gavin Casalegno). Although the final season provided a much needed resolution to the Belly-Conrad-Jeremiah love triangle, it has also left fans divided over whether the ending truly does justice to its characters.
Throughout the series we see Belly flit from brother to brother. In season one we watch as she seemingly commits to Jeremiah, only to profess her love for Conrad the next morning. Similarly, season two begins with Belly being romantically involved with Conrad, but ends with her “finally” choosing Jeremiah. This indecision, while making for good TV, has annoyed fans, including Sarah Prendergast (’27), because at some point “Belly needs to make up her mind and pick a brother.” As many have remarked, Belly’s struggle to follow her heart, whether the path leads to Jeremiah or Conrad, has deeply hurt the two brothers and their relationship with each other, divides that only deepen in the third season.
At the beginning of the third, and arguably most dramatic season, we learn that Jeremiah and Belly are still together and attending Finch college. However, the cheery relationship between them takes a swift turn when Belly discovers that Jeremiah cheated on her while they were “on a break.” This drastic change in Jeremiah’s character in a way united the previously divided fanbase, convincing most that Conrad is indeed the better choice. Although Jeremiah’s infidelity proved evidence enough for “team Jeremiah” to switch, Belly’s uncertainty is quickly resolved when Jeremiah proposes to her outside of the hospital where her brother was recently admitted following a devastating car accident.
Belly and Jeremiah soon announce to their parents that they plan to get married in just a few short months, and upon discovering this, their families voice their objections. Fans shared these objections, arguing that this quick marriage between two college kids felt unbelievably rushed. The following episodes revolve around wedding planning, trips to craft stores and cake decisions that ultimately get made between Conrad and Belly, not Belly and Jeremiah. As we see Conrad and Belly interact, we see a major shift in Conrad from the sullen boy we got to know throughout the first two seasons to an empathetic and amenable young man. Although a self-proclaimed member of team “anti-Belly,” Bilik “love[d] season three Conrad so much that [she] want[ed] him to be happy,” even if his happiness meant being with Belly.
Soon after, the season escalates, and the night before the wedding Conrad confesses his love to Belly, only to be turned down seconds later. Although Jeremiah never learns of this moment, he still calls off the wedding, on the day of, when he finally comes to terms with the fact that Belly can not fully commit to him because she will always be in love with Conrad. After the wedding is cancelled, Belly decides to move to Paris for a gap year, “finally leaving the Fishers alone and giving them time to heal,” notes Isabella Giraldi (‘27).
In the final three episodes of the season we see Belly evolve as an individual, independent of the pressure of the love triangle she was in. However, Conrad, still irretrievably in love with Belly, sends her letters and eventually decides to fly to Paris to surprise her on her birthday. When Conrad arrives in Paris we see that his connection with Belly is as strong as ever, and at the end of the final episode we finally see them together as a couple for the first time since the beginning of season two. To Bilik and many other fans of the show “seeing Belly and Conrad finally together summed up the show perfectly,”providing resolution to the years of heartbreak between the two.
Although season three of The Summer I Turned Pretty presented the “Bonrad endgame” that fans had hoped for, it left many with lingering questions. Then, on September 17, Jenny Han announced that Belly and Conrad’s love story will continue to play out in a movie, tentatively set to come out in 2026. Hopefully, this movie will continue to expand on the characters that we have come to know and love, providing a much needed resolution to the story that has captured fans’ hearts for the past three summers.