The Big Picture
- The love triangle between Belly, Conrad, and Jeremiah is unlikely to end soon on The Summer I Turned Pretty, as Belly can’t decide who she wants to be with.
- Conrad’s reaction to catching Belly and Jeremiah kissing will likely have a significant impact on their summer plans at Cousins Beach.
- The potential for more conflict arises with the introduction of other characters to the beach house, but hopefully, there will be warmth and friendship by the end of Season 3.
Here’s the thing: jump scares aren’t just relegated to horror films and thrillers—it turns out they can occur in even the most benign situations, like walking out of your final exams in college. It was actually tough not to scream in the last five seconds of Season 2 of The Summer I Turned Pretty, as Conrad’s (Christopher Briney) reaction to catching his younger brother, Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno), and Belly (Lola Tung), kissing outside of his final exam will be etched into our minds forever. And that’s without even mentioning the fact that it will definitely be determining the overall flow of their upcoming summer together at Cousins Beach. Well, that is if the crew even decides to stick together after what just went down.
If even one, tiny thing is off within the group of Conrad, Jeremiah, Belly, and Steven (Sean Kaufman), it starts an immediate ripple effect that trickles its way throughout every single person, and that’s just with a smaller conflict: we’re dealing with the whole enchilada right here, so the dynamic is definitely about to be thrown off its axis after what happened with our favorite love triangle in the finale.
Will This Love Triangle Ever Die?
Judging by the way things have been going for two whole seasons, it’s safe to say that, no, this love triangle isn’t likely to die out anytime soon. The entire thing feeds off itself in some sort of sick and twisted cycle, and at the heart of it is Belly, who will probably never be able to figure out who she ultimately wants to be with. Sure, she’s only 16, but she’s treating this whole situation like she’s deciding who her actual future husband is going to be.
But regardless of whatever Belly’s intentions really are, she’s the one fueling the entire cycle, because she’s in a perpetual state of back-and-forth; in short, this is a classic Goldilocks situation. Conrad was too moody, but Jeremiah was too cheerful. Blinded by Conrad’s gorgeousness, Belly forgot just how hot Jeremiah was, putting him at the top of the tier. But then, Conrad’s mood jumped right back into his classic, sweet Conrad way, giving him just enough oomph to put him over the top in Belly’s eyes. And, of course, throughout it all was the fact that Conrad had always been her number one, even though Jeremiah had made her question her feelings more recently. Basically, Belly couldn’t make up her mind, but when she was finally given the opportunity to live out that childhood dream of hers with Conrad, she took it.
Let’s pretend that Belly does decide to choose Jeremiah at the beginning of Season 3: if Conrad has a negative reaction (and judging by the fact that it seemed like he was planning on confessing that he still had feelings to Belly, it’s likely to be a negative reaction), then it’s going to make Belly question whether or not she actually made the right decision. And if it doesn’t make Belly question her decision fully, then it’ll certainly keep her residual feelings for Conrad in the background: attraction to someone else’s attraction for you is a pretty tough thing to break free of.
A Rocky Summer Waits Ahead
Being that the crew is just (successfully) coming out of a major battle with Conrad and Jeremiah’s aunt. Julia (Kyra Sedgwick), for ownership of the house at Cousins Beach, the only thing that was standing in front of their first summer there without their mother, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), was Conrad’s final exam. Walking out of his exam, it’s likely that Conrad felt like he was finally free from Brown University, able to (hopefully) move onto Stanford University in the fall, with the entire summer ahead to relax and possibly restart his relationship with Belly. There’s nothing like seeing your brother making out with your ex-girlfriend to throw the wrench of all wrenches into your summer plans, and this one definitely takes the cake.
At this point, it would be shocking if Conrad didn’t have a reaction to this moment, so we should definitely expect something from him, though time will only tell just how nuclear his explosion will be. Technically, he could just shrug it off and claim to be fine with Belly and Jeremiah being together; after all, being moody and quiet is the Conrad way to handle uncomfortable or upsetting situations. Either way, it’s tough to believe that the moment between Belly and Jeremiah will scare Conrad off from the beach house altogether for the summer. It’s been a rough time for everyone after experiencing the loss of Susannah, and not gathering at Cousins would feel almost wrong at this point.
With Laurel (Jackie Chung) likely overseeing all the kids at the beach house, she’ll want to make their first summer there without Susannah be a positive one, so perhaps her presence could cool things down for the kids if things get too out of hand. Let’s also not forget that Julia and her child, Skye (Elsie Fisher), were also given open invites to the beach house, which means it could get a little crowded over there, and that’s without even mentioning Taylor (Rain Spencer) and Cameron (David Iacono), who are bound to be joining everyone at some point. A full house means the potential for more conflict, though it also represents warmth and togetherness, which is hopefully more on point with where things end up for the group by the end of Season 3.
With Season 2 being a bit of a complicated mish-mash of the past and present, it’ll be nice to (hopefully) get back on pace with the present for Season 3 and kick things off with the moment that Conrad saw Belly and Jeremiah after his exam. While his reaction might initially set the tone for how the season begins, it’s up to the way Belly handles the entire situation that will determine just how smooth or rocky their summer at Cousins will end up being.
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Khushi Patel is a science fiction author who lives in Austin, Texas. She has published three novels, and her work has been praised for its originality and imagination. Khushi is a graduate of Rice University, and she has worked as a software engineer. She is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and her books have been nominated for several awards.
