Lola Tung, The Summer I Turned Pretty

Lola Tung, The Summer I Turned Pretty

Jesse Peretz/Prime

[Warning: The following contains spoilers for the series finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty. Read at your own risk!]

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that when a novel is adapted for the screen, the book is almost always better. But what happens when it’s not? Well, as The Summer I Turned Pretty proves, that’s when things get really interesting. No disrespect to Jenny Han‘s beloved literary trilogy — it’s sweet and the perfect fit for its intended romance-loving YA demo. 

But the tweaks made to those novels for the Prime Video adaptation (Han’s the showrunner, so it’s not like these changes are coming without her approval) from the very beginning have not only opened up the story of Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) and her angst over loving brothers Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) Fisher to a wider audience, but they’ve deepened the story by expanding the world — if viewers only knew how non-existent Steven (Sean Kaufman), Taylor (Rain Spencer), and even Laurel (Jackie Chung) are in the novels compared to their onscreen counterparts — and offering a more nuanced take on what’s really at the heart of the drama at Cousins Beach. And more specifically, it’s the two major changes made to the third novel, We’ll Always Have Summer, that allows the series to grow beyond its YA roots and give these characters a much more satisfying sendoff than the novels offered. 

Listen, it was always going to be Belly and Conrad in the end. It was obvious in the novels and even more so in the TV series. But just because the ending is obvious, doesn’t mean Belly and Conrad don’t have to earn their happily ever after. The series, thankfully, makes them earn it. In the third and final novel, the main action ends with Belly and Jere calling off the wedding that was doomed from the jump, and then we get a short epilogue that mentions Belly’s time in Paris and shows us some of Conrad’s letters, and it all takes place several years in the future on the day of Belly and Conrad’s wedding. It is a major cop out. It completely skips the most interesting part of the entire mess that Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad have created (do not kid yourself, they are all at fault here), which is the aftermath. 

More on Amazon Prime Video:

Conrad declaring his love for Belly the night before her wedding to his brother and forcing Belly and Jere to face some truths they’ve been attempting to bury implodes not only their three lives and their various relationships to one another, but it affects everyone in their orbit. How do all of these people react to what’s happened? How does anyone recover from this? Will someone point out that this is what happens when the only two people you’ve had sex with are related? It’s a disaster. But figuring out how to survive the disaster makes for great storytelling opportunities. While the book gives us a few pages skimming over the highlights of this time in our main characters lives, the TV series gives us three episodes of it — it’s the smartest change from page to screen the series made. (Aside from giving Jackie Chung’s Laurel and Rachel Blanchard‘s Susannah a real storyline, sending love to my queens!) 

These three final episodes in which Belly is in Paris figuring out how to pronounce “croissant” and also who she is without the Fisher brothers, Jeremiah is picking up the pieces and making real changes, and Conrad is… well, OK, Conrad is mostly moping, as is tradition, but eventually he finds a way to go after what he wants in a less selfish, more thoughtful way than before. The Summer I Turned Pretty has been rife with tension since day one — which brother is the best brother? — and that hits its peak in Season 3 as the countdown to this wedding ticked on until all hell broke loose. The three final episodes then, felt like the show taking a deep breath. These are some of the best episodes of the series because it felt like they finally gave our main trio some room to breathe and therefore room to grow. Honestly, I think the series would’ve benefited from spending a larger portion of the season in this section of the story and less on the wedding planning (and Michael’s commercials). 

But even in just these three hours we got scenes that were very much needed if we were ever going to believe in a real Belly/Conrad reunion and healing all around. One of those scenes is a much needed face-to-face between Conrad and Jeremiah. On paper that relationship is actually one of the more interesting ones even if on the series it felt half-baked — this is a shame for several reasons but especially because the few scenes when the Fisher boys get vulnerable with one another are meaty and affecting. One such scene takes place in the closing episodes of the series, when after months the boys finally have a face-to-face at their mother’s grave. It’s important emotionally because it gives both of them room to explain themselves to each other (and the audience) and dramatically because it sets in motion a conceivable way for both to move forward without anyone getting vilified. 

Christopher Briney and Lola Tung, The Summer I Turned Pretty

Christopher Briney and Lola Tung, The Summer I Turned Pretty

Eddy Chen/Prime Video

However, the real standout scene in this trio of episodes, the one that highlights exactly why this separation from Cousins was necessary for the story to develop, is, of course, Belly and Conrad’s big blowout in the finale. Conrad (with a blessing, er, “good luck” from Jere) surprises Belly in Paris a year or so after the wedding, and the two spend an awkward day sightseeing and a boozy evening with Belly’s new friends celebrating her birthday. He’s no longer bashful about why he came to Paris; he loves her. Their romantic stroll home turns into a sweaty, steamy sex-a-thon in Belly’s apartment. (Tung and Briney’s chemistry has only grown in the past three seasons.) 

Afterward, however, they finally have the talk they need to if this is ever going to actually work. It’s quite a mature conversation for them and this series, examining both of their insecurities in this relationship and most importantly, finally acknowledging that their grief over Sussanah’s death has informed a lot of their decision making and they can’t ignore that. For their relationship to ever work, Belly had to hear that the fact that Susannah wanted these two to get together (that woman had issues, yeah I said it!!) has nothing to do with why Conrad loves her. She needs to hear how sure he is in order to examine her own feelings more clearly. I mean, is it insane that she examines those feelings for all of 15 seconds before she realizes she really loves him and makes her big rom-com run through Paris and onto that train to Brussels to tell him that every version of her would choose him? Yes, that could’ve used one more episode to let Belly figure out her feelings. But was it also insanely romantic? Hell yes. 

The other big change from page to screen that really makes the series work has to do with Jeremiah. Oh, the character assassination that happens to this guy in the third novel! The reveal that Jeremiah always knew about the emotional affair going on between Belly and Conrad since they met up in Cousins over Christmas was exactly the kind of wrinkle his character and his relationship needed for some added depth to the situation. The series never uses this as an excuse for having sex with someone else in Cabo (I agree with Taylor, straight-talker extraordinaire, that they were technically on a break) but it does make it easier to empathize with him. His issues being the second son and always compared to his perfect older brother run deep and so you can understand how the knowledge would make him spiral into bad choices. And while not easy, it also makes it easier for him to forgive since once he’s honest with himself, he can admit he always knew Belly and Conrad would choose each other. Since we have limited time for such a shift, this twist in the plot helps move things along. It also informs his actions following the wedding, forcing him to stop being a victim and take control of his life. By shedding those insecurities, he’s able to realize what he wants — by the end of the finale, he’s making a name for himself as an up-and-coming chef. The speed at which this happens is ridiculous, but again, I believe in Taylor Jewel and her PR prowess. Having a much mentally healthier Jeremiah fall for Denise (Isabella Briggs), someone who knows him outside of being Conrad’s brother and who, frankly, finds Conrad’s brooding annoying, is also a nice nod to him moving past his second son hangups. 

Since the finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty aired and a very much in love Belly and Conrad returned to Cousins hand-in-hand, it’s been announced that Belly’s story isn’t over yet — there will be a movie to really wrap things up. It certainly feels unnecessary and like fan service for those hungry for a Belly/Conrad wedding. I mean, I’ll obviously watch it, I’m not psychotic. Still, the series as a whole deserves praise for the satisfying way it concluded, even if it’s not really the end. The final season, but especially the last three episodes seemed to say that the point of this whole exercise isn’t actually about who Belly “chooses,” but rather about all three of these people growing up. It took the conflict and implosion of this bizarre, intense love triangle for that to happen. In the aftermath, we watch as Jeremiah learns how to take responsibility for his choices, Conrad figures out how to be brave, and Belly gains confidence in who she is and is therefore able to trust her feelings. It’s easy to write off a show like The Summer I Turned Pretty as silly, and it definitely is that at times (the title itself, that she willingly goes by the name Belly, I could go on…), but the final season, especially these last three episodes, delivered a fitting and surprisingly mature conclusion to a coming-of-age story. There’s nothing silly about that.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is streaming on Prime Video.Â