“The Summer I Turned Pretty ”season 3 premiere recap: It’s not summer without a love triangle

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Belly’s back, my babies! As you’ll recall,The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 ended with Isabel Conklin (Lola Tung) choosing Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) over his brother, Conrad (Christopher Briney). And Belly and Jere lived happily ever after, no drama, no complications, forever, the end.

Kidding, of course. The first two episodes of season 3 offer up plenty of obstacles not only for Jelly, but for the people they’re closest to. Let’s recap!

Episode 1: Last Season

The season opens with Belly arriving at Finch College to move into her freshman dorm. Taylor’s (Rain Spencer) enrolled there, too, and Jeremiah’s thrilled to have his girlfriend joining him on campus for his sophomore year.

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As Laurel (Jackie Chung) helps Belly settle into the small, cinderblock room of my college memories (seriously, no Hollywood-style palatial housing here), she reminisces about meeting Susannah during her college years and urges Belly not to put all her eggs in the Jeremiah basket.

Then we flash forward three years and see that Belly has, in fact, put all her eggs in the Jeremiah basket.

Belly’s bummed that Jere’s graduating, but the sting of his imminent departure vanishes when she finds out that she’s off the waitlist for Finch’s study abroad program and can jet off to Paris for fall semester.

But her excitement deflates when she catches up with Jeremiah, who’s just learned that his change of major left him a few requirements shy, and now he has to come back in the fall to finish up some freshman-level credits.

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Belly doesn’t share her Paris news and agrees to cuddle her sad-panda boyfriend rather than whisking him away for midnight waffles.

Okay, first, always say yes to midnight waffles. And second, has Jere explored summer school options? It should be easy for him to find those 100-level classes, so he could quadruple up and be a college grad by August if he wanted. But he doesn’t want; the extra semester gives him more dorm time with Belly.

Jere-Bear may be too bummed to gossip with his girl, but I’m not: Steven (Sean Kaufman) and Taylor are hooking up on the sly despite each of them seeing other people. Escandalo!

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Sean Kaufman as Steven and Tom Everett Scott as Adam in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' season 3

Steven, who graduated from Princeton and is working a finance job for Adam Fisher (Tom Everett Scott), clearly wants something serious, but Taylor enforces all kinds of rules, including no drama, no feelings, and no sleepovers. (“Okay, then we won’t sleep,” her loophole-findin’ man says.)

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As for the other Fisher brother, Conrad’s in medical school now, and both he and Jeremiah are dreading having to give a speech at the upcoming dedication ceremony for Susannah’s memorial garden. Connie's got so much anxiety over it, in fact, that he brings it up in therapy. (Which, good for him.)

He and his counselor walk through the best possible version of the day: travel is smooth, everyone gets along, his dad is proud. Conrad also pictures Belly there but doesn’t specifically bring her up.

A wrinkle emerges when Conrad's classmate, Agnes (Zoé de Grand'Maison), informs him that they both landed coveted summer clinical positions with the notoriously tough Dr. Namazy. (Well, Agnes first makes him think that only she got picked, and although he’s disappointed, Connie genuinely congratulates her, which speaks volumes about his character.)

Problem is, the job starts in a week, so Con calls Laurel to break the news that he may not make it to the dedication. She’s kind about it, saying, “Your mom would be so proud of you,” and suggests he let his brother know.

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Jackie Chung as Laurel in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' season 3

Conrad calls to do just that and is thrown when Belly’s the one who answers the phone. Apparently, despite everyone’s protestations that things are totes cool, these two are not totes cool.

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The call came in during Finals Freakout where, despite her disdain for Greek life, Belly participates in this outdoor fun-and-games excuse for binge drinking.When Taylor realizes Belly hasn’t told Jere about Paris, she’s adamant that her friend not turn it down just because her boyfriend screwed up his graduation requirements. “Jere is rich," she reminds Belly. "He can fly over all the time.”

Over a sibling dinner, Steven says he understands why Adam’s angry about the extra $20,000, and Belly admits that she, too, gets annoyed with Jeremiah over things like the amount of weed he smokes or that time he forgot to tell her about a last-minute spring break trip to Cabo. That last incident led to a fight, although they didn’t actually break up. (This will be important later.)

Long story short, Belly tells Steven to stop stringing his girlfriend along when he’s still hooking up with Taylor, and Steven tells Belly to let Jere do the right thing by telling him about Paris.

When the Fisher brothers finally connect by phone, Jere pulls the sad little brother card, asking Connie to write the speech for them. Conrad doesn't mention his work conflict, and they end with "I miss you."

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Afterward, Conrad confesses to Agnes that he's in love with Jeremiah’s girlfriend, he never actually said those three words to her, and he doesn’t trust himself to be alone with her in case he accidentally blurts it out. Proving she’s one of us, Agnes is delightfully scandalized over this brother love triangle.

Meanwhile, Jeremiah’s spirits have improved enough to make it to the big Finch rager happening that night, and he’s genuinely delighted for Belly when she tells him about Paris. Thank goodness!

Later that night, Belly strikes up a conversation with Paris returnee Lacie Barone (Lily Donoghue) about the best bakeries to visit, but Jere hustles her away. The vibes are weird, and we quickly learn why: Jeremiah. Slept. With. Lacie.

Belly overhears Lacie talking about it, and Jere doesn’t deny it when she confronts him, explaining that it happened in Cabo when they were on a break, and it meant nothing. OH HELL NO. TELL ME HE DID NOT JUST PULL A ROSS GELLER.

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On hearing the truth, Belly pukes and breaks things off for real as Taylor Swift’s “You’re Losing Me” plays on the soundtrack. And if there’s anything sadder than running away from a college party in a sundress on a Saturday night, with the taste of vomit still in your mouth, I don’t want to know about it.

Kissin’ cousins corner

We’re going to roll right into the second ep here, but before we do, let’s cover a few other points, starting with something that’s news to me: the smokey eye look is dated? *sadly puts away my shadow palette and brush set*

Belly’s majoring in sports psychology, having gravitated to it after injuring her knee too badly to play volleyball.

Laurel’s sassy haircut is adorable.

“Is Uniqlo having a sale on joggers?” Steven had that specific savage burnlocked and loaded for Taylor’s frat boyfriend, and we love to see it.

Jere with a beard: yay or nay?

Us ever forgiving Jere: yay or nay?

Episode 2: Last Christmas

Raise your hand if you’ll adore this show forever for opening season 2 with Olivia Rodrigo’s “Lacy”?

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In Jere’s slight defense (and no, I can’t believe I just typed that), a flashback shows that he and Belly had a big ol’ fight before he left for Cabo that had Jeremiah saying, “Let’s just end it,” and Belly replying, “Okay, awesome, bye.”

It… really does sound like they were on a break. This doesn’t make it any easier to hear that Jere had sex with Lacie —twice, as Belly insisted on learning —but it wasn’t technically cheating. Another flashback shows that he did start to tell Belly about it before chickening out when they got back together post-break.

In the present, Belly whips the bracelet Jere brought her back from Cabo across the room and shuffles around campus like a ghost, seeing visions of him everywhere. The true low point is her listlessly poking at her Cup O’ Noodles — but hey, she’s definitely going to Paris now!

Jeremiah’s fraternity brother Redbird (Tanner Zagarino) offers comfort in the form of bong hits and advice from his own break-up with his ex, Sean. Long story short, Jere-Bear needs to quit moping and fight for her.

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He tries to do that when they bump into each other on campus, but Belly’s still too hurt. “You were supposed to be the one person who would never hurt me. And now you hurt me the most,” she tells him. (For the record, this is Belly basically quoting Rachel in this extremely Friends-coded situation.)

But Belly’s got a secret, too. Over winter break, she slipped away alone to the beach house, only to be surprised by Conrad when his holiday travel plans fell through.

She assumed he’d be gone by the morning, but he’s still there. When she falls down the stairs like a cartoon animal slipping on a banana peel, he swoops her off the floor, and they spend the day cozily doing crossword puzzles and watching movies.Naturally, this brings to mind their other Cousins Beach winter getaway (reminder: flickering fire, Des'ree on the soundtrack, and a magical first time for Belly).

Although nothing happens between the two of them this time, Belly realizes that a part of her will always love Conrad. Oh, and she fails to mention his presence to Jeremiah when he calls.

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Hmm… which is worse, not coming clean about a meaningless physical encounter, or not coming clean about a meaningful emotional one?

Anyway, in the present again, Jeremiah’s not the only person Belly’s icing out; Lacie and Taylor are sorority sisters, and Belly’s treating her bestie like she’s guilty by association.

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Rain Spencer as Taylor in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' season 3

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Frustrated, the former CEO of Team Jeremiah calls him a “scummy little hot tub cheater” who offered Belly a “cheap-ass puka shell bracelet” as a souvenir from his infidelity trip. Jere doesn’t have much in the way of a defense, but he does call her out for cheating, too.

So that’s where Taylor is when Steven pulls up outside her sorority to take her to dinner and to let her know that he broke up with his girlfriend. He tells Taylor he loves her and wants a fresh start with her.

She, in turn, tells Steven that they’ll never work, and she wants out of his car. He drops her off, then angrily drives away… straight into the path of another vehicle.

A distraught Taylor summons Belly to the hospital, where they comfort each other as they wait for news and try to find the Conklin parents.

The doctor is brusque and unhelpful when he informs them that Steven’s in a medically induced coma with a broken rib and a brain bleed. When Taylor calls Conrad, he offers to help if he can before tentatively asking if Belly’s okay.

Turns out, he’s in the right place to do some good. It’s day one of his clinical program with Dr. Namazy (Nayab Hussain), and he asks if she knows anyone at Providence General who could check on his friend who was just admitted. She offers to make a call, then asks if he needs to take the rest of the day off. He declines, not wanting to be the person she fires on the first day.

But he’s so in his own head that he mislabels a blood sample, and Namazy fires him anyway. It’s not all bad, though; she invites him to apply again next year.

Agnes, who manages to survive their first day, swings by later with coffee and some tough love: Dr. Namazy was right. By ignoring his feelings, Connie’s letting them control him instead of the other way around. Agnes is wise.

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Christopher Briney as Conrad in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' season 3

And at least Connie's one-day boss pulled strings to get the head of neurology on Steven’s case. The doctor updates Belly and Taylor, then takes them back to visit him.

While Belly sleeps, Taylor tells an unconscious Steven that she’s never loved anyone like she loves him, but she keeps him at arm’s length because she’s afraid of the day he decides she’s not worth it.

By morning, the swelling on Steven’s brain is down, and Belly sends Taylor home to shower and eat something so she can be back when he wakes up. Before she leaves, Taylor urges Belly not to throw away her relationship with Jeremiah if she still wants to be with him. But “make him beg, obviously.”

Meanwhile, we’ve found the parents! John (Colin Ferguson) showed up at Laurel’s academic conference, where they swiped a full bottle of wine from the refreshments table and ended up in bed together. (I’m clearly going to the wrong academic conferences because I have never once seen full, unattended bottles of wine available for the taking.)

Their lazy, naked morning comes to an abrupt end when Laurel finally returns Belly’s call, and in her panic to get to the hospital, she blames John for making them both unreachable. It takes two to naked-hotel-sheet-tango, ma'am.

Steven wakes up to hugs from Belly, but when Taylor rolls in with her usual brassy toughness, he tells her that the accident was a wake-up call. She was right; the two of them don’t work, and he’s done trying. A crushed Taylor doesn’t even try to repeat her confession.

Belly also recommits to keeping her past in her past, voice-overing that she’ll think of Conrad with the same kind of fondness she’d reserve for her first pet or her first car, and daaaang, I’ve been plenty frustrated with Connie over the years, but comparing him to a hamster or a 15-year-old Nissan Rogue? Rough stuff.

She wakes up Jeremiah, who waited in the hospital lobby all night in case she needed him, and they head outside to talk. Jere apologies for not telling her about Lacie, and Belly apologizes for her part in their pre-spring break fight. He says he was numb when he and Lacie were together, and he cried in the shower afterward over what it meant for him and Belly.

When he promises never to hurt her like that again, they kiss and make up. They make up so hard, in fact, that he says, “Would you —”

“Yes,” Belly finishes for him, already knowing the question.

Kissin’ cousins corner

Well that’s a heck of a way to get engaged. But Belly, girl, you’re still in college. Pump your brakes! There's no rush to put all the rings on it!

LOLOL at the crossword puzzle’s meta-mention of Jenny Han, who wrote the Summer books, along with the answer to the clue: P.S. I Still Love You.

Speaking of on-the-nose metaphors, this show is one of the best around at queuing up songs on the soundtracks that are so very literal to what’s happening in the scene without being cloying about it. And even when they’re suuuuper not subtle, they’re generally funny. (Looking at you, “Lacy”/Lacie.)

Speaking of soundtracks, if you had money riding on whether the musical stylings of Benson Boone would make an appearance this season, congrats, you just won some money.

Sickest burn of ep 2: “The safest place to hang out at an academic conference is at a hotel gym.” It’s funny because it’s true.

See you next week to see what the Conklins and the Fishers have in store for us in episode 3!

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