The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 episodes 1,2, and 3 recaps & review

Open Go TV / July 16, 2023 / Reviews

[ad_1]

In the first three episodes of the second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Belly and Jeremiah go to Cousins Beach to look for Conrad as Belly thinks about her past relationship with Conrad. The episodes are now streaming on Prime Video.

Episode 1 recap: Love Lost

This season begins with Belly’s last day of school before the summer break. Unlike every other year, this time her family will not be going to Cousins Beach because Susannah passed away a few months ago. Belly and her family are still grieving her death.

While Steven makes Valedictorian and gets into Princeton, Belly’s grades are slipping. She even had her volleyball captaincy revoked. Jeremiah and Conrad do not come to Steven’s graduation because they are no longer on talking terms with Belly.

Steven’s graduation speech moves Belly, and she decides to get her life together. She makes up her mind to sign up for varsity volleyball. Then there is Laurel, who wrote a memoir about her friendship with Susannah but does not intend to promote it because that would require her to talk about Susannah’s death.

Steven throws a graduation party, and Belly attends it with Taylor, who is now dating a musician named Milo. Shayla broke up with Conrad, and it is evident that he now likes Taylor.

At the party, Belly’s attempts to talk to another boy to get over Conrad fail. She then gets into an argument with Steven, who accuses her of being selfish and messing everything up by dating Conrad, even though she had Jeremiah.

Belly is still struggling with Susannah’s death as well as losing touch with both her sons. When an upset Belly returns home, her mother speaks to her about her grades and asks her to stop using Susannah’s death as an excuse for everything.

Belly gets into an argument with her as well and points out how Laurel has not been there for her children in the past year. Belly thinks her mother gave up way before she did.

This serves as a wake-up call for Laurel, and she decides to go to an event in New York to promote her book. On the other hand, Belly calls Jeremiah, who surprisingly answers her phone.

He asks her if Conrad is with her because he left college suddenly and has not been answering his phone. A worried Jeremiah is going to his college to track him down, and Belly decides to join him, as she cannot lose Jeremiah and Conrad after losing Susannah.

This episode also gives us a glimpse of what happened between Conrad and Belly. Last summer, after kissing Conrad, Belly told him about kissing Jeremiah earlier. Belly wants to be with Conrad, so she tells him that she will tell Jeremiah about them.

Jeremiah does not take the news well, and he does not want to be her friend anymore. He also warns her that Conrad will break her heart.

Belly does not want to hurt him more than she already has and make things harder for both brothers at a time when they need each other, so she decides not to get into a relationship with Conrad.

However, soon after, she gets a call from Conrad, and from that day onwards, the two of them speak to each other frequently. Conrad even confides in her about the fact that his father cheated on his mother and that he pretended not to know anything.

Finally, one day, Conrad comes to visit her. He tells her that Jeremiah is not hurt anymore and is dating other people. Conrad and Belly kiss and get into a relationship.

Episode 2 recap: Love Scene

Belly lies to her mother about going to stay at Taylor’s house and goes to look for Conrad with Jeremiah. Belly and Jeremiah speak to Conrad’s roommate, who recognizes Belly because Conrad was extremely upset after his breakup with Belly.

He tells them that Conrad left after getting a phone call, which made him angry, and that he must return for his Biology final or he will fail that class. Jeremiah and Belly find out from one of Conrad’s friends that he has gone to Cousins Beach.

Jeremiah is going there to meet his brother, and he makes it clear that he does not need Belly; it is Conrad who will need her. However, Belly knows that he is scared and needs her, so she decides to join him.

Things have been tense between Jeremiah and Belly all this while, and due to a flat tire, the tension peaks. Jeremiah admits that he was hurt when she left him for his brother and had to pretend to be fine so that he would not be the person who prevented Belly and Conrad from getting together.

Belly tells him that she misses him and apologizes for not being there for him when Susannah died because she was so focused on Conrad. He forgives her, and the two of them go back to being friends.

Meanwhile, Steven figures out that Belly lied about staying with Taylor. When he goes to Taylor’s house, she tells him that Belly went to Cousins Beach with Jeremiah to look for Conrad. She asks him to let Belly handle this on her own, and he agrees.

On their way to the house, Jeremiah and Belly meet Nicole, who tells Belly that their gang is broken up. Belly does not plan to stay in touch with her because nothing is the same after Susannah’s death.

Jeremiah and Belly finally reach the house and find Conrad there, who does not seem too happy to see Belly there.

In this episode, Belly remembers going to Cousins Beach with Conrad in the past and sleeping with him. They were happy together, and Conrad told her about switching his major to Biology.

Episode 3 recap: Love Sick

When Jeremiah asks Conrad about leaving college and coming here, he tells Jeremiah and Belly that they are going to lose this house. The house belonged to their mother as well as her half-sister, Julia. Now that Susannah is dead, Julia is the sole owner, and she has decided to sell it.

Conrad wants to handle this situation all by himself. This makes Jeremiah angry because this house means a lot to him as well, and Conrad did not bother telling him about this.

Conrad admits to Belly that he did not tell Jeremiah anything because he did not want him to be hurt like he himself was when he heard about the sale. He was planning to tell him once he had everything under control.

Steven does not tell Laurel about Belly going to Cousins Beach, and she leaves for New York. Steven makes up his mind to go to Cousins Beach, and Taylor joins him when he lies that Conrad asked him to come.

While Conrad keeps pushing Jeremiah and Belly away, they decide to talk to Julia about not selling the house. Julia did not come for Susannah’s funeral, but she is in town to sell the house.

She refuses to listen to Jeremiah and Belly’s plea and makes it clear that she will be going ahead with the open house the next day. Since talking to Julia does not work out, Conrad plans to talk to his father to let him use his trust to buy the house from Julia.

Jeremiah tells Conrad that he does not want him to handle everything alone. He wants to be present when Conrad speaks to their father, and he wishes to use money from his trust as well. Talking to their father does not work out either; he refuses to let them use their trusts.

Meanwhile, on their way to Cousins Beach, Taylor and Steven have a heart-to-heart conversation. They finally arrive at the house to find everyone upset about losing the house. Belly is no longer angry at Steven and tells him that she is glad that he is here.

Conrad apologizes to Jeremiah for his behavior. He admits that he was scared and did not want him and Belly to see him mess everything up. He assures Jeremiah that they will find a solution together. The brothers are not ready to give up yet and decide to spoil the open house the next day.

At night, when all the friends gather to watch a film, Conrad gets a text message and leaves the room. Steven notices that something is not right with him and follows him. Steven sees Conrad having a panic attack.

We also come to know how Conrad and Belly’s relationship ended. With Susannah’s condition getting worse, Conrad started withdrawing into himself. Despite Belly’s reassurance, he felt like he was constantly letting Belly down.

He took Belly to prom, and things got worse between them. Belly states that their relationship is over, and Conrad does not object. She returns the infinity necklace to him, and he leaves her crying in her brother’s arms.

The two of them then meet at Susannah’s funeral, where Belly sees Conrad being comforted by another girl, Aubrey. This makes Belly angry because Conrad is willing to accept Aubrey’s help but not her.

The two of them argue. While Conrad states that dating her was a mistake, she tells him that she hates him. They end up making a scene, much to Laurel’s disappointment.

Review

The first three episodes focus on introducing the main conflict of the season as well as exploring the past. It was a good decision to switch between the past and the present because it provided a balance between the sadness of the present and the happiness of the past.
At times, it seemed like these episodes would explore the theme of grief in depth, but its depiction and the conversations about it were mostly superficial.
The three episodes were overstuffed with pop songs. Sometimes the music went well with the scenes, but there were also times when it was unnecessary.
Even when Susannah’s character is no longer with Laurel, their friendship continues to be special. Susannah’s absence is felt the most in scenes that involve Laurel.