So, The Summer I Turned Pretty finale just dropped and honestly, I’m still recovering from the emotional rollercoaster that was the last episode. With the previous episode ending on a cliffhanger – Conrad hopping on a flight to Paris and Belly dating a guy with a last name other than Fisher – I went into the finale feeling stressed. At last, when the episode began and we saw Belly (and her brand new FAB) get off the scooter with Benito while Conrad looked on, I know that we were all worried the show would have a different ending than the books.
Flash forward through the episode, where we see Belly and Conrad exploring Paris together before celebrating her birthday, and the rest of the Cousins crew preparing for Jeremiah’s chef debut; finally, we get the confirmation that Belly and Benito are broken up. Conrad and Belly show their extreme sexual tension to us, before they decide to go back to her apartment. Then, we all collectively lost our minds: in the taxi, in the stairwell, and definitely in her bedroom. Bonrad were finally back together, where they would live happily ever after – until two minutes later when Belly decided to question everything and sent Conrad packing at four in the morning to catch the next train. Everyone was screaming at Belly to go get her man, and she did! They couldn’t live happily ever after without her frantic taxi ride and sprint through the train station to find Conrad before his train left. They had their romantic reunion, and we see them a few years later finally returning to the Cousins house.
The finale was a great end to the show that took everyone by storm, although I do wish we got to see more of what the future had in store for Belly and Conrad. My highlight of the show was, undoubtedly, Conrad. I was a Conrad girl from the very beginning and probably always will be. I couldn’t be happier that he now gets his happy ending with Belly. Additionally, the rest of the group had their successful outcomes. Taylor and Steven are going steady and getting ready to move to California, Jeremiah and Denise just got together after being friends for years, and Steven and Denise’s company got the funding it needed to take off. The three seasons of TSITP were full of ups and downs that got me and so many others hooked.
If you are going to miss the show, I recommend reading the books, if you haven’t already. I read the series, written by Jenny Han, a few years before the show came out. The two series were fairly similar, but there were still some glaring differences. The debutante ball, a main plotline of season one, never took place in the book. I actually liked this addition, and I felt that it added something that was missing from the book. Another difference is in the conclusions. We all know how the show ends, but I personally prefer the book ending. The letters that Conrad sends her while she’s abroad played a more important role in reestablishing their connection. Belly returns home for the first time for her graduation, which is also the first time she sees Conrad since her failed engagement to Jeremiah. When she sees him there, she realizes that they are meant to be together. They get engaged a year later, and the book ends with them getting married on the beach in Cousins. I appreciate this ending because it makes their relationship feel inevitable. I feel that it shows it was always going to be them at the end, and I feel like this point is more established throughout the other books. I don’t think there are many, if any, people who were team Jeremiah at any point just from reading the books, whereas a larger number of people were rooting for him in the show. I also enjoyed getting to read about Belly and Conrad getting married at the end. However, there still might be time for viewers to get to see this.
The day the finale was released also came with another surprise announcement: The Summer I Turned Pretty movie is in the works! I have mixed feelings about this movie announcement. The prospect of getting to see more of Belly and Conrad together is very exciting and I’d like to see how all the storylines are doing in the future. Nevertheless, one can’t help but ask if it’s really necessary. Maybe if the movie was coming out within the next few weeks, but it probably won’t be released until next year at the very earliest. It can give the impression that they’re really dragging out the show that reached a conclusion after three seasons, just like the three books. I can only hope that the movie ends up being good and doesn’t ruin the image of the show that gave so many actors their first big break.
All in all, The Summer I Turned Pretty gave us three summers full of tears, screaming at our screen, and yes, crash outs every Wednesday. Whether you were Team Conrad, Team Jeremiah, or just watching because everyone else wouldn’t stop talking about it, this show was an unforgettable binge for people all over the world. Now we all must wait impatiently for the movie to come out and hope it’s a satisfying end to this fictional universe. I’ll be watching either way.