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Belly, terror of Cousins and worst-thing-to-ever-happen-to-the-Fisher-brothers (imo), is back for another summer of mess, chaos and fraternal love triangles.
The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3, the final season of the hit YA show, picks up with Belly in her junior year of college (yes, she followed Jeremiah to Finch, I don't want to talk about it). After pining for his older bro Conrad for — well — her whole life, Belly now finds herself in a long-term (and very mummy-coded — again, imo) relationship with Jere. It's not a great start for the Team Connie girlies.
If you are absolutely desperate to know what happens, luckily, we can make a few very educated guesses — after all, the series is based on novels by Jenny Han. Pour yourself a pomegranate margarita and strap in, because we are getting into some spoilery chat about the Summer I Turned Pretty book ending.
It all comes down to this.
The Summer I Turned Pretty plot so far
First, a (very) quick recap of the first two seasons. If you're here, I'm guessing you're already fully on board the TSITP train — but to refresh your memory, here's what's been going on in Cousins for the past few summers.
In season 1, we meet Isabella “Belly” Conklin, a teenager who has just bid farewell to her bespectacled awkward phase and — you know — turned pretty. Belly spends her summers in at an idyllic beach house in Cousins with mother Laurel and brother Stephen. Laurel's BFF Susannah Fisher, owns the house, so she's also there with her two sons, Conrad and Jeremiah. Belly has always, like always been head over heels in love with Conrad, but he's only ever seen her as a geeky younger sister.
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Throughout season 1, Belly has a brief dalliance with Cam Cameron, a sweet, vaguely unimportant local boy. She does the Cousins debutante ball. She tries to figure out what's going on with the distant Conrad. She notices that Jeremiah is flirting with her. Jeremiah sets off a firework at her when she's about to kiss Conrad. Conrad almost gives her an infinity necklace. At the debutante ball, Conrad steps in (in slow-mo, naturally) to dance with her instead of Jere. It turns out, Conrad has been distant because Susannah has cancer. He finally confesses his feelings for her on the beach.
Season 2 takes place the following summer. Susannah has, tragically died. Throughout her illness, Belly and Conrad dated, but they were driven apart by the emotional weight of the circumstances. (Belly couldn't really understand it, though, and assumed that Conrad was just being a sh***y boyfriend. His mum is dying, Belly!) She soon finds herself flirting with Jeremiah again. Belly, Conrad, Jeremiah, Stephen, Belly's bestie Taylor, and some other kids have a party trashing the beach house when they think it's going to be sold. At the end, Belly and Jeremiah kiss on the hood on Conrad's car leaving him distraught. The three teens end up sharing a motel room during a storm — Belly lies in bed and tries to decide which brother she's going to choose. Even though Conrad expresses his feelings, she goes for Jeremiah, once again, leaving Conrad distraught.
The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 plot
So far, four episodes of TSITP season 3 have dropped on Prime — and it's been messy. The new season is set four years after the events of season 2. Yes, Belly and Jeremiah have been dating for four years. They're both in college and Belly seems to be placing him at the centre of all of her decision-making (I can't possibly study abroad in Paris and leave Jeremiah here! I can't possibly go study with my friends and leave Jeremiah alone! etc.) Meanwhile, Conrad is now training to be a doctor in San Fransisco. He has a new friend named Agnes who asks him a lot of questions about his past, which is very helpful for exposition purposes. He doesn't ask her one. (Oh yeah, and he has a Connell's chain moment thanks to a new watch that the girls are going feral for.)
And the series' stars have officially confirmed so.
Jeremiah learns that he isn't actually graduation because — checks notes — he forgot to read an email about the requirements. He'll need to do another semester and he's in a deep dark depression about it. At a house party, Belly overhears a girl confess that she hooked up with Jeremiah during a spring break trip to Cabo. He insists they were broken up. She insists it “wasn't real.” (In a flashback, we see that Jeremiah did in fact break up with Belly — you don't get to decide someone breaking up with you wasn't real, Belly, but okay.) Belly and Jeremiah break up (it's real this time, because Belly says so).
Oh yeah, there's also a flashback to last Christmas when Belly and Conrad accidentally hung out together along at Cousins and were clearly both very much still into each other. Did she tell Jeremiah she saw her ex and his brother? Nope.
Meanwhile, Stephen and Taylor are hooking up while dating other people. For some reason, Taylor is scared to just date the boy she actually likes. This messy situation leads to a car crash — Stephen is in a coma! Taylor realises she does want to be with him. Belly is so upset she decides to get back together with Jeremiah because — checks notes again — he shows up at the hospital. Oh, and they get engaged for some reason.
Things are all leading to the grand opening of Susannah's memorial garden in Cousins. The Fisher brothers are supposed to be making a speech but Conrad is too upset about the existence of Belly to write it, while Jeremiah is… too upset about forgetting to read an email?
In the end, Jeremiah says two kind of sweet sentences. Conrad turns up. In slow-motion, of course. He and Belly stare at each other for a bit, before she clings to Jeremiah's arm. Cute.
At dinner with the Conklin family and the Fisher family, Belly and Jeremiah proudly announce that they are getting married, actually. Belly defiantly shows off her microscopic diamond ring. Everyone freaks out and Conrad looks ill.
The parents separate the crazy kids. Belly spends time working as a waitress to save money for her wedding. Jeremiah does an internship for his dad. After another big fight, Belly and Jeremiah storm off together to Cousins. When they wake up, they find that Conrad has been holing up there for a while after losing his job in San Fransisco. Somehow, everyone agrees that the best solution is for Belly to stay at Cousins with Conrad while Jeremiah heads back to his internship. I foresee no issues here…
We need more Jackie, Cole and Alex status updates like yesterday.
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What is The Summer I Turned Pretty book ending?
Ok, so where do we go from here? We turn to Jenny Han for answers on The Summer I Turned Pretty book ending. Be warned — potential spoilers lie ahead. If the series does follow Han's books, here's what you can expect:
Conrad and Belly will hang out at Cousins for a while. They'll still be in love (duh). When Conrad confesses his feelings, Belly will reject him.
On the day of Belly and Jeremiah's wedding, Jeremiah will read a letter written by Susannah before her death — except, he'll accidentally read the letter she wrote for Conrad. In the letter, Susannah tells Conrad that she only saw him happy once — with Belly. Jeremiah will confront Belly about her feelings and then call off the wedding.
The book ends with an epilogue — after her almost-wedding to Jeremiah, Belly finally spends some time alone without the Fisher boys. She studies abroad. She meets new friends.
And, yes, she does ultimately end up with Conrad — the pair marry after they reunite years later and Jeremiah has a new love interest of his own.
