The Summer I Became Obsessed With a YA Prime Video Adaptation
Every Wednesday, I have been captivated by one girl and her journey to destroy two brothers. Well, to be fair, she did love them both one right after the other but I have been consumed by Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) and her need to make things complicated.
Starting in 2022, the Prime Video series has taken over our summers. Season 1 released in 2022 with season 2 the year after and then while we waited for two years, we finally got to see which of the Fisher brothers she ended up with. Since the start of the show, Belly went back and forth between her love of Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney) and her friendship with Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno).
As we learn in her voiceovers throughout the series, she has loved Conrad since she was younger but Jeremiah stole her heart and she almost married him. So, in the end, was the saga of Belly Conklin and the Fisher boys worth it?
**Spoilers for the entire series of The Summer I Turned Pretty lies ahead**
From the start of the show, Belly let audiences know where her head was. She was never quite sure about Conrad and so, in a lot of ways, she settled for Jeremiah when given the chance. She let him change her, let him keep her stuck in a relationship that didn’t benefit her, and she almost married him despite knowing that Jeremiah cheated on her.
But it left Belly off in France and leaving the Fisher brothers behind. Or so we thought. For the last few episodes, we saw Belly come into her own in Paris and learn who she was outside of her relationships with Conrad and Jeremiah. Which led to a finale that gave Belly the power.
Who did Belly choose?
What is kind of great about the finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty is that on the one hand, Belly does choose herself. When Conrad gets the okay from Jeremiah to go after her, he ends up in Paris and we learn that Belly’s short-lived relationship with Benito (Fernando Cattori) is over and it gives Belly and Conrad the green light to share the night together.
While Belly is still trying to figure out who she is for herself, Conrad gives her the freedom to choose him and still have the life she wants. He isn’t telling Belly to love him and come back home and leave her life in Paris. The idea is that she has the power and she uses it by being the one to have the big dramatic romantic comedy moment between them.
And ultimately, this is a pretty solid way to end the series. Right now, we don’t know if we’ll ever head back to Cousins. There was a note from creator Jenny Han at the end that gave a promise for more from the series but, for now, we know that Belly and Conrad finally found their love for each other again and that’s enough.
(featured image: Prime Video)
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