‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ season 3 premiere review: High emotions and loose secrets

The decisions made at Cousins Beach didn’t stay at the beach, both in good and bad ways. Prime Video’s The Summer I Turned Pretty season 3 premiere was a roller coaster of emotions that left us reeling by the final minutes. Every romantic moment, every secret, and every betrayal ramped up the electric energy to make this a dramatic start. But for every choice that these friends and families made about their lives, you just knew that their hearts yearned for something more. The Season 3 premiere may have been a time jump, but the drama still felt like we were pulled back to those fateful summers at the beach.

Growing up and graduating.

“Last Season” did a great job of transitioning the characters during the time jump. Focusing a little bit on the start of Belly’s university time allowed The Summer I Turned Pretty to create a fresh start for the time jump while setting up a noticeable change for everyone. As viewers, we expected Belly’s time at university to have ups and downs of growth, similar to her teen years visiting Cousins Beach. But now by the time of her senior year, she’s grown to be a young adult – someone expected to make big decisions about their life out in the real world. The same goes for everyone, like Conrad starting his medical residency or Steven working in his internship. These decisions seem to be Belly’s big focus for where she goes in life.

As a contrast to the group, The Summer I Turned Pretty sets up Jeremiah in another interesting comparison against his brother. Whereas Conrad had gotten into his medical assignment, Jeremiah got a huge setback by having to complete another semester before he could graduate. For the first two seasons, The Summer I Turned Pretty set the groundwork for how Jeremiah’s ambition and work ethic paled in comparison to Conrad – that Conrad was the “better” brother in all regards. Both “Last Season” and “Last Christmas” reinforced this theme that Jeremiah can’t get his act together.

In some cases, you can’t help but feel bad for him. For example, the way his dad spoke to him about completing one more semester. Yes, it’s terrible that he didn’t read the email and forgot some courses, but changing his major would’ve required taking the new courses anyway. His dad needed to take it down a notch and not project his past frustrations on that call! In many ways, his dad and The Summer I Turned Pretty approach the Jeremiah vs. Conrad mentality in a similar way, where Conrad is romanticized & grounded while Jeremiah is unfocused & juvenile. But there is no one right answer, and they both have problems, which the premiere pulled back the layers on.

Uncomfortable truths.

The biggest conflict during the season premiere came from Jeremiah’s hookup in Cabo. In your opinion, would you consider what he did cheating? This scenario gave me major nostalgic vibes of the Ross & Rachel betrayal on Friends. As a refresher, Ross slept with someone the same night that he and Rachel “took a break” (i.e., broke up/a break in their relationship). I’d consider Jeremiah the same as Ross here, that it wasn’t cheating – they were clearly broken up and hadn’t talked with each other. Though, it was quite interesting how Belly kept saying that they didn’t break up. Everyone else knew they had, and based on the flashback, there was no mistaking that they did.

The bigger issue in their relationship seems to be the lack of honesty and transparency. Jeremiah should’ve come clean about what he did during spring break, especially if he felt awful. Instead, he turned his grief into a dirty secret that became a betrayal he was trying to cover up. Sure, Belly would’ve been angry in the moment, but they would’ve moved past it sooner. And after three years together, they should feel comfortable communicating with each other. It’s great now that they talked through it, albeit exposing some glaring issues in their relationship.

Belly not telling Jeremiah the truth about her spending Christmas with Conrad at Cousins Beach is a ticking time bomb. Sure, she can say that nothing happened between them on “Last Christmas,” but she kept something hidden about an intimate moment she shared with an ex-boyfriend. Her history with Conrad has so much weight to it, especially with how it weighs down her current relationship with Jeremiah, even after three years together. When Belly chose to forgive Jeremiah, she should’ve come clean about any secrets she was holding. It feels like The Summer I Turned Pretty is building up to this explosive truth about how Belly can’t admit she can’t let Conrad go.

Watching from the sidelines.

Speaking of Conrad, his character is in the same limbo. His mind and heart didn’t feel like they were focused on anything in his life, from dating to his medical career. Everything seemed paused and aloof. I liked how his friend Agnes called him out on his messy past and his apathetic approach to life. Sometimes you need a friend to just say what it is, and Conrad needs a serious reality check. If he’s passionate about being a doctor, he needs to put his all into it. If he wants to be with Belly, he needs to fight for her and say something. It’s been more than three years since Belly chose Jeremiah; if Conrad is still this hung up, there is a problem here.

As of now, Conrad’s plot felt separate from the rest of the group. Steven’s car crash and his mother’s memorial tied him back to the story, but just like his mindset, he’s merely floating around. Since he’s hit a stall at his residency, maybe this will bring him back to the main plot? Or maybe it will push him to move on to further his life? Either way, Conrad needs to focus, make a decision, and find joy in his life again.

Time to make a choice.

When it comes to choices, Steven and Taylor need to decide what to do about their romance. Is anyone else done with their on-again-off-again trope? It’s one thing to be unsure as teens, but it’s another thing to carry on affairs while they’re in relationships with other people. I’m not calling them a relationship because they’re casual and cheating/having an affair. Taylor setting her boundary and saying she only wants casual is fine; her changing her mind and wanting more is also fine. The same goes for Steven, with changing his mind after the car crash. However, they need to sit down and make one final choice. We’re at the Season 3 premiere, and the back and forth has gotten old.

In Belly and Jeremiah’s case, does anyone think they’ll actually get married? This decision felt more like a romantic upswing than a conscious choice; like the pair felt a renewed love after the breakup, that this engagement was a romantic bandage. I hope they don’t rush into things because the marriage (or breakup) could blow up in their faces worse than anything they’ve experienced. Jeremiah and Belly still have a lot of unresolved issues they need to work through before putting a ring on it.

And Belly should absolutely get on that plane to do a semester in Paris! Learn from The Hills’ Lauren Conrad and get on that plane. Don’t be the “girl who gave up Paris.” A semester is only about 3-4 months, and studying in Paris is a great opportunity for her. If they can’t survive a long-distance relationship as students, their relationship won’t last.

The bottom line.

“Last Season” and “Last Christmas” were emotionally-filled episodes to kick off The Summer I Turned Pretty’s season 3 premiere. A needed time jump pushed the characters further to experience life and bring them to the verge of adulthood in a post-university world. However, we can’t forget that they’re still in their very early 20s and preparing themselves to make big decisions. The season premiere showed that the characters are still messy and have a lot to work through, but, “Will they work through it?” is the big question at hand for the rest of the season.

The Summer I Turned Pretty airs new episodes on Wednesdays on Prime Video.

Images courtesy of Amazon Studios. Read more articles by Justin Carreiro here.