On July 16, the third and final season of the hit teen drama, “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” premiered its first episode. The series, based on the novel trilogy of the same name, has been an extreme success since the release of the first season during the summer of 2022.
Jenny Han, the creator of the novels and TV series, has managed to evoke that familiar summer nostalgia for the audience. This is the same feeling that the main character, Isabel “Belly” Conklin (played by Lola Tung), often experiences within the previous two seasons of the show. Because of this, the highly anticipated show has made its mark as a summer staple.
In this final season, the result of the transformative summers from seasons one and two comes to light. The story jumps ahead a few years from the timeline viewers ended with in season two, and Belly is now attending Finch College with her now-longtime boyfriend, Jeremiah Fisher (played by Gavin Casalengo).
Even through conflicts like arguments and Jeremiah’s cheating incident, Belly truly believed that Jeremiah was her future, leading her to ultimately agreeing to marry him. But, after her family’s disapproval, she runs to Cousins Beach, where she is greeted by an unexpected roommate, Conrad Fisher (played by Chris Briney), her first love and boyfriend’s older brother.
After spending more time with one another, especially in the place where they first fell in love, buried feelings are slowly ignited within both. And now, as of episode seven, Conrad has confessed his persisting love for Belly, asking her to leave Jeremiah to be with him. She ultimately ends up rejecting this grand gesture, explaining the weakness of their past relationship and the strength of her bond with Jeremiah.
The show left off from the previous season with Belly choosing Jeremiah over Conrad, a decision that received mixed reactions from viewers. Despite this controversial choice, some viewers, especially those who were “Team Conrad,” were still confident that Belly and Conrad would end up together, but their idea as to what might happen in the series was quickly confused after the cast and creator gave their insights on how the season may unfold.
In interviews with the cast and creator, hints were made at the possibility that the season may surprise watchers. This left some viewers nervous that the story wouldn’t play out the way that they had planned. So, certain viewers have decided to take note of the artistic choices within this season and connect them to how they might represent emotions within characters and foreshadow the conclusion of the series.
The search for easter eggs began before the first episode even came out, with viewers inspecting the trailer and promotional posters for the series. The poster created for the announcement of season three was of the three main characters: Conrad, Belly, and Jeremiah. Belly was placed in the middle of the two brothers, Conrad to her right and Jeremiah to her left, with Jeremiah looking as if he was placing a kiss on her cheek and Conrad staring at her.
Though the poster is reflective of the current situation between the characters at this time in the series, viewers were quick to notice how the posing in this poster was similar to that of another movie poster, “Sabrina.” The story of “Sabrina” is eerily like that of “The Summer I Turned Pretty,” consisting of a love triangle between two brothers. In the end, though Sabrina was originally with the younger brother, David, she ends up being with Linus, the older brother.
Viewers deduced that this was an intentional choice to pose the characters in this way, and that it could be a subtle hint that the series of events and ending in this season would be like “Sabrina.”
Additionally, color has arguably been the largest choice the audience has pointed out. Fans have deciphered that the colors red and blue are meant to represent the brothers and, more specifically, Belly’s emotions regarding both.
Conrad is often associated with red, while Jeremiah is blue. This conspiracy began after the release of the trailer, where Taylor Swift’s music was seen to potentially foreshadow which relationship is endgame, as the lyrics of “Red” played in the background, “Losing him was blue like I’d never known…but loving him was red.”
A notable moment in episode three, regarding the use of these colors is when Belly accidentally cuts herself while shaving, revealing red blood to emerge from the wound, but then quickly covers it with a blue band-aid. Fans believe that this choice is representative of Belly’s still present love for Conrad being covered up by the safety of her relationship with Jeremiah.
In addition to this, Belly is often seen wearing blue in scenes where she’s with Jeremiah, but in scenes where Belly is with Conrad or potentially conflicted about the stress of the wedding, she is seen wearing red. This could be an easter egg included to showcase that in times of stress regarding Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship, Conrad’s presence remains constant.
Finally, viewers have been noticing the seemingly deliberate choices of music in certain scenes. One of the strongest features of the show is how the music seems to seamlessly connect to the story being told. Viewers have been quick to notice how some of the song choices could secretly reveal the inner emotions of Belly.
For example, Taylor Swift’s music has been a consistent motif throughout the show, usually played in scenes that depict a pivotal moment that could impact Belly and Conrad’s relationship.
In the first episode of season three, after finding out about Jeremiah’s cheating scandal, Belly runs away from him while Taylor Swift’s song “You’re Losing Me (From The Vault)” plays. The lyrics as this scene continues sing, “My heart won’t start anymore,” which viewers have assumed to mean that Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship is broken from this incident, and her love for Jeremiah cannot be the same as before.
But, in a particularly romantic scene with Belly and Conrad in episode six, a heartbeat sound can be heard while Taylor Swift’s “False God” plays. Viewers have concluded that this could mean her heart has now reignited with her love for Conrad after being hurt by Jeremiah.
The inclusion of this song was also interesting, as it originally appeared in the first season of the show in the crucial scene in which Conrad and Belly’s relationship first truly steered from friends to lovers, as they nearly kissed on the dock. Fans have noted that this repeat could only be intentional, potentially foreshadowing a shift in their relationship like the one in season one.
After the release of the most recent episode, “Last Hurrah,” it will be interesting to see how viewers will continue to predict how the series will end after the new developments made in the story, especially since this episode also concluded with a Taylor Swift song.
To say the least, the fans of “The Summer I Turned Pretty” have been extremely meticulous when it comes to dissecting each new episode of the season. As each episode of the season is released on a weekly basis, fans will continue to be left pondering how the story will unravel until mid-September.
It’s only a matter of time before the fans discover whether their predictions were true, and if love is truly “burning red.”
This article was written by Elise Emery. She can be reached at [email protected].
