The long-awaited third and final season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” premiered on July 16, and fans are eager for answers: Will Belly choose Conrad or Jeremiah? Are Taylor and Steven endgame? What’s next for Laurel?
If it’s been a minute since you watched Season 2 — after all, it did premiere two years ago — here’s a full refresher on everything that’s happened at Cousins Beach.
What Is ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ About?
“The Summer I Turned Pretty,” which is based on the book series by Jenny Han, follows the journey of Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) as her family returns to their friend Susannah’s home on the idyllic Cousins Beach every summer.
In Season 1, Belly finds herself in a complicated love triangle between Susannah’s two sons, Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney). Trouble unfolds after her brother, Steven (Sean Kaufman), kisses her best friend Taylor (Rain Spencer). On top of everything, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard) reveals toward the end of the first season that her cancer returned, and she doesn’t want to go through chemotherapy again.
Despite these complicated dynamics, Season 1 leaves the show’s characters in a hopeful place. Belly chooses a happily ever after with Conrad, her longtime crush. While devastated by Susannah’s diagnosis, she ultimately decides to participate in an clinical trial for treatment, leaving her friends and family optimistic.
What Happens in Season 2?
But when Season 2 opens, everything is different. Susannah has died. Belly is grieving and her grades are slipping. She’s no longer volleyball captain, and she’s not speaking to Conrad or Jeremiah.
“I wasn’t in Cousins, Conrad and I weren’t together and Susannah was dead. Nothing would ever be the same again,” Belly says at the start of Season 2’s first episode, set one year after the events of the Season 1 finale.
It is revealed through flashbacks that Belly’s relationship with Conrad didn’t last long after the summer ended. Jeremiah was deeply hurt when he heard the news, and Belly decided to call it off out of guilt. But this isn’t the reason the trio isn’t talking at the start of the season.
After their initial breakup, the star-crossed lovers couldn’t stay apart. They rekindled their relationship through long phone calls throughout the school year, until they were pulled apart again, causing Belly’s connection with both Fisher boys to fracture. The reason for this huge rift remains a mystery when we catch up with Belly at the start of the season.
Conrad Disappears
Episode 1 ends in the present day, as Belly calls Jeremiah to reconcile their relationship. While he picks up, what he has to say to Belly isn’t what she expected. Conrad is missing, and it is up to them to find him.
Belly and Jeremiah put their awkward past behind them to unite and search for Conrad. Of course, their first thought is to check his happy place, the Cousins beach house.
Belly doesn’t reveal to her mom Laurel (Jackie Chung) and Steven what has happened, but luckily, Taylor covers for her. Her goal is to solve Conrad’s disappearance without anyone noticing she is gone.
As Belly grapples with Conrad’s disappearance, she reflects on their time together. The show briefly turns into “The Winter I Turned Pretty” as Belly reminisces on sneaking away to the Cousins house with Conrad during Christmastime. They drink hot cocoa and run around on a snow-covered beach.
When Jeremiah and Belly finally arrive at the Cousins house, they are relieved to find that they guessed Conrad’s location correctly. But they’re immediately met with a new obstacle: Their beloved beach house is for sale.
The Cousins House is For Sale
In Episode 3, it is revealed that Susannah’s half-sister, Julia (Kyra Sedgwick), inherited the house and plans to sell it. Aunt Julia resents her sister and needs the money from the sale. She won’t budge on her decision.
Conrad and Jeremiah’s dad, Adam (Tom Everett Scott), also refuses to help, primarily because none of the adults in the room see how they can realistically afford to keep the house.
But the teens are determined to figure out a way to save the house themselves anyway. Good thing they have back up: Steven and Taylor arrive unexpectedly at the house with a blueberry pie in hand, ready to contribute to the cause.
Through flashbacks, we finally see the full breakdown of Belly and Conrad’s relationship. On prom night, Conrad’s demeanor takes a sharp turn. A seemingly cold and icy Conrad forgot Belly’s corsage, and they break up after a tearful fight in the parking lot.
Later, at Susannah’s funeral, Belly sees Conrad with another girl and caused a dramatic, public scene. The meltdown is the breaking point that fractures the relationship between the two families.
The Group Tries to Save the House
Determined not to let Aunt Julia have the final say, Belly and her friends now have a new mission: Put the past behind them and save the Cousins house.
Miraculously, at the beginning of Episode 4, the team seems to finally have a little bit of luck. Aunt Julia is forced to cancel an open house because of an air conditioning malfunction.
To pass the time, the kids head to the boardwalk and blow off some steam. They take this opportunity to bond with the show’s newest character, Skye (Elsie Fisher), Conrad and Jeremiah’s cousin. Along with their new friend, the crew runs into Belly’s old flame, Cam Cameron (David Iacono), who joins in on the fun.
As the group bonds with Skye, they learn more about Susannah and Julia’s strained relationship. Skye and Julia find it hurtful that Susannah chose to invite her friends to the beach house summer after summer without ever inviting their family. The house is, as a result, a sore point for this side of the family and something that Julia is eager to let go of.
An Eventful Party
After their fun day on the boardwalk, the teens realize that Aunt Julia locked them out of the house while they were gone. So the crew takes a side quest to spend the night on a golf course, which they access thanks to Cam’s mom’s job at the Cousins Country Club.
During this detour, Taylor and Steven share an almost kiss as they dance in the club’s empty ballroom. Belly also admits to Taylor that she might have some lingering feelings, not for her recent beau, Conrad, but for (gasp!) Jeremiah.
After their romp on the golf course, the crew crashes back to reality. They learn that Julia has officially sold the beach house, and all hope looks lost. Now, there is only one thing left to do: throw a huge party.
To celebrate one final night in the Cousins house, Belly and her friends buy a massive supply of alcohol and invite everyone in town to join in on their retro-themed party.
Over the course of the evening, Skye shares their first kiss with Cam. Steven performs a dance to “Party in the USA” with Taylor. Defensive of his crush, Steven also starts a fight with Taylor’s boyfriend after he can’t remember her middle name.
Belly spends the evening navigating the party in Susannah’s old roller skates while trying to ease the tension between the two Fisher brothers. While she is convinced that they are only fighting about her, Jeremiah is primarily mad at Conrad for staying at school while he was left to care for Susannah in her final moments.
Eventually, Belly confronts Conrad about their relationship on the beach. The pair agree that they thought they loved each other, but Belly concludes it just “wasn’t enough.”
Struggling to handle the intense feelings, Belly drunkenly calls her mom, asking her to come to the beach house, before falling asleep.
The Cousins House Is Saved
Not only does Belly wake up to a brutal hangover, she also wakes up to a furious Laurel.
Laurel isn’t just mad that Belly lied about her location for days, she’s still mad at Belly for her outburst at the funeral. In response to this confession, Belly accuses Laurel of abandoning Susannah’s sons after her death. Shockingly, Laurel slaps Belly, leaving her stunned.
But now that an adult has arrived, everything starts to get patched back together. Laurel convinces Aunt Julia to back out of the sale. She also miraculously convinces Adam to sell the family’s home in Boston to buy the Cousins house.
After the house problem is solved, the character’s remaining issues slowly begin to wrap up: Taylor and Steven share a kiss. Jeremiah and Conrad reconcile and decide to be better about sharing their feelings with each other in the future.
Conrad also decides to live out his dream and transfer to Stanford. But he has one problem before he can do so: He has a biology exam he has not studied for that he must pass. Episode 7 ends with a montage of Belly and Jeremiah helping him cram all night for the big exam. For a moment, it seems like old times, as the trio laughs and shares McDonald’s cheeseburgers.
They drive Conrad to his test, but the season isn’t over quite yet. While Conrad is busy taking his exam, Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship sees a major development.
Belly Picks Jeremiah
As Conrad heads to meet Jeremiah and Belly after his test, he walks out to a shocking surprise.
He finds his brother and ex-girlfriend kissing in front of his car. The season ends with Belly, Jeremiah and Conrad awkwardly driving back home together. Conrad is angry, to say the least, and makes sure that everyone knows it.
The trio eventually shares a motel room together and, in the dark, Conrad confesses to Belly that he still has feelings for her. But, the next morning, he takes everything back.
It seemingly doesn’t matter. Belly is solid in her choice of Jeremiah.
The pair then go to Belly’s volleyball camp, where she hopes to convince her coach to let her back on the team. It works, and all is well again for Belly as she heads into her senior year of high school.
In the final moments of Season 2, Belly is with Jeremiah, the beach house is saved and Conrad is headed to California.
Season 3 picks up four years later.
