Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3, episode 6.
After last week’s pivotal Conrad Fisher POV episode,The Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3, episode 6, “Last Name,” fully reignites Belly’s lingering feelings for her first love – and it’s not just her physical attraction to him, either. She’s remembering who he used to be.
We’re now overthe halfway point ofThe Summer I Turned Pretty’s final season. There’s a part of me that’s excited about the fact that we still have five episodes to go, but I am starting to wonder whether Prime Video’s supersized last outing has lost its way, pacing-wise.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 6 Highlights A Storytelling Issue
Despite some of the bigger emotional beats in this episode, especially Belly and Laurel’s reunion (a scene I genuinely appreciated), some of the season’s other storylines are starting to feel like dreaded filler.Steven (Sean Kaufman) and Taylor’s (Rain Spencer) messy relationship, Taylor and her mother’s financial woes, and even Steven’s new business plan with Denise (Isabella Briggs) are all far removed from the show’s primary narrative.
This is disappointing, as Steven and Taylor’s stories felt more naturally involved in the show’s previous two seasons. I like their characters (and I even think they could be good together, though their cheating at the beginning of season 3 has soured me on them a bit), but I find myself losing interest whenever the story shifts focus to either of them.
Aside from the Fisher-Conklin love triangle, Steven and Taylor are the show’s most important romantic dynamic. Shouldn’t I care about them more by this point?
The clock is ticking, and every second spent with them is a second not spent building up the tension between Belly, Jeremiah, and Conrad. With five episodes and just a few short weeks to go before the wedding, there’s still a lot to get through to make any major shift within the triangle feel believable and earned.
We Need To Talk About Episode 6’s Bathroom Scene
A highlight ofThe Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3, episode 6, was undoubtedly the earth-shattering bathroom scene, a perfect complement tolast week’s iconic peach stand sequence. This time around, it’s Belly’s turn to lose herself in the moment, as she helps Conrad clean a wound on his leg he sustained while surfing.
There’s a very similar vibe to the peach-buying scene. We’re watching Belly experience this moment with Conrad from her point of view; lingering glances at water dripping from his hair, at his eyes, at his mouth. The camera focuses on points of contact, highlighting the effect those touches have on Belly’s composure. When he leans into her, it becomes one of those moments that feels life-changing.
This type of parallel, the ever-present romance between Belly and Conrad, is where the show truly excels. That slow-burning tension and the chemistry between Tung’s Belly and Briney’s Conrad is undeniable, a sensation that Belly and Jeremiah’s relationship has never truly been able to capture in equal measure. The longer this season continues, the more apparent that becomes.
Scenes like this make it easier to forget the show’s other faults. Who cares about Jeremiah’s frustrating character, Laurel’s lack of reaction to Belly’s decision not to go to Paris, and Steven and Taylor’s oddly paced storylines? When there’s this much romantic yearning, everything else falls away.
While I still feel like Belly has lost her agency as a character – thanks, in no small part, to Jeremiah – it does feel like the closer she gets to Conrad, the more she starts to feel like herself again. Jenny Han has crafted an exemplary romantic hero in Conrad Fisher, an intricate and compelling character who champions his love interest, rather than tearing her down.
Belly and Jeremiah might be the ones planning their wedding, but this latest outing ofThe Summer I Turned Prettyproves that season 3 is Conrad Fisher’s season through and through; if Han still wants us to root for Jeremiah in some way, it’s not working.
New episodes ofThe Summer I Turned Prettyseason 3 premiere weekly on Wednesdays, exclusively on Prime Video.
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Cast
The Summer I Turned Pretty, released in 2022, follows a pivotal summer in the life of Belly, who turns sixteen during her family’s annual stay at the Fishers' beach house. This transformative season involves first love, heartbreak, and personal growth, marking a significant journey of self-discovery.
