The Summer I Learned About The Summer I Turned Pretty

August may have slipped away into a moment in time, but The Summer I Turned Pretty is forever The TSITP fandom — for the Prime Video series based on the YA novels by Jenny Han — has taken over TikTok and fixated people far older than the college-age characters at the heart of the drama. TSITP is, at its heart, about a love triangle. Isabel Conklin (Lola Tung), Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney), and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) have been emotionally intertwined since they were children — and now, as adults, it’s getting incestuous. The current and final season sees Belly and Jeremiah get engaged, only for Conrad to confess his unfading feelings for Belly.

We all knew one brother would win in the end, but now there’s an end to the ending. At the show’s finale red carpet, Amazon announced that The Summer I Turned Pretty was going to be The Summer I Turned Movie. A finale feature will be written by Jenny Han, and it will give the final definitive answer to #WhatWillBellyDo? Everything you need to know about The Summer I Turned Pretty to understand the phenomenon, starting with the basics.

What is the premise of The Summer I Turned Pretty?

The Summer I Turned Pretty is about a girl named Belly who —

Wait. I know we just started, but can you back up? Belly?

It’s short for Isabel. Belly is in a love triangle with Conrad and Jeremiah Fisher, two richie-rich brothers. When the show starts, she’s been in love with Conrad for as long as she can remember. But then she “turns pretty,” and both boys’ interests are piqued. 

These brothers look identical to me. How can I tell them apart?

Conrad is the older brother — Belly’s first love, who is introduced in the pilot with “Lover” by Taylor Swift. He’s very broody and studying to be a doctor. Jeremiah is the current unfavorite of the fandom. He’s younger, kind of fratty, but also bi. And he has strong opinions on cake. There’s many things that are interesting about him.

Does she only know the Fisher family? Is this a Lost situation where they’re stranded on an island and can only form attachments with their fellow shipwreckees?

No, TSITP takes place on the mainland, specifically a place called Cousins Beach. Yes, she kisses the brothers at Cousins. Basically, Belly’s mom, Laurel, and the Fisher mama, Susannah, do a joint family vacay every summer at Susannah’s family beach house. (The husbands weren’t really a part of the summer fun.) So it would be Belly, her mom, her brother, the Fisher boys, and their mom. Belly’s non-Cousins best friend, Taylor, is also heavily involved; she’s on-again-off-again with Belly’s brother, Steven (played by Sean Kaufman).

In some ways, the great love story of the show is the two moms. Laurel writes a book about their lifelong friendship between seasons one and two. When Susannah dies in the season-two premiere, it devastates Laurel about as much as it does her children. But in another way, the true love story is everyone’s love for the beach house. 

Oh, so this is really all about real estate?

There’s definitely a subsection of the fandom (jokingly championed by comedian Meredith Lynch) that believes Belly loves neither Fisher brother, but rather wants the house. And the hoops these kids (and Laurel) go through to keep Susannah’s beloved house when an estranged relative inherits it in season two are unreal. Then, when Belly is left alone for Christmas in season three, she decides to spend it with the house instead of traveling to see any friends or family.

What’s happening at the beginning of season three?

At the start of season three, she’s dating younger brother Jeremiah. Her grand romance with Conrad flamed out last season. 

Why did Belly and Conrad break up?

While Conrad was grieving the loss of his mother in season two, Belly took his withdrawal as rejection. That’s when she and Jeremiah got more serious. Conrad gave his blessing to his little brother and his ex-girlfriend, and Jeremiah got to feel like he’d finally “won” something over his brother. (The Fisher patriarch, Adam, kind of made his kids vie for his approval, and it’s given Jeremiah a complex. One that he decided to project onto Belly.) Meanwhile, Belly still feels connected to her ex because of Susannah’s dying wish that Belly “take care” of Conrad. 

That is an unhealthy amount of enmeshment.

Yeah, it’s not great. Laurel, Conrad, Belly, and Jeremiah all call each other by nicknames. There’s a phone conversation in the season-three premiere where Conrad calls Laurel “Laur,” and she calls him “Connie.” Like, what? That’s your daughter’s ex, ma’am. Enmeshment would also explain why Belly agreed to marry Jeremiah right after he copped to cheating. 

And she forgave him? And then they got engaged?

Real “Band-Aid over a bullet wound” behavior. Jeremiah suspects Belly of still having feelings for Conrad, so he picks a fight, they “break up,” and then he cheats on her during a spring-break trip to Cabo San Lucas. Except Steven gets in a car wreck in episode two of season three, and trauma slams Belly and Jeremiah back together. Like, immediately. After she takes him back, he starts to propose (standing up, with no ring), and she says “yes” before he even finishes asking. Steven’s still in the hospital, BTW. 

Later, he surprises her with a teeny-tiny ring. One Belly’s mom has to squint to even see/disapprove of. But Belly likes it!

So everyone agrees to let these two children get married?

Laurel is not onboard, but she tries to put on a brave face. Ditto Conrad, who has never really stopped loving Belly but agrees to be Jeremiah’s best man in episode four. This deeply unstable truce breaks in episode seven during the bachelor and bachelorette parties. Conrad tries to expose Jeremiah’s Cabo cheating and declare his love for Belly in the same breath. She does. Not. Want. To. Hear. It. “I put up with a lot worse from you,” she says, defending her man. 

And yet Jeremiah is still considered the shittier Fisher brother by the fandom, after what he does the morning of the wedding. 

Oh God, what does he do the morning of the wedding?

Bounce. He gets into a fight with Conrad and takes off. Meanwhile, Belly is getting ready — alone — fully knowing there’s no groom in the vicinity. Eventually, Jeremiah comes back and Belly admits there’s still a part of her that loves Conrad, that will always love Conrad. That’s not good enough for Jeremiah, who wants one person to love him and only him. (Daddy and mommy issues again.) 

So Belly takes off (soundtracked to “Cardigan” by Taylor Swift). She’s going to travel to Europe and forget about all the Fishers she’s loved before. 

So Belly is no longer a child bride and is instead Eat Pray Love–ing? What happens now?

Belly meeting some people that have never heard of Cousins Beach is what happens now! And she’s calling herself Isabel like a big girl! But just when she’s out, Conrad seems to be pulling her back in. 

What happens in the finale?

Sorry to the Jellyfishers, but Team Conrad gets a big W. Belly, now with a lob and red lipstick, hooks up with Conrad in France. Voulez-vous, as they say. And obvs, Taylor Swift is playing. This time it’s “Dress” from Reputation. After briefly wondering if she’s just doing this whole love triangle because Susannah basically demanded it on her death bed, Belly resolves that she does actually love Conrad for keepsies. “I have brown hair and brown eyes, and I will always love Conrad Fisher,” she narrates.

Meanwhile, Jere and Stephen’s ex Denise decide to pair the spares and find love between two love triangles. It’s not as convoluted as Jacob imprinting on Renesmee, but we’re in that territory.

Is this the same ending from the books?

Belly and Conrad do get together at the end of We’ll Always Have Summer, Jenny Han’s final TSITP book. They even get married in the epilogue, which gives us lots of ideas about the movie.

Tell me more about the movie!

“There is another big milestone left in Belly’s journey, and I thought only a movie could give it its proper due,” Jenny Han said in a statement. Sounds like wedding bells to us, if you’ll forgive the pun. 

But until the movie drops, you can always pivot to the other love-triangle-between-brothers show. 

There’s another teen drama about a brother love triangle out now?

Yeah, it’s called My Life With the Walter Boys, and its second season just dropped.