★★★½
Season two of The Summer I Turned Pretty was an addictive, if uneven, watch. The first season splashed onto our screens last summer, with its fluffy, fun storyline and summery soundtrack making it the perfect summer watch.
The show follows Belly (Lola Tung) as she spends her summer at Cousins Beach, whilst juggling the affections of two (three!) boys. The show managed to balance the romance and teen escapades with a surprisingly emotional storyline, as Belly’s godmother, Susannah (Rachel Blanchard), battles the return of her cancer.
Season two is an even more emotional journey, as we find out that Susannah died a month prior to where the season picks up. Belly, her brother Steven (Sean Kaufman), and best friend Taylor (Rain Spencer), as well as her two love interests: Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Conrad (Christopher Briney), must battle to save Susannah’s beach house from being sold, all whilst dealing with their own grief. The show doesn’t shy away from the sadness felt by the characters, but still keeps the romance plot full of drama and angst, even if the romance feels insensitive at times.
A love triangle with two brothers is not unheard of — think Damon and Stefan from The Vampire Diaries — but this one feels cruel at times. Both Conrad and Jeremiah are struggling to deal with their mother’s death and should be bonding and growing closer in their grief. Instead, the two are fighting over a girl, when neither of them should really be in a serious relationship. The triangle boils over from messy to downright callous, as Belly kisses Jeremiah on Conrad’s car, in his sweatshirt, whilst waiting for him to finish one of the most important exams of his life. Inexplicably, the two then act shocked at Conrad’s less-than-happy reaction, resulting in an incredibly awkward (albeit hilarious due to Briney’s ad-libs) car ride and motel stay. Whereas the brothers had equal opportunity to pursue Belly in season one, this time around Belly’s behaviour feels uncaring, considering she and Conrad broke up just a month or two earlier. The triangle feels wrong at times, and I found myself wishing the two brothers would distance themselves from Belly and focus on repairing their familial relationship. Belly’s indecision regarding the two comes across as inappropriate this season, making it hard to sympathise with her during parts of the season. She is still a compelling protagonist, but her actions come off as self-centred, especially since we can see how much Conrad is particularly struggling with his mom’s death.
Part of this discomfort does come down to the pacing of the season. The entirety of season two takes place over a week or two, meaning that it took Belly just over a week to get over being “out of my mind in love” with Conrad and falling for Jeremiah. The breakneck pace of the present timeline both helps and hinders the story — it keeps the tension high surrounding the beach house, but also paints Belly as emotionally unsettled and temperamental. In the space of two episodes, she goes from yelling at Conrad on the beach (excellent use of ‘Snow on the Beach’ in this scene) about how she would have fought for their relationship, to telling Jeremiah she wants to be with him just two days later. The incredibly rapid timeline doesn’t allow time for the relationships to breathe (excluding Staylor of course), with even the background romance between Cam Cameron (David Iacono) and Skye (Elsie Fisher) feeling underdeveloped and rushed. That’s not to say that everything feels rushed; every scene with Susannah is slow and heartrending, and the flashbacks to the younger kids slot in perfectly with the main timeline.
Furthermore, the choice to release the first three episodes together worked remarkably well, easing us into the grief over Susannah’s death that will permeate the rest of the season. We watch Belly and Conrad’s relationship develop, falling in love with their romance, before watching it brutally crumble, as Conrad grapples with his mom’s illness. These three episodes were the best of the season, influencing us to deeply sympathise with each character, no matter who we are rooting for to end up with Belly. Jeremiah gets his time to shine, with his hurt at Belly’s abandonment finally bursting out. Although Laurel (Jackie Chung) deserved more screen time, we see her intense grief over her best friend’s death. The season started off by letting us know exactly where each character was emotionally, setting the stakes for the rest of the season.
In contrast to the frustrating main romances, the true standouts of this season were Steven and Taylor. The blossoming romance between the two was the most enjoyable moment of any episode, and their interactions were sweet and endearing without tipping into cheesy. Steven is a consistently likeable character and shows up both Jeremiah and Conrad with his confession to Taylor in episode eight. He lightens the mood in every scene and supports Belly as much as he can after their fight in episode one. Taylor is also a refreshing presence, vastly improving from her slightly unpleasant appearances in season one. She is an excellent friend to Belly, constantly sticking up for her and helping her deal with her grief. Her persistence in getting Belly to volleyball camp helps Belly ease back into her old life, illustrating Taylor’s kindness and supportive nature. Both Taylor and Steven are excellent secondary characters, providing levity and sweetness when the central love triangle threatens to become too drama-heavy. Their inclusion elevates the series significantly, as it’s not often that the background couple outshines the main one.
Although I had quite a few issues with the new season, I still couldn’t stop watching. The charm of these characters keeps the show feeling entertaining, even when it deals with heavier subject matter. The soundtrack, though at times on the nose, is an enjoyable presence, and the beach setting captures the feeling of summer perfectly. In essence, The Summer I Turned Pretty proves itself yet again as a captivating choice for a summer binge.
Both seasons of The Summer I Turned Pretty are available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Words by Emily Nutbean
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.