What 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' fans think of Season 3 so far — from 'Bonrad' shippers to 'Jelly' apologists

Yahoo

2 days ago

It's a sound and image that fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty know too well: That gentle, melodic theme over sunlight glittering on water. Jenny Han's beloved coming-of-age series is back for its third and final season after a two-year hiatus that has tested even the most seasoned yearners.
The season's first two episodes, which dropped at 3 a.m. ET on Wednesday, have already garnered a trove of opinions from diehard fans. Taking into consideration the fandom's deep investment in the show and its stars, both on and offscreen, The Summer I Turned Pretty's official Instagram and X accounts even issued a warning for fans ahead of the season premiere to 'keep the conversation kind this summer.'
As with seasons past, the fandom is once again staunchly divided into 'Team Bonrad' and 'Team Jelly.' 'Bonrad' shippers, of course, believe Belly Conklin (Lola Tung) and Conrad Fisher (Christopher Briney) are endgame, while 'Jelly' fans are convinced that Belly and Jeremiah Fisher (Gavin Casalegno) should come out on top.
While they desperately await the release of Episode 3 — episodes will drop weekly at 3 a.m. ET every Wednesday, with the series finale debuting on Wednesday, Sept. 17 — fans have flocked to social media to share their initial reactions.
From 'Bonrad' shippers to 'Jelly' apologists and everything in between, here's what fans of The Summer I Turned Pretty — commonly referred to as TSITP — are saying about the season so far. Spoilers ahead!
Christmas at Cousins flashback
While there were minimal scenes of them actually together, Belly and Conrad shippers were satisfied with the crumbs they were given in the first two episodes. Fans were especially delighted by a specific scene, a flashback, in which Belly and Conrad serendipitously find themselves alone, together, at the Cousins beach house over the holidays.
Their time together is fleeting — Conrad guiltily bails after just one day because he is, after all, still madly in love with his brother's current girlfriend — but the yearning is still very much apparent. When Belly slips and falls, Conrad lifts her up and carries her to the sofa. The moment triggers a realization in Belly: 'A part of me will always love you.'
'POV: TSITP season 3 only dropped two episodes so far, but Conrad and Belly's chemistry is already unmatched,' read one fan video, while another fan wrote, 'At least Conrad girlies had one win in the first two episodes.'
'P.S. I Still Love You' Easter egg
In a move that one fan called 'the most brilliant thing jenny han has ever done,' members of The Summer I Turned Pretty fandom were quick to notice an expertly planted Easter egg during the 'Bonrad' Christmas flashback. Before abruptly leaving Belly and the Cousins beach house, Conrad leaves her a sticky note on his partially finished crossword. Belly glimpses a crossword clue, which reads, 'Novel by author Jenny Han, 'P.S. I ____ Love You.' She fills in the blanks with the word 'Still,' which Conrad appears to have also written but erased.
Both a nod to Han's 2015 novel P.S. I Still Love You, the second installment in the To All The Boys I've Loved Before movie trilogy, and an acknowledgment of Belly still being in love with Conrad, fans clocked — and then swooned over — the very intentional moment.
Jeremiah's confession
In the final minutes of the first episode, viewers who haven't read the books were surprised to learn that Jeremiah cheated on Belly with Lacie Barone (Lily Donoghue) while vacationing in Cabo for spring break. Belly overhears Lacie speaking of their hookup at a party, which prompts her heartwrenching confrontation with Jeremiah, who admits to sleeping with her and hiding it.
Jeremiah says he assumed he and Belly had legitimately broken up at the time of his alleged offense, though Belly asserts that they hadn't actually called it quits. ('You knew that we weren't really broken up, that that wasn't real,' she tearfully tells him.) Jeremiah later admits to being intimate with Lacie not once, but twice. Belly, however, ends up forgiving him, and the two of them get engaged at the end of Episode 2.
The anti-Jeremiah camp was strongly assembled by this point, with many dumbfounded by his inability to take responsibility for his actions, and Belly's seemingly ill-advised decision to pick 'the guy that CHEATED on her' over 'the man that she will still forever love.'
But some fans are still fiercely defending Casalegno's on-screen character, writing on TikTok, 'I can't with Belly 😭They break up! … Letting yall know he did NOT cheat.'
Music cues for the pop girlies
The Summer I Turned Pretty has been known to punctuate its most emotional moments with tracks by some of music's most beloved pop girlies, like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.
Tracks by both Swift and Rodrigo have already played over poignant moments in the first two episodes of the season, from Swift's 'You're Losing Me' soundtracking Belly and Jeremiah's devastating confrontation to Rodrigo's 'Lacy' being heard as Belly deals with the aftermath of their breakup. Ariana Grande's breakup ballad 'i wish i hated you' also plays during the second episode.
'I just got whiplash because you're losing me and lacy being played BACK TO BACK,' one fan wrote on TikTok, while another commented, 'I was stopped in my tracks omg.'
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