Season three of The Summer I Turned Pretty picks up not with soft waves and Cousins Beach sunsets, but with real-world drama and a hefty dose of emotional whiplash.
Following a 4-year time jump, Belly is now in her junior year at Finch College, studying sports psychology after a volleyball injury rerouted her plans. Jeremiah is still in her life, still charming, still smiling through the cracks.
Yes, Conrad still exists, though he’s now across the country at Stanford, coupled with a perfectly nice girl named Agnes and pretending not to be haunted by everything he never said.
Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship is steady, at least on the surface. They live in the same college town, share late-night walks, and talk about the future like it’s already decided. But things unravel fast when Jeremiah finds out he won’t be graduating thanks to a few overlooked core classes and Belly gets accepted into a semester abroad in Paris. Then, during a party, she overhears a conversation that flips everything on its head. Turns out, during spring break in Cabo, Jeremiah had been involved with someone else.
Cue the Friends-esque fallout. Jeremiah insists they were on a break. Belly insists they were not. And just when it seems like things couldn’t get any messier, Steven – Belly’s brother and one of the show’s emotional anchors – gets into a serious car accident.
While Jeremiah and Belly are still reeling from the chaos of the past few days, he suddenly blurts out, without warning or buildup, that he wants to marry her.
And Belly… says yes.
Fans react
For those who have read the books, none of this comes as a surprise. Still, seeing it unfold on screen did not make it any less cringe. Twitter and TikTok lit up with reactions that ranged from anger at Jeremiah for what many are calling emotional manipulation, to frustration at Belly for forgiving him so quickly.
One X user wrote, “Jeremiah cheated on Belly twice. Then proposed with no ring. While her brother is in a hospital bed. After a car crash. At a Benson Boone concert. And I am supposed to ship them?”
Another wrote, “Any moment of Jeremiah and Belly together on the screen annoys me so much.”
Meanwhile, Team Conrad remains alive and well. Fans pointed out that this chaotic engagement only brings us closer to the inevitable Belly-Conrad reunion. One user on X made a hilarious play on the title, “The Summer I Defended Conrad Fisher like my life depends on it.”
This premiere certainly didn’t hold back – and with more episodes on the way, it’s clear this final season is going to test loyalties, patience, and maybe even the definition of what love looks like at twenty-one.
One thing’s for sure: Cousins may be gone, but the drama is just getting started.
