The Summer I Turned Pretty 2X6: Love Fest
Added 2023-08-04 21:20:33 +0000 UTCThis seemed much less of a love fest and more of a hot mess. Everything is going wrong right now. Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad are all mad at each other. Belly continues to not see her part in all of this. Steven and Milo had a giant fight in the middle of the living room.
The only unproblematic pairing right now is Cameron and Skye. Who saw that coming?
At least we've potentially got Laurel on the horizon. Finally.
Comments
If you're being too harsh on him, then me too cause I have the same view of Jere. I think she is his best friend and he does love her but I don't think he'd have given her a second thought romantically if Conrad wasn't involved. To be fair I have that impression from the books. It's one of the chapters in book 2 from his perspective and it's the "game-changing" moment where he decides that he likes Belly. I don't know if you'll remember it but the moment turns out to be that he's telling Belly a joke and she says he's the funniest person she knows but then Conrad comes out, tugs on Belly's hair, asks what's so funny and she gets distracted and says she forgets. Later on, Belly leaves and Conrad watches her walk away. Jere decides in that moment that he loves her and laments that Conrad can't just take her because he feels like it. I read that and I was like hold up a second. This feels like it's barely anything to do with Belly and everything to do with Conrad. I thought they might change it in the show but that's still the impression I get.
Melissa
2023-08-07 20:40:42 +0000 UTCI get being excited about it too. And it just sucks that Conrad immediately made them feel bad about it. But, as you said, I don't think any of them are really in the wrong here. That's the part that makes me so frustrated with Belly. She's been in love with Conrad since she was 10. Now all of a sudden, he wants her, and she thinks maybe she wants Jere too. What is happening? That's a good point. A lot of things that used to come easily to her (or so I'm led to believe) are now being taken away, and her options for the future are not as guaranteed. Perhaps this makes her feel like she has a semblance of choice again. In addition, this is literally the summer she got pretty. Maybe she also isn't used to being desired, and now after so long of no one wanting her, she's enjoying being coveted, so to speak. I also really wish that beach scene hadn't happened when Belly was drunk. It was so important and necessary, and I think that took away from it a little bit. The more I think about it, the more I feel like Conrad feels for her so deeply, and Jeremiah seems to mostly want her because Conrad does. Or so he can one-up Conrad by taking her away from him. Not that he doesn't actually like her, but I don't think that's the only motive for Jere. Maybe I'm being to harsh on him.
Dana Licciardello
2023-08-07 17:36:06 +0000 UTCI get why Belly and Jere were excited too. A week is better than what they thought they were getting and it's a way to keep this part of their childhood and Susannah even if it's not the same. I think both sides are fair. They probably could have talked it over if there wasn't so much tension always bubbling under the surface. I agree the lust vs love came out of nowhere this episode. I got a lot of friendship vibes from Belly and Jere last season and even this season. I don't remember the books really pushing Belly and Jere into this territory. Like it wasn't a love vs lust situation in the books. Maybe it was just this episode and it won't be a theme of the rest of the season. Belly's head is easily turned which is interesting cause last season (and her whole life) she had laser eyes on Conrad. Cam and Jere weren't even options worth considering as soon as she thought she could have Conrad but now it is just like she's turned by whoever pays her attention. I wonder if it's related to the volleyball stuff. She keeps getting rejected from things. She's failing school and probably can't get into a good college anymore, Jere was mad at her, Conrad was cold to her, her volleyball teammates were not excited to have her back, that guy at the party rejected her, then last episode the Coach basically said she can't come back to the team. I wonder if she's looking for attention and validation and Conrad and Jere are just great candidates for that. The beach and the scene in the store were peak communicating for them. I think they communicated really well in the store. They gave space for each person to talk and have their moment and the other one listened and absorbed. Conrad was successfully vulnerable with minimal guilt or shame. The beach though was the conversation they needed to have. I wish it had gone a bit further and Conrad had given her something other than I thought you knew but a drunk Belly yelling at him doesn't really seem conducive to him opening up. It seemed so obvious how much Conrad cared that I can only think Belly didn't know because while she loves him in a more real way now compared to when she was a kid with a crush, there's still this childhood awe attached to it like she can't believe he could ever like her back and so at the first sign of trouble she just defaulted to he doesn't love me and he wants to break up.
Melissa
2023-08-05 18:38:27 +0000 UTCRight? I didn't want to like them as a couple, but in the span of 10 minutes, I was all in. Ha. I don't disagree with Conrad's point here; it just all happened so fast. Like, he didn't even entertain the idea. But again, I understand and agree. I really like this take on Jeremiah. On the surface, this often feels like a fun, silly show, but I have a feeling it's going to be one I end up rewatching because there is actually a lot of complexity going on here. I think that's a really good analogy between Adam and Conrad. Jere did look up to Conrad for so long. It bothered me, too, that Jeremiah accused Conrad of breaking up with Belly when he had no idea what was going on. As much as I still think their whole break up was really just about lack of communication, Jeremiah never once thought it could have possibly been Belly's fault. It seems like he's now putting her up on that pedestal where Conrad used to be. I'm not anti-Belly in any way, but that girl is full of flaws. How could she not be? She's just a teenager. I agree with you about lust/love, but I feel like it sort of came out of nowhere in this episode. Up until now, I was firmly in the 'she loves Jeremiah, but this is much more friendship vibes than romance.' Conrad seemed like actual love and lust. That said, all of a sudden, now it's all about how hot Jeremiah is and how she wants to lick him? I don't buy it. But it also seemed like she was just gravitating to whichever one was showing her attention at the moment. Whenever she was interrupted with either one by the other, she always looks guilty. So she knows what she's doing isn't really right. That scene on the beach was the communication they needed all along. I always find it interesting when someone is like, 'I would have fought for you.' On one hand, you want someone who loves you enough to do that, but on the other hand, it also feels like you're forcing someone to stay in a relationship they might not want to be in. Here, I think it's just all about communication. They both want to be in the relationship, but they don't know how to ask for what they need (Conrad) or figure out how to help (Belly). I do not understand how Belly could possibly still be trying to figure out which one she wants after this conversation. Yeah, that's what I figure will happen as well. I can't see a way to keep them all in the same place. Whether she chooses one or neither of them, there's just too much baggage right now.
Dana Licciardello
2023-08-05 15:03:58 +0000 UTCI felt the same way about Steven and Taylor this episode lol. They really won me over with that party in the usa dance. I think Conrad was so anti the one-week deal because to him keeping the house is about it being Susannah's house. It's not her house if all of the things inside of it aren't hers. They have great memories there but like Conrad told Julia, what makes it feel like home is that Susannah picked out everything in the house. If it won't feel like home anymore, then what's the point? Won't it just hurt to come back and see all of Susannah's things replaced by a stranger's? I really feel like the issue between Jeremiah and Conrad is Jere's inferiority complex. It all comes back to that, even the Belly stuff. Jere went on and on in his VO in ep 5 about how Conrad didn't deserve Belly and he could love her better and Conrad wasn't as great as everyone made him out to be. I think Jere puts all the non-Belly issues between them into the Belly issue if that makes sense. Like they're fighting about the house and Jeremiah suddenly accuses Conrad of throwing Belly away even though he told Belly in ep 2 that he knows nothing about what happened between them. He's convinced himself Conrad broke up with her because he assumes the worst of his brother but it was actually Belly who broke up with Conrad. You can debate that he didn't fight for her or that he was distant but Conrad had no intention of breaking up with her that night and was confused when she brought it up like it was a foregone conclusion. But Belly is Jeremiah's one claim that Conrad is a horrible, selfish person who treats everyone like dirt and Jere knows he could do so much better if he had the chance. That's what it feels like at least. And Conrad just repeatedly lets Jere lash out at him. It reminds me of when kids realize for the first time that their parents are actually flawed and make mistakes and then they feel resentful about it. Conrad had the moment with Adam when he found out about the affair. It feels like Jeremiah is having that moment with Conrad, even though Conrad isn't his parent. This episode really made me feel like Belly and Jere are all about lust and Belly and Conrad are about love. In the past, it seemed like maybe the attraction between Belly and Jere was emotional as well but this episode was so much emphasis on the lust side of things. Belly had an out-of-body experience kissing Conrad but kissing Jere was really, really hot. Jere saying he wouldn't be able to stop kissing her is wattpad level hot or whatever Taylor said. When they're in the pool it's very physically charged. He catches her when she slips with the skates and that feels very lust-driven. Taylor says that Belly has been looking at Jeremiah like an ice cream cone she wants to lick. It's a lot of focus on the physical especially as we watch Belly and Conrad have these very emotional discussions. They're talking about how much they loved each other and how Belly wanted to support him at the funeral. Conrad says Belly had the right to be jealous even though they broke up which seems like he's basically saying that because he was still in love with her, he felt like she had a justified claim on him or something. He finally confides in her about his panic attacks and how he wishes it had been her and not Aubrey to find him in such a vulnerable state. Belly's yelling at him on the beach that she would have fought for them if she'd realized how strong Conrad's feelings were. I really saw the difference between the connections in this episode and I feel like it was too obvious to not be intentional. I think the season will end how book 2 did. Belly and Jere will get together and Conrad will bow out and go to Stanford and disappear for the next two years. It makes sense to me with how it's going right now and like you said that seems to be the only option. They can't all be together if she's with one of them, Conrad was going to stay at Brown to be close to Jere but clearly, Jere doesn't want him around, and Conrad wants Belly to be happy and treated right and my guess is that he'll think Jere can do both of those things.
Melissa
2023-08-04 23:14:57 +0000 UTC
