By Ella Lowry
The Summer I Turned Pretty officially ended last Wednesday the Summer 9/17. Guys I am so sad that it is officially over. Wednesdays will never look the same. And there’s a TSITP MOVIE COMING out?!!! There was a lot that happened in this finale! And not to mention sooooo many heartwarming flashbacks. So let’s unpack everything and I will give you guys my unfiltered thoughts.
So the episode first starts with Conrad going to see Belly in Paris (Connie baby literally dropped everything to go get his girl he is TOO PERFECT I cannot) Conrad has a conference in Brussels in Germany so he decides to stop and see Belly. But of course we all know the conference means little to nothing to him while Belly means his entire world. It was so heartwarming to see Conrad so confident and so determined to FINALLY declare his love and commitment to his woman.
But then he gets to Paris and sees Belly driving in on a scooter (suprise!) Benito on the back. This crushed me a little bit to see because he was so hopeful and seeing that definitely brought him down a bit. He also sees Belly’s new bob (personally I was not a fan lol) When Belly makes her way over to Conrad it is definitely awkward to say the least. Belly seems uninterested as if she could care less that Conrad just made this journey JUST FOR HER. Conrad tells her how he has a conference in Brussels and wants to visit her for her birthday. Belly does not really know how to process everything because she has not seen Conrad in so long, so she kind of dismisses him. She agrees to take him around Paris and show her what the city has meant to her but still Belly refuses to show truly any interest.
I hate to go back to talking about Jeremiah (ughhh) but I guess I will shed some light on what he is up to. Jere is apparently a chef now? I guess the craziness of the specifics he had for the wedding cake for him and Belly inspired his career path. I thought that was funny but go off Jere! In the episode, it shows him displaying his chef skills at the summer house in Cousins to promote him as an upcoming chef. He has truly come a long way so I am glad he is finally getting somewhere in his life LOL. Jeremiah does not invite his dad to his big day but to no surprise Adam shows up with none other than the champagne from what was supposed to be Belly and Jere’s wedding.
I cannot help but laugh anytime Adam pops up with that champagne and how it traumatizes Jeremiah lol. Adam is not wasting ANY of that champagne and I honestly don’t blame him. I have to say Adam showing up and voicing how proud of Jeremiah he truly was made me respect him a lot more. It is no secret that Adam has ever been the perfect dad, but he is actually trying to be there for his boys now. He has especially been hard on Jeremiah but him showing up and TELLING Jeremiah how proud of him he is meant a lot to Jeremiah. Adam’s character arc definitely was something I loved to see.
Also at the beach house we see Jeremiah and Denise connect and eventually kiss. It becomes clear that they will be in each other’s future. I really do like Denise, but I just do not get why everyone has to be coupled up together in the show. I knew them getting together was coming, I honestly was just a tiny bit surprised. But happy for them enemies to lovers troupe love to see it.
Steven and Taylor definitely have a bit of a rough patch this episode because Steven fails to mention to Taylor how he will be moving to San Francisco because he and Denise’s game got approved for funding. Taylor accidentally found out when walking in on Jere and Denise and is PISSED. Eventually Taylor and Steven talk it out and their relationship seems to grow stronger and Taylor is so proud and supportive of Steven even though he is moving away. Overall, a lot is happening for everyone back in Cousins.
NOW back to the important stuff! Back in Paris, the two spend the entire day exploring Paris and it is so clear how in love with Belly Conrad is. The whole entire day he is giving her his signature looks of love and desire.
Conrad and his eyes never lie. Something that stood out to me was when they were exploring the beautiful museums in Paris with such gorgeous art, Conrad could not help himself but look at Belly, his favorite piece of art. In a crowded room with lots of people and paintings there is only one thing that catches Conrad’s eye BELLY! I thought that moment was so impactful because it truly reveals how much Conrad loves Belly and sees her beauty.
Later that night Belly’s friends from Paris throw her a party. And everyone is shocked that the famous Conrad is there. Someone who is not the biggest fan is Benito and he makes that very clear. Conrad is relieved to hear that Belly and Benito did not ever truly date so that explains why Benito is so sour about his presence. One moment at dinner that stood out to me was when Belly told him “you’ll always be the boy who taught me how to drive a scooter.” And Conrad fired back saying, “well I will always be the boy who taught you how to ride a bike.”
I was SCREAMING!!! Even after all these years and Belly trying to go to Paris to escape her true feelings Conrad has always had an important impact on her life. She has always loved him and always would wish for him on her birthday. This year was no different but in many ways it was.
After dinner is where things started to escalate between the two. FINALLY! The two kiss under the Paris moonlight and that is just the start. Not to mention, the music during this part!! Dress by Taylor Swift started to play and Miss Jenny Han you are a GENIUS!! Belly and Conrad cannot keep their hands off each other at this point one thing leads to another and eventually they make love. Life seems too perfect for the two.
HOWEVER the morning is where everything shifts. The two just shared a beautiful night together and Conrad offers to skip the first day of the conference to spend Belly’s birthday with her. And Belly oh Belly tells him that she should not change her plans for him. I was so MAD at her for being like this to him. Once again the queen of self sabotage strikes again. Seriously Belly WTF?! How dare you crush my poor Connie baby’s soul. And what truly put me over the edge was Belly ONCE AGAIN pulling the Susannah card on Conrad. She tells Conrad, “How are we supposed to know if we love each other because we want to and not because we were told to? If we didn’t lose Susannah, would it loom so large for us?
What if you only love me because that’s what your mom wanted and then your mom died.” And Conrad does not even know how to respond because that is NOT AT ALL why he loves her. Conrad tries to reassure her by saying, “That is not why I love you. I have tried everything not to love you, for the sake of Jere
for the sake, of not dragging you down with me in my grief. I fought it, way before the summer my mom got sick. You’ve always been a precious person to me. I’ve always cared about you. And then at some point I started to see you differently and that scared me because I didn’t want things between us to change, but the way that I feel about you, Belly has nothing to do with my mom. If I met you for the first time tonight I would love you. Because I’ve changed everything about myself and the one thing that never changes is that I love you!” How much more clear can this man be Belly like cmon! Still that was not enough to convince her so Conrad leaves to catch the 5am flight.
Moments after he leaves though, Belly has an epiphany when she picks up Junior Mint. All their many memories come flooding through her memory and it finally clicks to her that it’s ALWAYS BEEN CONRAD. (DUH BELLY! Why did it take you this long to realize)
So now, instead of running away from the truth she runs to declare her love for Conrad. And it was beautiful. They shared a long passionate kiss and the show ends with them returning to the summer house together and so in love.
Overall thoughts
Overall, I thought it was a sweet ending to the show. I will say I do feel like it was a little rushed and I would have liked a fast forward to their life together BUT it was revealed that a TSITP movie is currently under production and will be coming out in the near future so hopefully that is the perfect ending to such a memorable show. I do not know about you all, but I cannot wait for that movie to come out, but until then we can all be at peace that Belly and Conrad are finally together for life and are infinite.