Forget The Summer I Turned Pretty, the last few weeks have been The Summer the GLAMOUR team collectively lost their minds over a TV show. And at long last, the love triangle to defeat all love triangles has come to an end, with the finale of season three airing this morning.
To celebrate, I put on my Serious Journalist Hat and quizzed my colleagues for their messiest opinions about The Summer I Turned Pretty. Enjoy…
Kemi Alemoru, Head of Editorial Content
“After memes forced me to start this show, I swallowed it in one weekend. Nearing the end of series three, I think it’s clear that this isn’t a love story; it’s an odyssey of villainy. Who are the reprobates in question? Well, the writers for subjecting me to unending trauma, Susannah for orchestrating an environment from childhood where two brothers would compete for a family friend’s love, Laurel for going along with it, and actually everyone who hasn’t told Belly that she needs to be fitted with a chastity belt as soon as possible.”
“Of course, Belly and her insatiable lust top all of these. She exhibits the sort of greed they wrote about in the Bible. Is she so feral that her vagina must break up this family still reeling from grief, or is her motivation actually to do with getting the keys to the Cousins' summer house she has an inappropriate fixation with?
"I was sold a teen romance, but actually, it pans out to be a horror story, a portrait of how far one girl will go to get her hands on another family’s prime real estate in a housing crisis.
“The question the internet asks now is who will she choose: Jer, who has ice blue eyes and not a thought in his head, or Conrad, who is so crushingly burdened by introspection that he’s collapsing under the weight of his consideration for others? Or just literally anyone else on earth that doesn’t share DNA with her mother’s deceased best friend? Undoubtedly, it should be the latter, but my heart (and hers) yearns for Conrad. Obviously.”
Katie Leirey, Senior SEO Manager
“Belly needs to leave these two boys alone for the love of all that is good. She can forgive Jeremiah for cheating TWICE, but not Conrad for carrying the weight of being the only one who knew his mom was dying?!?!
"But even Belly and Conrad are not a good idea anymore. I'm #TeamAntiBelly and just want this show to put me out of my misery.
“Also, the most unrealistic part of this show might be Belly's apartment in Paris. As a student, plunging toilets at a bar and handing out popcorn at the movies? BBFR.”
Lian Brooks, Senior Audience Development Manager
"If we're being really honest with ourselves, Belly's ultimate goal is to take over from Susannah as the lady of that dreamy beach house.
"I can't honestly blame her because it's an incredibly nice house, but the entitlement she seems to have for this place is dripping in much of her dialogue throughout the series. After days of shamelessly flirting with Conrad and him finally professing his undying love for her, she tells him, “I want you to leave. I want you to make up one of your bullshit excuses. And I want you to go – to Boston, to California. I don’t even care where, just get out of here.”
“Er scuse you, Belly? You're telling him to leave his house? The Fisher boys are simply a means to an end, which is why she insists on keeping the vibes going with both of them at all times.”
“Also, Staylor should be the main event in TSITP, and you can't convince me otherwise. While Belly, Conrad and Jeremiah all do a stand-up job demonstrating how to be emotionally unavailable, through the series, we get to watch genuine growth from both Taylor and Steven. Each is tasked with cleaning up one half of the Belly x Fisher boy drama, and I'd argue that, despite being caught in the middle of this clusterfuck, they do an impeccable job of being there for the people around them.
“While the TSITP community seem to think she got too much screen time this season, honestly, I'm here for the growth – it's a lot more than our protagonist can say. Sadly, going to Paris doesn't necessarily equal character development.”
Charley Ross, Glamour contributor
"It's utterly bonkers the way Belly thinks being involved with two brothers is in any way appropriate, and she should never have got to this point by series three! The crux of why we love it/are drawn to it is nostalgia, I think – at least for millennials.
“Personally, I am not rooting for either brother; they both need some serious therapy, BUT I can't stop watching it.”
Jenny Han left a subtle hint in a finale post-credits message…
