The Summer I Turned Pretty is a multi-generational, all-encompassing, and emotionally-packed journey of a series, and describing it as such still feels like an understatement. Author Jenny Han‘s book trilogy was picked up by Prime Video as a series, and despite being on Team Conrad and a lot of season two focusing on Jeremiah instead, it’s a show I can’t stop watching.
The last time a show captivated me in such a way was the CW’s One Tree Hill, and while a significant component of that series was romance, aka “one big love… rectangle plus one… whatever that is,” another important piece of the puzzle was friendship, and how it sustains the heart, and adds joy and depth to the life we all live. A love triangle might be an immediate draw to pull viewers in — but there’s got to be more under the surface to keep viewers coming back for more. And in the case of TSITP, a potent undertow of grief has unexpectedly tugged me ever deeper into appreciating the series.
The Summer I Turned Pretty, much like One Tree Hill, has done a great job of capturing a more holistic view of life than just romantic love, and season two shows that in a more prolific way than the first season did, and with good reason.
The first season of a series has to lay the groundwork, pique our interest, and keep us coming back for more; the second season can dive deeper into the realm in which these characters exist, the places they’ve gone before, and the struggle they carry. With season two of The Summer I Turned Pretty came a painful and heartwrenching loss; the death of Susannah Fisher. And while the series could have swept what came next under the rug, it chose to highlight it instead.
While season one was a lot about keeping secrets and words whispered in the dark, season two is about life after loss, and how — in glimpses — love still holds us together. The Summer I Turned Pretty hasn’t shied away from grief and its associated emotional fallout, including anxiety; it’s placed it into the open, sat it on full display, and ensured that we couldn’t turn away from it.
Season two is loud, messy, and more captivating than ever before — proving one thing; we’re not tuning in so that we can see the fairytale romance and the picture-perfect life; we’re tuning in to see something real.
Susannah’s passing
The catalyst for much of the grief in season two comes from Susannah’s passing; Jeremiah and Conrad lost their mother, Belly lost a woman who brought magic into her world, Steven lost the person he saw as his second mom, and Laurel — she lost the love of her life.
Each of our most beloved characters dealt with Susannah’s passing in a different way, unique to how they loved her, the time they spent with her, and the bonds that even death would never be able to break, but that didn’t ease the pain of her passing. In fact, season two opened up with it — we see Belly living her best life, and we’re soon reminded that it’s just a dream — she’s not in Cousins, she and Conrad aren’t together, and Susannah died.
From the loss of Belly’s captainship on the volleyball team, to Conrad being physically incapable of thinking about a tomorrow without his mom, leading him to live with crippling anxiety, and building walls up around his heart, to Jeremiah feeling like he had to shoulder the weight of everything himself, and Laurel ceasing to exist in a way that she once did; Susannah’s death reverberates through everybody we care about.
As fans cried when Conrad and Belly broke up at prom, saw Steven help him through a panic attack, watched the light drain from Jeremiah’s smile, and saw a heartbroken version of Laurel, one thing was sure: The Summer I Turned Pretty brings us face to face with the concentric circles of devastation wrought by grief. If you’ve ever had to look at the place where someone you once loved existed, knowing they’d never be back, you know just how intense that pain can be.
Conrad’s continued anxiety
We were first introduced to Conrad’s anxiety in season one, as he carried on his own the burden of knowing his mother’s cancer had returned. He didn’t want anyone to know that he’d discovered her secret — including his mother — so he kept it to himself. We saw him quit his favorite sport, become withdrawn, push people he loved away, and exist as a shell of what he once was.
The anxiety came to a head when he had his first panic attack in front of Cleveland Castillo as he attempted to help him with a ship. As Conrad saw broken pieces of the vessel, he began thinking of his mother, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. We witness this physical manifestation of anxiety right in front of us, and for anyone who struggles with anxiety, it was jarring but cathartic at the same time.
Panic attacks can be debilitating; it feels like you might actually die, and as Castillo talks Conrad down, teaching him some breathing tricks he learned to deal with his own anxiety, we see the relief wash over Conrad. It’s not just that he realizes what is happening in his own body, and harnesses methods to cope with it; he’s being seen at that moment — someone recognizes that what he’s feeling is real, it’s happening, and he’s not alone.
Conrad has another panic attack at the beach house in season two, one Steve helps to talk him down from, and in the moments that follow, we see Steven keep a closer eye on Conrad. He saw his friend in a situation he’d never been witness to before, and it allowed him to watch for signs that it might happen again. This dynamic gives fans a front-row seat as to what it looks like to love someone who struggles with it. Conrad doesn’t mask his anxiety under a smile and a party boy persona; he comes to those he loves in season two and bares his soul, apologizes for his wrongdoings, asks for forgiveness, and allows them to love him through it.
Laurel admits she’s been angry
When it comes to Laurel, we see loss and heartache manifest as anger. It doesn’t take long into the first episode of season two to realize that something is very different with this once vibrant and powerful woman we’ve come to love.
She’s dealing with the loss of her best friend as she navigates writing a book about that very idea, and discovering what it means to have your highs and lows on public display. We don’t get much Laurel time until the 7th episode of the season, when she erupts onto the scene in a storm of emotions. But one is louder than all the rest — anger.
Laurel didn’t believe in magic, but she believed in Susannah. While the two weren’t intimate in the way you might initially consider when hearing the term “love of her life,” they were each other’s truest loves; in fact, Laurel’s ex-husband told her that the only person she truly ever loved was Susannah; and he was okay with it, because he loved her too.
Laurel and Susannah had the kind of friendship that defies time and circumstance; they grew up together in many ways, watching one another as they navigated things like dating, marriage, having children, watching those children grow up, and all of the day-to-day events that happen in between those life-altering moments.
Laurel is just plain mad that Susannah is gone; she’s angry that the person she loved most in this world is no longer beside her, and she’s furious that life dares to continue in the absence of the only person she thought might be magical enough to exist forever. This life wasn’t supposed to be hers; she wasn’t prepared to do life without Susannah.
Laurel’s anger creates problems; witness her reunion with Belly, after Belly’s drunken call to her mom, begging her to come to Susannah’s house and fix it. They have an intense argument, leading to a moment that shocks them both differently. But as Laurel finds Belly and they sit to talk, it’s evident that this is the moment they both need.
Laurel asks Belly for forgiveness, and she apologizes to the rest of the kids, too; she steps up, even in her anger and grief, and promises to do better by them, and by Susannah. Laurel and Susannah’s bond defies even death, and now that Laurel has let the hurt out, she can let some of the light and love back in.
Belly was “out of her mind” in love
If you can remember first love and look back at it fondly, you’ll likely relate to Belly and Conrad’s journey — both together and apart — throughout The Summer I Turned Pretty. Conrad was all Belly ever hoped for, and she was his infinity; but by the time they were both ready to take the next step, grief and hurt had entered the picture.
During the summer, Belly dared to hope for Conrad; but he was carrying the secret of his mother’s cancer returning. Anyone who has ever struggled with a heavy weight inside could relate to Conrad, in the good and the bad. Sometimes when grief gets too heavy, we can hurt those who mean the most to us.
Conrad hurt Belly, and confused her; he was sending mixed signals, and it took an entire summer for them to get it right. But we left season one with dreams that life was finally giving them what they deserved. However, it didn’t take long to learn that Han was following the story in her books, and Conrad and Belly weren’t tiptoeing into their happily ever after.
Conrad thought he was doing right by cutting things off with Belly when things with his mom got really bad again; Susannah was dying, he was falling apart, and he tried to give Belly a way out — one she never asked for. Belly, for her part, said some truly hurtful things at Susannah’s funeral, and by then they’d wronged each other so much that she felt it was best to leave their bond in the past.
A significant moment in season two comes when Steven expresses anger at Belly for “ruining things” with the boys, making it so that they didn’t even talk to him anymore. Belly’s shouted reply strikes me as one of the most relatable lines in television, one that ranks up there with “Pick me. Choose me. Love me,” and “Why won’t you ever just let me all the way in?”
“I was in love, Steven, like out of my mind in love. What was I supposed to do?”
In season two, Belly deals with what it feels like to not just be out of her mind in love, but to be moving forward in heartache. She stopped seeing a future with Conrad, and this time it was more than just because he’d hurt her; she’d hurt him, too. Many fans have been Team Belly for the duration of the series, but some have grown a little tired of her actions recently, trying to make amends with Conrad while pining for Jeremiah, opening a can of worms that hurt them all last summer. What is she thinking?
The truth is, she’s trying to figure it all out — she has always been in love with Conrad, and despite our best desires for her heart (we’re totally Team Conrad), she has a love for Jeremiah, too.
In dealing with the grief of losing Susannah, Belly just wants to feel good again. This explains some of her actions over the course of the episodes; Belly is chasing a feeling that brings her joy again, longing for something to make her smile, hoping against hope for something to feel the way it used to. And despite every hurt around him, Jeremiah finds a way to smile, and he brings that out in Belly.
We’re still, always, and forever Team Conrad, but we get it; first love can hurt, and it can be nearly impossible to get over, so you can’t fault Belly for chasing what feels good.
Taylor gives love another chance
Speaking of second chances, season two brought one ship that we can totally get behind: Staylor. That’s right, that misplaced first kiss at a party turned into a blossoming romance in season two, and if we had to lose Steven and Shayla, the only person we would want to see win his heart next is Taylor.
Taylor told Belly, albeit at an inopportune time, that she’d had feelings for Steven for as long as she could remember — and while Belly didn’t take it well at the moment, season two saw her open her heart to the idea. Taylor’s first love is an integral part of the show’s equation, too; she also had to deal with heartache last summer, and she’s hesitant to see Steven again in such a close capacity when they return to Cousins this year.
The spark that exists between Taylor and Steven, however, is undeniable, and they’re drawn to one another in a significant way as they spend more and more time together. Taylor’s guard is up, but Steven helps to break it down, and we think the journey is just starting for these two.
So while much of the appeal of The Summer I Turned Pretty may be rooted in Belly’s love story (and we’re still praying it leads her back to Connie, baby), there’s a draw in it for others, too. The series bridges the gap; you can sit and watch it with your besties, with your kids, with your parents, and your grandparents too.
Despite what we may wish for our own lives, we’ve all dealt with life-changing loss, devastating heartache, and having to move on before we were ready; The Summer I Turned Pretty doesn’t just tell a story about the highs and lows the characters face, it sees them through it in the most beautiful and gritty ways.