After three seasons of heartbreak, messy love triangles and endless summers at Cousins Beach, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” which premiered on Prime Video in 2022, delivered a final season that kept fans hooked. Viewers got to see how things shake out for Isabel “Belly” Conklin (Lola Tung) and the Fisher brothers, Conrad (Christopher Briney) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno). The series has always been about the messy, complicated feelings of growing up, and this season does not hold back.
In the first season, we see Belly figuring out her feelings as she goes back and forth between Conrad, her longtime crush, and Jeremiah, who she starts to see in a new way. The second season takes a heavier turn after the passing of Susannah, the boys’ mother, and the love triangle becomes even more intense and complicated as Belly struggles with her identity and her relationships.
By the third season, the focus is less about new drama and more about the characters dealing with their past decisions and realizing how much they’ve grown since their childhood, as represented by recurring flashbacks.
The first thing that really stands out is the soundtrack. Most notably, Taylor Swift’s songs pervade throughout this season. It is clear why the show leaned on them, since her fanbase is huge and anything tied to her and her music tends to receive attention, but the music does not always fit the mood of the scenes. At times, it takes over and tells the audience what to feel instead of letting the acting or writing carry the moment. The clips look good on social media, but in the actual episodes, the effect feels a little forced.
Some of the actors really stand out this season while others don’t quite land. Lola Tung finally gives Belly some self-awareness towards the end of Season 3, which makes her easier to watch compared to the past two seasons when her choices often made her unbearable.
Christopher Briney is the one who carries much of the show, though. Conrad’s inner conflict and longing are shown not through long speeches but through the quiet way Briney plays him. By contrast, Jeremiah’s character is underdeveloped and uneven. His sudden pivot into becoming a chef, played out in scenes like the chocolate cake moment at the wedding, feels random and unearned. Even his last-minute romance with Denise lacks chemistry or buildup. Gavin Casalegno does his best, but Jeremiah is still given little to work with.
The finale, in particular, tries to fix everything fans have criticized over the years, which makes it feel a little too neat. Belly admits she “ruined a family,” Jeremiah finally talks about being insecure next to Conrad and the family dynamics suddenly seem smoothed over. It gives fans the moments they’ve been waiting for, but it feels more like the writers are ticking boxes than letting the characters’ issues play out in a real way.
What still works is the nostalgia. The show leans into that feeling, and it holds the season together. The scenes at Cousins Beach remain the strongest. The warm, sun-soaked aesthetic makes even the messiest episodes feel bittersweet and grounded in memory.
The late-night conversations between Belly and Conrad remind us why the love triangle has been so gripping in the first place, showing just how complicated first love can be. And the final train station scene works perfectly because it avoids being overproduced and lets the actors carry the emotion on their own without the editing or music getting in the way.
For fans who aren’t ready to see this love story end, a movie adaptation of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” is already in the works, with Jenny Han writing and directing. It’s expected to cover the third book, “We’ll Always Have Summer,” and could give the story more space to slow down and really explore the themes of love, family and growing up that the TV series sometimes rushed.
In the end, Season 3 is messy, emotional and uneven. The Taylor Swift songs may have boosted the show’s popularity, but they also make the story feel less genuine. Performances by Tung and Briney keep the season grounded, even if Jeremiah’s arc feels hollow.
The finale gives the closure fans were waiting for, but parts of it feel a bit shallow. Still, the series leaves us with the reminder that summers change us, even if they don’t always turn out the way we imagined.