The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 episode 7 recap & review: Love Affair

Open Go TV / August 12, 2023 / Reviews

The seventh episode of the second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty sees Laurel coming to Cousins and saving Susannah’s beach house from being sold. The episode is now streaming on Prime Video.

Recap

After Belly leaves Laurel a message, Laurel comes to the beach house and gets angry when she sees the condition of the house. This results in an argument between Laurel and Belly.

Laurel accuses Belly of using Susannah’s death as an excuse for everything, whereas Belly accuses her mother of being angry with her since the funeral. Laurel wants to take Belly home, but Belly refuses to go and tells her mother that Susannah would never forgive her for abandoning her sons.

Laurel gets angry and slaps Belly, who then leaves the room in tears, only to realize that Conrad and Jeremiah heard everything. Jeremiah goes to comfort Belly, and she tells him that there is nothing left between her and Conrad, but Jeremiah thinks that there will always be something between them.

Steven and Conrad tell Laurel about everything that has happened. Laurel thought the issue of the house was resolved before Susannah died. Steven also tells Laurel that Belly was here for Conrad and Jeremiah when they needed her, and Laurel regrets being harsh.

Laurel apologizes to Belly and admits that she has been angry at how unfair it is that Susannah died, but she did not let herself feel it. Laurel finally talks about her feelings. Belly and Laurel apologize to each other and are forgiven.

Now that Laurel is here, Taylor decides to go home. Laurel then talks to Julia and convinces her to back out of the sale. Julia tells her how hard her childhood was and how Susannah never wanted to accept that her parents were at fault.

Susannah could have reached out to her later in life, but she did not. Instead, she just sent Julia a letter, asking her to do the right thing and keep the house in the family. Julia believed that there was no place for her in Susannah’s life, as Susannah already had Laurel.

After talking to Laurel, who understands her problems, Julia admits that it is not Susannah’s or Laurel’s fault. She regrets not saying goodbye to Susannah. She could not bring herself to attend the funeral. Now she wishes she had tried harder.

When Laurel tells her that it is not too late to try, she gets convinced not to sell the house. However, she still needs the money, so Laurel is going to convince Conrad and Jeremiah’s father, Adam, to buy it from Julia.

Conrad and Belly get a chance to speak about what happened the night before. Conrad admits that Belly was right and that he should not have ended things the way he did, but at that time, he thought he was doing the right thing. The two of them do not want to hurt each other again, and they decide to be friends.

Skye tells her mother about her weekend and how she enjoyed it. Julia is happy to hear that her daughter found happiness here. Soon, Adam arrives at the beach house, and Laurel asks him to buy the house from Julia.

Eventually, Adam admits that he wants to let this place go because it is hard for him to be here after Susannah’s death; the place reminds him of her. Laurel asks Adam to do this one last thing for Susannah, and he agrees to sell his Boston house to buy this one from Julia.

Now that they are not losing the house, Conrad decides to talk to Jeremiah. Jeremiah admits that he should have talked to Conrad about his feelings, and Conrad admits that he should have paid more attention to Jeremiah. Conrad assures Jeremiah that he does not have to pretend to be happy all the time.

The brothers do not want to keep fighting, so they decide to be honest with each other and discuss things, no matter how it is perceived by the other. Conrad finally tells Jeremiah about getting into Stanford and about his decision to not go because he does not want Jeremiah to feel abandoned.

However, Jeremiah wants Conrad to go to Stanford. For that, he needs to pass his final the next day. Jeremiah is going to help him prepare for the exam. While Julia and Skye leave, Laurel agrees to stay at the beach house for one more day to let her children help Conrad study.

Belly decides that helping Conrad pass his exam is the last thing she is going to do for him before letting him go. Belly, Jeremiah, and Steven stay up all night and help Conrad. Belly gets a chance to talk to Conrad, and she tries to tell him about her feelings for Jeremiah, but Conrad falls asleep.

The next morning, Laurel allows herself to think about Susannah and cry. She also tells Belly that she is proud of her and asks her to go to Brown with Jeremiah to drop off Conrad. Additionally, Steven tells Conrad to confess his feelings to Belly if he loves her.

The four teenagers take a picture at the beach house like they do every summer. They jump into the pool together and make plans to meet again before saying goodbye.

Belly and Jeremiah drop off Conrad and go to visit Finch. Belly admits that she misses playing volleyball and that she is going to ask her coach one more time to let her join the team. The two of them also talk about going to college together.

When they return to Brown, Belly asks Jeremiah if he is ever going to give her a second chance. Jeremiah fears that if he falls for her again and if she changes her mind this time as well, he will not be able to take it. Belly assures him that something like that will not happen again, as they have grown up now.

She confesses that being with Conrad was her dream, but dreams are not real. She wants something real, and she wants to be with Jeremiah. Belly and Jeremiah kiss, and Conrad witnesses the whole thing.

Review

The show refrains from turning Julia into a villain. This episode gives the audience her point of view and her story, which shows that Susannah was not flawless, and makes them understand her actions.
In this episode, one of the main conflicts of this season gets resolved within half a day the moment Laurel’s character steps into the picture. It makes one wonder if there was even a problem in the first place.
Furthermore, the episode fails to set the right pace. The events in the episode are either too rushed, such as Laurel grieving Susannah’s death on her own, or too dragged out, such as the drive to Brown.