Photo: Dana Hawley/Prime Video/Dana Hawley/Prime Video
Was this show always this sad? Two episodes into the second season of The Summer I Turned Pretty, and I’m ready to call my mom and all of my nicest ex-boyfriends just to remind them I still love them. Did you catch the Titanic and Romeo + Juliet references? Because like those two classics of the DiCaprio oeuvre, “Love Scene” wants us to feel the full emotional devastation of adolescent heartbreak, which, if you’ve forgotten, is uniquely harrowing. But this is why I love teen soaps. As Belly texted Steven, Soooo much crying 🙁 … Belly, of course, being heartbreak central.
In episode two, Belly is on a mission with two objectives. The first is to locate Conrad and obtain proof of life. Her second goal, nearly as important as the first, is to try and mend her relationship with Jeremiah.
Jeremiah, a teen WASP with the perpetual well-baked tan of a late-’60s Miami real-estate broker, is also TSITP’s main source of charisma. Even when he’s cold and whiny and yelling at Belly for teaching him how to change a flat tire, I remain charmed. We’ve missed you, Jer! At first, I assumed that patching things up with Jeremiah would be the harder of Belly’s two missions, but their road to recovery was surprisingly quick.
Jeremiah and Belly meet up outside of Conrad’s dorm at Brown, where Jer rejects Belly’s offer of friendship coffee, and we get to meet Con’s 5G-conspiracist roommate (a delight) and his friend and/or girlfriend Sophie, who directs them to Cousins. Jeremiah says he doesn’t want or need Belly’s help retrieving Conrad at the beach house, but Belly, who “knows this boy better than anyone,” is sure that he actually does and gets in the car anyway. We can’t fault the girl’s instincts, because, sure enough, one flat tire later, they’re having an emotional breakthrough on the side of the road. Belly knows she was so focused on Conrad that she forgot about Jer when Susannah was sick. Jer admits he needed her and felt abandoned. They hug. They cry. We cry. And we’re back on the road. See that, Conrad? Good things happen when you share your feelings. You know, if Conrad were capable of expressing emotion with his words instead of just glowering, maybe he and Belly wouldn’t be in this position right now.
Personally, I’m impressed Belly had the brain space to give Jeremiah as much of her attention as she does because whilst all this is going on, she’s also getting bombarded with intrusive memories of one particularly ~special~ evening. It was Christmastime, and Belly snuck out of the house to drive to Cousins with Con, where they had the entire beach house to themselves. Teen romance ensues. Belly makes hot cocoa, which Conrad calls “dusty,” followed by a montage of playing on the beach in the snow. Then they come inside, lie down a blanket, and make love (there’s simply no other way to say it) in front of the fireplace to the tune of Des’ree’s “I’m Kissing You” from Romeo + Juliet. And it’s Belly’s first time, too! It’s all so perfect and lovely and sweet, and therefore extra-crushing when cut with Belly seeing Conrad in the present day, post-breakup. “What is she doing here?” Ugh, my heart!
Belly has chosen not to tell Laurel and Steven about her little day trip, so they think Taylor broke up with Milo and Belly has to stay close to comfort her. Would that we all had a best friend who can improvise a cover story on the spot like Taylor, by the way. Surprised by Steven at the bookstore, Taylor doesn’t miss a beat yes-and-ing her way out of the confrontation.
“Where’s my sister?”
“She’s grabbing Auntie Anne’s.”
“Sorry about your breakup.”
“I’m devastated!”
“You don’t look devastated.”
“Well, I am! And I need Belly with me today!”
“You’re right. I’m sorry for being a jerk.”
And scene. Masterful. (Even though Steven immediately figured it out anyway because he texted Belly to confirm the alibi, and she said they were watching Titanic.)
Speaking of Steven, when he’s not peacocking in front of Taylor, he’s almost insufferably perfect. He treats his mom to breakfast, downplays Belly’s bad grades when Laurel brings them up, and seems genuinely regretful for being such a jerk to her at the party last night. And I’m not sure how this works, but he also claims to have gamed the school’s financial-aid system, so now he’s basically rolling in Princeton bucks.
By contrast, grief has made the normally perfect Laurel into a bit of a space cadet, which is why her kids are paying for her meals and why it stung so much when Belly accused her of having neglected them last year. “Am I a bad mom?” she asks her perfect son Steven. Of course not, he says (because he’s perfect, and that’s the only right answer). I can’t be too hard on Laurel, though. Laurel still can’t mention Susannah’s name without bursting into tears in public, which will make promoting that memoir a challenge.
In fact, Laurel and Conrad could both learn a thing or two from Jeremiah about keeping fewer secrets and sharing more burdens. That’s right: Conrad has another piece of devastating information he’s neglected to share with his brother, even though it affects Jeremiah just as much as it does him. The house is for sale.
• Again with the Olivia Rodrigo!
• Laurel crying in the dressing room. Been there, girl.
• This line: “It happened so fast, Belly. It was really, really bad.”
