‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ season three is a pretty ugly love triangle

By Amelia Morris

Whether you are team Conrad, team Jeremiah or even team Anti-Belly, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” an Amazon Prime original series, has taken audiences all over the world by storm. The series, based on a trilogy of books by the same name, stars Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) as she navigates a love triangle between the two Fisher brothers, Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno). 

Every summer, Belly and her family meet with their family friends, The Fishers, at Cousins Beach. Susanna (Conrad and Jeremiah’s mom) believes Belly will one day end up with one of her sons. This prediction is so influential in Belly’s life that she sets her eyes on Conrad from a young age.

Season one of the series follows Belly as a 16-year-old in the summer after her ‘glow up,’ hence the name. Not only has Belly effectively caught the attention of Conrad but also Jeremiah. Suddenly, it seems, she is the object of a love triangle. 

Season two saw the return of the beloved characters, except for Susannah who passed away. The tensions in the families boil over, raising the stakes of the emotional relationships Belly has with both Jeremiah and Conrad. Throughout the season, Belly’s indecisiveness and mixed signals leaves the brothers in further competition with each other.

Conrad, the older, moody, ex-football player, has always held Belly’s attention. For her, each summer centered around seeing him. But the summer of season three is different. For the first time, Belly finds herself having feelings for Jeremiah, the playful, creative and energetic counterpart to his older brother. The tear between the two Fisher brothers and Belly causes tensions in their friendships and their families.

Season three skipped time, now viewing Belly as she experiences college and a prolonged relationship with Jeremiah. While it is a scramble for the audience to find their footing in the time jumps of the first couple episodes, it was necessary for the arc of the season. 

Season three is exceptional in that it is completely different from the past seasons. It showcases a matured Belly as she navigates an engagement, college, studying abroad and finally, dealing with, and hopefully resolving, this love triangle. 

Each episode packed a punch. In previous seasons I found myself yawning throughout the second season due to pure boredom. Season three did a great job of bringing the audience to major plot points and moving through them just to arrive at another.

Overall, the series captivated audiences through its twists and turns. Although the series is based on the books, it’s a very loose interpretation. The screenwriters make an effort to throw audiences off by completely changing the circumstances of Belly’s relationships with the brothers. In doing so, the writers made it more difficult to predict the final outcome, despite book readers knowing Belly ends up with Conrad.

However, three seasons worth of content may have been too much. “The Summer I Turned Pretty” had several incidents of filler episodes throughout the series. For the most part, that was not the case for season three. I actually enjoyed the old-fashioned way of having to wait a week to watch the next episode, helping me to digest what I watched and build tension toward the final episode.

While I enjoyed the series, I can’t say I highly recommend it. Belly in seasons one and two is almost insufferable because of her lack of forethought. I never found myself supporting her or taking a particular side between the brothers. In fact, the best episodes were when the audience got to view the story through Conrad’s perspective. His inner dialogue easily becomes the highlight of the season. Team ‘Anti-Belly’ for life.

While it seems the summer that lasted a little too long is over, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” has already been approved for a movie at the conclusion of the third season. It is expected to be released in 2027, but has not been confirmed. Maybe audiences will see the Fisher brothers fight for Belly again soon. This isn’t goodbye, just see you next time.

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” is currently streaming on Prime Video.

Amelia Morris is a freshman journalism major and writer for Cedars A&E. She loves reading, writing, being in nature and being with her dogs.
Pictures courtesy of Simon & Schuster.