*Column consists of slight spoilers*

As the warm, hot summer air turns cool and brisk, there is one thing on most rom-com lovers’ minds – “The Summer I Turned Pretty.” 

Originally, a book trilogy written by Jenny Han, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” has been turned into an Amazon Prime series and has taken the world by storm. 

Belly Conklin is a young girl from the outskirts of Philadelphia. As an escape from the city life, her family travels to Cousins Beach, a small coastal town in Massachusetts, for the summer. It’s there when she reunites with the Fisher family, which consists of Susannah and her son, Conrad, and Jeremiah. 

Most summers look the same for Belly, joining Conrad, Jeremiah, and her older brother, Steven, as they spend time by the pool and visit the small shops in town. However, as the kids grew older, romantic interest between the group started to blossom, which is where the infamous love triangle started to form.

Belly always had a special place in her heart for the brooding athlete, Conrad, but it seemed like that feeling wasn’t mutual for the majority of their friendship. When Belly returned to Cousins Beach at 16, Jeremiah took an interest in her, and ever since that summer, nothing has been the same.

Throughout the story, Belly dated both brothers, which ultimately divided watchers into two teams: team Conrad or team Jeremiah.

While both brothers have moments of weakness and moments of strength, it is in my humble opinion that Team Conrad is the winner of this two-way battle. 

Since the start of the show, Jeremiah has sadly been an unreliable character for Belly. The younger brother often lets his emotions cloud his thought process, and he does things out of emotion. While it is refreshing to see a male lead express so much emotion and break down stereotypical gender norms, his clouded thoughts often cause moments of outbursts, which significantly affect other characters, such as Belly. 

When Belly made her debut at the Debutant Ball, with Jeremiah as her date, Jeremiah found out bad news and left her on the ballroom floor without a dance partner. 

That’s when Conrad stepped in. As Belly was left awkwardly awaiting, as Jeremiah left her in hysterics, Conrad came to her beck and call and stepped in for his younger brother. Through moments like this, it is hard to deny that Conrad might be the better, more mature fit for Belly.  

This moment was just one of many that highlighted that Conrad might be the best fit for Belly Conklin. Since their childhood, Conrad had always come to Belly’s aid. Whether it was teaching her to ride a bike or watching over her at a party, he was always someone she could fall back on. 

This isn’t just obvious to watchers, but to Conrad and Jeremiah’s mom, Susannah. Susannah is a big influence on Belly as she was essentially a second mom to her. The pair would watch movies together and joke like mother and daughter. Ever since Belly and Conrad were little, Susannah always thought that Belly would end up marrying Conrad, which makes it hard to root for Jeremiah when his own mom is rooting for Conrad. 

Each character in this show is complex, and this includes Susannah Fisher. Susannah has always been a mother figure to the young Belly. Throughout the show, it is obvious that her character has very strong maternal instincts. No matter what she is going through, her number one priority is her sons. It is clear that she is a great mother to the boys, but there is one thing she does that makes me question her character, that being pitting her own sons against each other when it comes to ending up with Belly. 

Susannah has made it very clear to her sons that they have to stick together and go through life as a united team. However, with this mindset, it is hard to understand why she has her mind set that Belly and Conrad will end up together when really either of the boys could end up with her

Her insistent thoughts that Conrad and Belly will end up together automatically make it harder for Jeremiah because he knows how important Susannah is to Belly, and he knows that Belly will listen to Susannah. Throughout the show, it is obvious that there is a divide between the boys because they are both fighting for the same girl. It makes watchers like myself wonder if this divide wouldn’t happen, and who Belly would pick if Susannah didn’t have that strong influence over her and didn’t pit her sons against each other. 

At the end of the day, I think that Jeremiah is simply too immature and unreliable for Belly. Belly is still very young, and if she is looking for a lover, I think she needs someone she can rely on due to her age, and I think that is Conrad.  

“The Summer I Turned Pretty” fans may be broken into two, but there is a deeper lesson I think can be learned from this show. 

Throughout the show, it seems as though Belly is solely focused on her relationship status and not on herself. Throughout most of her time at Cousins, she is in distress about her relationship with the brothers and not enjoying her teenage years in a beautiful beach town. 

She is in her formative years, and instead of exploring who she is and spending time figuring herself out, she is spending her time and energy focused on boys. This may seem like a small issue, but I feel like it is instilling in younger watchers that they should spend their time focusing on finding their other half and not finding themselves. 

At the end of the day, “The Summer I Turned Pretty” is an exciting drama that tells the story of relationships, heartbreak, and navigating young adulthood, and it’s a great way for watchers to learn from Belly as she navigates through young adulthood and first loves. 

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