The summer it turned messy

By Zaynab Ahmed

Staff Writer

I loved “The Summer I Turned Pretty” (TSITP). Emphasis on “loved.”

“TSITP’s” vibe in Season 1 was amazing. It had a very easy breezy summery feel to it that the second and third seasons lost. 

Many of the characters were grieving and dealing with the loss of Susannah’s death, which is why it makes sense for some things to feel off for a few episodes or even an entire season. 

The issue is that they didn’t bring back that light summer feel by Season 3. Actually, they were unable to bring it back. There was too much drama and tension between all the characters for them all to enjoy having a good time with each other again. 

Watching Season 3, all the characters felt weird and everyone felt completely different from the first two seasons. It didn’t take me long to figure out what had happened. These characters all felt different, because they were. There were too many time jumps in Season 3 and as an audience it throws us off. It wouldn't have been so much of a problem if we were going through time jumps throughout the entire show. But we didn’t. Rather, we were occasionally shown flashbacks of their childhoods, or the past season’s drama.

Another issue I had was Belly’s love interests. Many people were team Jere but by Season 3 most of them switched over to Conrad. Why did this happen? In short - maturity. The levels of maturity exhibited by everyone changed, especially Conrad’s.

David Abe / THE GATEPOST

In the first season Conrad was very moody and wouldn’t speak to anyone. He had substance issues and was always quiet and brooding. Then by Season 3 had a stable plan as a medical student, and he was going to therapy and working on himself. 

Season 1 Jeremiah was seen as very bubbly and brought life to the party. He was fun to be around and simply seemed like less drama than whatever Conrad had going on. Then by Season 3 he somehow became a dependent, clingy little child. 

Belly, on the other hand, didn’t really change or mature much throughout the entire series. Susannah’s death certainly made her act off and she didn’t use the best approach to handle most situations. With the brothers, she thought she needed to be there for both of them and when she was with one, she felt guilty she wasn’t there for the other. This is what made her switch back and forth so much. What she should’ve done was not date either brother during that terrible grieving period and just have been there as a friend for both of them. 

If I had to pick a brother for her to end up with, I would pick Jeremiah because their maturity levels match each other. Conrad is far too different and mature by Season 3 to be with Belly anymore. She and Jeremiah technically both cheated on and hurt each other, and they are just toxic together because they’re toxic people. Belly goes through both brothers a number of different times, then moves to Paris for some change. But if we’re being honest, the biggest change she experienced was cutting her hair. She should’ve left both brothers alone and found someone new that she was better matched with in Season 3, and that’s what would've been the perfect ending. 

After analyzing the love triangle, I just want to leave off by saying I think the biggest crime in “TSITP” was that we didn’t get to see Cam Cameron have a good ending! After all the love the fans showed him in Season 1, we deserved to have an amazing subplot of his romance even if he wasn’t in Belly’s life anymore. I think while many of our opinions on “TSITP” may differ, it’s safe to say we all wanted the best ending for Cam Cameron. 

Rating: C

Justice for Cam Cameron!