And just like that, Sept. 17 marked the final episode release of The Summer I Turned Pretty… ever. I’ve got a lot of thoughts to share — and so do fans all over social media. Spoiler alert: Spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty’s Season 3 finale follow. Specifically, fans are wondering where one major part of the book ending went, and why it wasn’t recreated in the show. Yep, Belly and Conrad didn’t get married in the TSITP finale.
As far as happy endings go, the season finale pretty much wrapped up all the loose ends in a neat little bow. Jeremiah is on his way to be a successful chef and has repaired his relationship with his dad, plus he has a budding romance with Denise. Taylor and Steven are packing up and moving across the country together to San Francisco. Thankfully, there were no tragic deaths or betrayals to throw us a last-second curveball. And, most importantly, Belly and Conrad promise to choose each other in every lifetime, finally living happily ever after — for good, right?
The episode’s final scene takes us back with Conrad and Belly to the iconic Fisher backyard in Cousins that started it all — a sweet farewell for all of us who have spent the last three summers practically in that home ourselves.
The end.
I have to admit, as the credits rolled — set against a montage of Belly and Conrad’s Paris Christmas photoshoot while “Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home)” played, things felt a little unfinished — and it looks like I’m not the only one who thought so.
In the epilogue of Jenny Han’s final book, We’ll Always Have Summer, Belly marries Conrad at Cousins Beach, with Jeremiah even attending their wedding. The chapter ends with Belly and Conrad running into the ocean together in the most perfect full-circle moment. But a similar fast-forward epilogue scene never came in the show, even after sitting through the same 20 Christmas photos. Even a photobook of an engagement or wedding snapshots instead could have been a subtle nod to the book’s ending.
What did Susannah’s letter to Belly say?
Belly and Conrad’s wedding day wasn’t the only hole in the finale. What about Belly finally opening Susannah’s letter she wrote to Belly for her wedding day before her passing? In the book, Belly finally opens it to find Susannah’s hope for her future: “radiant and lovely, the prettiest bride there ever was,” marrying a man with kind eyes — even if it was someone who isn’t a Fisher. If there’s one thing that would have closed off TSITP and jerked a few tears, it’s a moment for Susannah.
Some fans are more optimistic, however. Han wrote a farewell letter to fans that closed the final episode, signed off with, “Maybe we’ll meet again one summer in Cousins. Until then…,” sparking some hope for a future spinoff series, or even a movie that could perhaps give us all the closure and Bonrad wedding content we’re lacking.
For now, the Bonrad wedding will only exist in the books and our imaginations. Whether it’s a spinoff, a movie, or just a reunion someday, I’ll be here holding out hope that Belly and Conrad will finally get the wedding day they deserve.