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Belly chooses…

Are you Team Conrad or Team Jeremiah? This is the big question echoing in every household, both young and old, with the recent premiere of the third and final season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” Starring Lola Tung, Christopher Briney, Gavin Casalegno, Sean Kauffman and Rain Spencer, they reprise their lead roles of Belly, Conrad, Jeremiah, Steven and Taylor respectively, for another season of plot twists, redemption, love triangles and most of all:  drama.

As established in previous seasons, Belly is in a love triangle with the Fisher boys, Conrad and Jeremiah, and is torn between which brother to choose. In the first season, we see her choose Conrad, while in the second season, she picks Jeremiah. With the third season, their relationship is further explored through the many tear-jerking moments and major twists and turns that are set to alter the course of the Jelly train.

Similarly, Jeremiah’s character arc was distorted, and although he was established to be a bisexual character in the middle of Season 1, his identity was rarely ever brought up again in both Season 2 and Season 3, making the producer’s decision to leave that crucial part of his identity as simply a plot device, and showing laziness in going forward with the story created for him. Not only that, but there were times when his chemistry with Belly was forced to justify her reason to continue being with him, instead of staying with Conrad, like in Season 1. The use of camera angles really emphasized the look on her face every time Jeremiah came close to her, compared to her true love, Conrad. Specifically, his intimate scenes with her appeared very artificial and unrealistic even for a show, as he seemed to be the only one initiating it, and was clearly forcing Belly to do something she didn’t want to do at the moment. Though in the grand scheme of things this may not seem like a big deal, in real-life there are tons of people who have unfortunately dealt with situations where they were forced to be intimate with someone, and the gross misinterpretation of the interpersonal dynamics portrayed via Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship didn’t do much justice to the raw, personal feelings that many people may have had to deal with when watching certain scenes of the show. For this reason, this gradually turned into a recurring pattern in their scenes together, making their on-screen relationship hard to watch at times.

On a different note, the interests or inner desires of some characters are rarely explored outside of the love triangle, making them very one-dimensional at times. For example, with Conrad, we see that he was working in medicine and was fired due to his mental health at the time, but after those scenes take place, there is no mention of it ever again. Even for Belly, we see her make several life-changing decisions regarding her future, allowing viewers to see some sort of immaturity and impracticality at times from her as she often makes snap judgments without thinking of the consequences it may have on the people around her and even on herself. However, we don’t know the exact reason why she does what she does.

As the episodes progress, though, the producer manages to pick up the pace for Belly’s character by fleshing out certain parts of her character. Over the past seasons, we have seen her grow from a strong woman to someone who was often codependent on others to gain her share of happiness. Now, she is living for others and not herself, and by highlighting this aspect of her character, it allows us to see the reality behind her actions and thoughts, especially in the moments where her heart was betraying what she was actively thinking. This is not to say she’s perfect or is the best character in the show, as there still are times when her decisions to act impulsively are more based on half-baked feelings. 

With the author of the book, Jenny Han, taking over production for most of this season, as the episodes progressed, the show’s quality increased over time. Voiceovers of main characters like Conrad and Belly in specific episodes amplified the intensity of each scene they had together. There were multiple instances when you could feel the intensity of their love for each other, especially when Conrad dealt with his surfing accident and Belly took care of him, like in the books. Also, the well-thought-out use of different lighting when having Belly/Jeremiah together vs Belly/Conrad together was very symbolically intriguing. The brighter colors were often associated with Conrad, and the darker, more shadow-filled colors were used for Jeremiah to illustrate how he’s always second to his older brother and lacks the endearing “it-factor” that Conrad has. 

Compared to the books, every character in the show has been given some sort of alternate storyline. For instance, Steven and Taylor’s relationship wasn’t explored in the books, but in the show, it played a huge role in the making of Season 3. This allowed us to see who they were beyond their allocated role in the storyline as just the best friend and brother, respectively. However, due to this, the creators of the show seem to put a lesser focus on the backstories and inner monologues of pivotal characters like Conrad and Belly, as they were often reduced or removed, especially in crucial scene translations like the infamous peach scene and the big reveal at the beach. In doing so, these scenes lacked the special interpersonal nature of their emotional state of mind, and almost removed the magic and feeling of yearning seen from both sides.

Drawing parallels between Conrad and Belly’s relationship with the plot of the 1954 movie “Sabrina” starring Audrey Hepburn, and the relationship portrayed between Taylor and her mom, Lucinda, the smart parallels made between both parties were key to understanding the inner motivation behind the sacrifices both Taylor and Conrad made for the person they loved. For example, Conrad left Belly and let her be with Jeremiah to keep her happy, and Taylor declined a life-altering opportunity to help support her mom with her hair salon and also try to pay off her debts. In addition, the show resembles the plot of  “Sabrina,” revolving around a similar storyline of the main character choosing between two brothers. In fact, their covers share huge similarities with the Season 3 poster, further cementing who the endgame may be for Belly in this last and final season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty.”

In the same vein, the budget for music for the show is unknown; however, with most of the show featuring big-name artists like Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, it is immensely hefty. Most of the songs they ended up using moved the story forward, evoking special feelings in the process. The best example was found in Season 3, Episode 9, where Taylor Swift’s song, “How Did It End?” was playing in the background as Belly started her new future in the eye, symbolizing the growth she’s had but also illustrating the things she has lost along the way, including her first and second love. At the same time, there were instances where the trendy songs the creators chose often didn’t fit the premise, as they were either too strong or irrelevant to the scene occurring. For instance, the use of “Lacy” by Olivia Rodrigo seemed too on the nose for the scene it was being used in, as it replaced important dialogue that could have occurred between two major characters when drama started between them for valid reasons. It also made the pacing and sequencing of some scenes slower than others, almost seeming like a musical at some point, with the music being more of a crutch than a background aid to amplify scenes.

 Overall, though the production of the show was mostly good with major plot twists and drama, it had the potential to grow into a better finale if the producers changed the way certain elements of the show were portrayed from the book to the screen, as some events were displayed differently from the originals.

While certain moments of the season accurately captured the intensity and emotional weight of the books, some of the choices made by some of the main characters can leave you frustrated, especially the events towards the end of the season. 

If you haven’t read the books, the new season may be an opportunity for you to go in with a fresh perspective, but fans who want an adaption closer to the books will be sorely disappointed as most of the last few episodes of the season have been up to interpretation as the books end on a time jump where Belly makes her final choices, while in the show there is a lot of self-exploration and other dialogue going on which does stretch out for quite a long time. 

As an alternative to the series that still has a similar love-triangle trope but without a ridiculous overdose of drama, I highly recommend looking into “My Life with the Walter Boys” on Netflix.