‘The Summer I Turned Pretty' Season 3 Episode 4 Recap—Belly's Wedding Plans Hit A Wall

Forbes

2 days ago

Belly (Lola Tung) and Conrad (Christopher Briney) in THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY Photo: Erika Doss © ... More AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC
Spoilers ahead for The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 4.
The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 3, Episode 4 picks up two weeks after Susannah's dedication and on Belly's birthday. She FaceTimes Jeremiah, who now has to work a summer internship at his dad's company instead of being in Cousins. Belly jokingly asks if the other employees are still calling him 'Nepo Baby' after a pacifier was left on his desk.
Belly is working double shifts at Behr's to save money for their wedding, a topic their parents are still uncomfortable with. Jeremiah says he might bring up the wedding to his dad to see what he says. Meanwhile, Belly shares that her mom changes the subject every time she brings it up, and her dad has been avoiding her calls, only returning them when she's at work. With just six weeks until the wedding, Jeremiah says they'll get their families' support eventually.
Belly's parents surprise her with breakfast for her 21st birthday. When Belly asks if her mom will go wedding dress shopping with her, Laurel responds that she 'just can't.' She says her mind hasn't changed. They're too young, and getting married right now would be 'a mistake.' After Belly leaves, Laurel says she will get through to her. 'Trust me, this wedding is not happening.' When Jeremiah tries to bring up the wedding with his dad, his father changes the subject and tells him he should be focused on work instead. Ouch.
However, getting Steven on board with the wedding is much easier. All Jeremiah has to do is ask Steven to be his best man, as long as they keep it on the down low so Laurel doesn't find out. Belly, Taylor, and Lucinda go wedding dress shopping, although Belly is clearly upset that her mom isn't there to support her. When Belly finds her wedding dress, she calls Jeremiah and starts crying, admitting she doesn't know how she's going to do this without her — or without either of their moms, for that matter.
Belly (Lola Tung) and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) in THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY Photo: Erika Doss © ... More AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC
After his internship ends, Jeremiah drives to Belly's house and surprises her with an Oreo birthday cake. He also gives her a present: a key to the Cousins summer house. 'This is the best gift,' she says. Jeremiah hands Laurel flowers and says he was hoping to talk to her, but she responds that she's been wanting to talk to both of them too.
Jeremiah starts by saying he knows Laurel thinks the wedding is a bad idea, but Belly is his person. He says that when his mom died, he felt like he'd never be anyone's person again — but in the middle of everything falling apart, Belly chose him, and he's felt like the luckiest guy in the world ever since. He says he wants to be with Belly for the rest of his life and believes his mom would have wanted them all to be a family.
Laurel responds with a hard truth, saying they'll never truly know what his mother would have wanted. She explains that the reason she can't support what they're doing is because she wants what's best for them. She says marriage is serious and not something to be undertaken on a whim. She asks them to wait to finish school, and if they still feel the same way, they can get married then. Belly does not take her response well.
She runs after her mother and asks how she could say such things to Jeremiah. Laurel tells her that she's still a child — how could she possibly know who she wants to be with forever? 'I know who I want, and I'm marrying him,' Belly yells. Laurel says that she will not be at the wedding.
Jeremiah and Belly sleep at the Cousins house, and when she wakes up, she sees Conrad standing there. Conrad reveals that he wasn't ready to go back to California (not that he was actually fired from the clinic). When Conrad asks if they're just there for the weekend, Belly says she's thinking of staying a little longer since it will be easier to plan the wedding from there. Jeremiah tells Conrad he has to head back to Boston first thing Monday for his internship.
Conrad (Christopher Briney) in THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY Photo: Erika Doss © AMAZON CONTENT ... More SERVICES LLC
Conrad and Jeremiah finally get some alone time out on the water. Jeremiah asks Conrad to be his best man, but Conrad brings up his concerns about the marriage. He points out that they're still in college and says that, when you really think about it, 'it's kind of ridiculous.' He apologizes, but Jeremiah says that he wouldn't want his brother to be standing there on his wedding day if he 'had to fake it.'
Meanwhile, Laurel and John have a heart-to-heart, during which she reveals the real reason she doesn't want Belly to get married: she doesn't want her daughter to follow in her footsteps of marrying and having kids at a young age. She tells her ex-husband that she doesn't blame him for it, but she blames herself — and she doesn't want that for Belly. He tells her he's not going to miss Belly and Jeremiah's wedding, even if she doesn't go.
Belly admits to Jeremiah she doesn't want to go to Paris now that they're getting married, and he says that he didn't want her to go anyway. While putting her wedding dress away, Belly sees the debutante dress her mom gave her from Season 1. We also see a flashback when Belly was young; Susannah redecorated Belly's room and put a big bed inside.
When Young Belly hears the boys knocking and giggling, she goes goes downstairs to tell her mom that she doesn't want to sleep alone. Her mom climbs into bed with her. The memories follow her back into the present, and Belly cries on her pillow. Conrad, who is ready to leave to head back to California, overhears her sobs. He appears to change his mind and decides to stay in Cousins.
Unfortunately for Taylor, she has to turn down her dream summer internship in New York to use the housing money to pay off her mom's debt so she can open a salon in her home. Lucinda promises to pay her daughter back 'every penny.'
Belly wakes up from her nap and checks her phone to find a missed call and texts from Jeremiah. Conrad agreed to be his best man, which puts a smile on her face. Belly runs downstairs to thank him. Conrad jokes that he couldn't let Steven plan a bachelor party on his own.
'For what it's worth, I think it's good. The two of you,' he says. 'You obviously make each other really happy.' He also wishes her a happy belated birthday and bakes some 'dirt bombs' for her. When she goes to hug him, for the first time, viewers get to hear what he's thinking.
'What have I done?' his narration says. Christopher Briney told Entertainment Weekly that Conrad will narrate one episode this season. He hinted that there will be a "visual shift" to make it clear when we're switching to Conrad's thoughts. Could this final line at the end of Season 3, Episode 4 be the start of it?
Season 3, Episode 5 of The Summer I Turned Pretty premieres on Wednesday, August 6 at 3 a.m. ET/12 p.m. PT on Prime Video. Check out the full release schedule below.