For most of us, summer officially ended on August 27 when school began. But for the avid viewers of The Summer I Turned Pretty, summer was not over until Jenny Han said so — and that was three weeks later, on September 17. After a season of anticipatory Wednesdays, our favorite summer show has come to an end — for now. The third season of The Summer I Turned Pretty has been a fan favorite watch, with over 25 million viewers in its first week on Prime Video. The first two seasons date all the way back to 2022. Before that, the characters of Cousins Beach could be found in one place only: the books written by Jenny Han, author of The Summer I Turned Pretty, It’s Not Summer Without You, and We’ll Always Have Summer. (Warning… spoilers ahead!)
Our main character, Isabel “Belly” Conklin, has made some questionable decisions throughout the past three seasons, with the bulk of them taking place in the final one. But none of them compare to the mistake she made in the third season’s second episode, in which she made the rash decision of saying yes to Jeremiah Fisher’s marriage proposal. Thankfully, we’re glad to say that Belly’s series of terrible ideas has finally come to an end.
Throughout the season, Belly experiences a variety of memorable moments — from planning her wedding with Jeremiah to running off to Paris right after — and even getting a bob cut while she was at it! The finale was a good mix of the comforting, predictable nature of the show, mixed with some of its spontaneous nature: specifically with Conrad’s presence in Paris, and the rejection that shortly followed after.
Since we have been rooting for “Team Conrad” from the beginning, we are happy to say that the outcome of the show ended in our favor. But with this being said, there are some things that we don’t agree with, like the time it took for Belly to finally realize what was right in front of her all along. Belly and Conrad should’ve had more time to properly build their relationship into what it truly was: in many ways it was rushed, and the couple did not receive the screen time they deserved. The time they spent together in the summer house during Christmas, as well as the weeks before the wedding seemed as though they were leading to an obvious outcome. As readers of the books, we also noticed that many important details were left out from the show, such as Susannah’s letters to Belly, or Belly and Conrad’s epic wedding scene. We would have loved to see more parallels between the story in the books and on the show.
One thing that all viewers can agree upon, whether Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah, is that the most iconic relationship in the show was actually not one of Belly’s. Rather, it is between Belly’s older brother, Steven, and her lifelong best friend, Taylor Jewel. We are delighted with the final pairings — everyone has met their perfect match! Steven and Taylor (#staylor), who shared a fiery ending in Cousins and are beginning a new life in San Francisco; Jeremiah and Denise, the embodiment of enemies to lovers; and of course, the spectacular Conrad and Belly.
One significant aspect of the show that we noticed was the common theme of character development. In the season finale, Jeremiah takes the (raspberry) cake (iykyk) as the most improved character. Like Belly, he has faced his ups and downs, but had a hard time bouncing back from low moments. Almost all those who had previously rooted for Jeremiah changed their minds at the start of the most recent season. He forgot to take his core classes at school, was cut off from his father, left to stay at his friends house, and proposed to his girlfriend as a last resort to keep her from leaving him — when he had practically cheated on her just a few weeks prior! However, with the help of his friends and family, he learned that he didn’t need to fit in the shoes of his perfect older brother. After his failed wedding, we noticed that Jeremiah underwent a full character transition. We appreciated his acknowledgment for not only being a bad friend, but for being a disloyal partner to Belly. He only truly found himself in the last episode, cooking his favorite foods with his very favorite people and developing a relationship with one of his former coworkers, Denise. Most of all, everyone felt the connection between Jeremiah and his father when they finally rekindled, and it was exactly what he needed after experiencing a series of difficult events.
The show has become a phenomenon for people all over the country, breaching out from its teenage demographic to a wider audience. Our social media feeds are filled with countless edits of the beloved Belly Conklin as well as her main love interests throughout the series, Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher, but we can’t say we have any complaints about these videos. While the show may have had its flaws, it certainly delivered what it needed to — a satisfying end to the most eventful summer we could have asked for. But, luckily, with the new announcement of The Summer I Turned Pretty movie, we do not have to say goodbye to our favorite characters from Cousins Beach just yet!
