The television show “The Summer I Turned Pretty” premiered in June of 2022, and after three seasons, the highly anticipated season finale was released on Wednesday, Sept. 17.

The final season of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” was expected to be a captivating season with character development, but instead, it was a mess. It should have showcased the resolution to the love triangle, the characters’ healing journeys, and their growth as individuals. However, the finale left viewers without any closure as the characters carried on their old habits. 

“I think it didn’t meet expectations since the ending was rushed and it was unsatisfying,” senior Keana Astudillo said. “It seemed like it was more about Belly and her own struggles instead of the relationship story line, and I think it went off track a lot.” 

Many fans have mixed feelings about the new season and are now reflecting on the television show as a whole. 

Jeremiah: the root of the problem

This season had many scenes showing Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship, and it seemed as though the screenwriters were showcasing the negatives of their relationship. Although they don’t seem like the most compatible couple.

Belly was often seen babying Jeremiah in their relationship, and although both of the characters are still relatively young since they are in college, Jeremiah was constantly being too sensitive. Belly had to cradle him and his feelings, as compared to when she was with Conrad and was being taken care of by him. 

Jeremiah was acting like a “man-child” and was extremely emotionally immature.

The couple decided to quickly get married while still being in college. Belly already had future plans to graduate from college and further her education in Paris, France, in a schooling program, but stayed behind to be with Jeremiah. Jeremiah lacked the necessary college credits due to his excessive fraternity partying and irresponsibility. Jeremiah was holding Belly back from her full potential and dragging her along with his childish ways.

They acted purely off of emotion in the moment, and weren’t thinking realistically. Even Belly’s mother, Laurel, said that they should finish school first and then see how they feel about marrying each other, which makes perfect sense because why are they trying to marry each other so suddenly? They chose to get married that summer, so they were running short on time and had insufficient funds. It doesn’t make sense for them to act so suddenly, especially because they both didn’t have jobs. They were living off of their parents’ money, and were in debt from college expenses. 

The couple should have continued to enjoy their twenties instead of trying to take on adult responsibilities so quickly. When they went house hunting, Belly found a home she loved but wasn’t able to purchase because Jeremiah had bad credit since he opened a second credit card for free hockey tickets. He was late on the payments and was fine with that, yet he was willing to use a credit card for a $750 cake, showcasing his financial irresponsibility.

Fan reactions online

Many fans online had issues with the odd requests that the couple was making for their wedding, since they wanted to splurge on luxuries even though they didn’t have the money for it.

Jeremiah wanted a “two-tier dark chocolate cake with a raspberry coulis filling and a mirror glaze on top,” and got upset because they couldn’t afford it. He was whining about his dream cake while Belly wanted an anatomically accurate heart ice sculpture at their wedding. 

Another thing that caught many people’s attention was Jeremiah initially proposing to Belly without a ring and without kneeling. This all took place very quickly outside of the hospital, where Belly’s brother, Steven, was admitted after he had been in a car accident. Jeremiah later knelt with the tiniest ring possible when the couple was in private. 

The ring sparked intense backlash from viewers because it had an underwhelming appearance and was yellow gold. Jeremiah had been with Belly for years up to this point, and the fact that he hadn’t noticed that Belly preferred silver jewelry was very telling about Jeremiah as a partner. His proposal ultimately reinforced the idea that he was an impulsive and immature person

The ending didn’t give the audience enough Belly and Conrad (“Bonrad”) moments. It was a few minutes of them smiling at each other, sharing a car ride, arriving at the summer beach house, and then the camera panned out to show the house, which was how the series ended. 

It was one of those moments where one might say, “Yes, give us nothing,” because the end of the show lacked pizzazz.  

“I feel like Conrad was being a real man this season, getting his life together, and was constantly there for Belly, and I don’t appreciate how hypocritical Jeremiah was,” junior Kameron Furr-Taylor said. “I feel like Belly shouldn’t be with either of the brothers, but to each their own.”

Belly should have stayed in Paris, continued to further her education, and reflected on her past actions to learn how to grow from them. Jeremiah should have enjoyed living the single life and focused on becoming a chef since he’s obsessed with his cacao cake. Conrad should have focused on becoming a doctor and continued going to therapy to heal from his past. 

The series should have ended with all of the characters seeking therapy and healing from the traumatic events of the entire series.