Spoiler warning: stop reading if you haven’t finished “The Summer I Turned Pretty” or do not want any spoilers.
After roughly four years and three seasons, our girl Belly finally got Connie baby. There was a lot of controversy along the way, between the WAG and SAG-AFTRA strikes, harassment and bullying from fans. The largest controversy, though, was whether you were Team Jeremiah or Team Conrad. Personally, I was Team Conrad, and to me, it is the only acceptable answer.
The show follows Isabelle, “Belly” Conklin, Jeremiah and Conrad Fisher through their young adult life and the complexities that come with it. The main point that fans fixated on was which brother Belly would choose at the end. The author of the Book series and creator of the TV series, Jenny Han, had hinted that the TV series ending would be different from that of the book series in order to keep fans on their toes.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jenny Han stated, “There is so much that is going to surprise fans about how much we’re showing of Belly in Paris and the whole ending. It’s not just an epilogue.”
As a fan of the show, I was hoping the differences between the book and TV series would be subtle, and not a whole storyline change. Some of the differences in season three and the ending of the show included the time jump, Conrad’s appearance in Paris and Jeremiah’s new character arc. However, most of the structure from the third book was kept for the third season.
The Cosmopolitan released an article titled, “All the Changes From ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ Season 3 Series Versus the Book,” written by Jasmine Ting, diving deeper into the differences between the book and TV series.
I enjoyed that Jenny Han switched up the storyline subtly. If the TV series ending and structure were kept the same as the books, fans would know exactly what was coming. To me, this difference kept the fans more entertained and allowed them to be more invested in the show. The fans, me included, got to come up with their theories of what would happen and who Belly would end up with.
I was very pleased with how the show ended. I think that the fans got to watch these characters develop and got to connect with them. To me, the show was more than just choosing between the brothers or looking forward to having something to watch every Wednesday night. The show truly embodied what it felt like to be in your teens and early twenties, and that was part of why it got such a large following. I think that everyone involved did such a good job in portraying the troubles, highs and lows people that age go through.
After three seasons, seeing Belly and Conrad go through what each character had to do for them to get back together was incredibly heartbreaking along the way, but worth it in the end. Conrad was losing his mother, while his brother was favored by their father. Belly did not have support for her engagement or wedding. Conrad dumped her at prom. They both dealt with the loss of Susana and the sale of the house. Then, they reunited the summer after Belly and Jeremiah were engaged. The ending was a perfect close to the series and a perfect segway to the movie that will officially put this story to a close.