NOTE: this post contains spoilers for The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 episode 1, “Love Lost.”
The first episode of The Summer I Turned Pretty season 2 guarantees that audiences will be on a rollercoaster of emotions right alongside our favorite characters. Susannah’s (Rachel Blanchard) death has changed everything and the love triangle between Belly (Lola Tung), Conrad (Christopher Briney), and Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) is front and center.
Belly has lost both of her boys
We open the episode with a dream sequence of Belly in Cousins with Conrad as her boyfriend, Jeremiah accepting their relationship and Susannah healthy and alive. Unfortunately, that isn’t the reality. Belly and Conrad have broken up and Susannah is dead. It’s clear that Belly is definitely struggling. Her grades have taken a serious dive and her volleyball captaincy was revoked.
We start to get flashbacks of what happened after the season 1 finale, starting with Belly telling Conrad that she and Jeremiah kissed a few times. They both apologize for how they acted that summer before Conrad tells her to be with him (if she wants to) and that she is "it" for him. Neither of them wants to hurt Jeremiah and Belly volunteers to talk to him, but it does not go well. After she tells him that she and his brother kissed, Jeremiah is hurt and it seems that their friendship might not recover.
That’s enough to have Belly hit pause on her relationship with Conrad so that the two siblings can be there for each other and Susannah. However, Conrad does give her the infinity necklace that he got for her birthday and promises that no matter what happens, they will still be infinite. Before they leave Cousins, Belly and Susannah have a heart to heart and she promises Belly that this place will always be here for her.
Three weeks later, Belly and Conrad begin talking more and more, having deeper conversations each time, which shows just how connected they truly are. She does end up asking about Jeremiah, revealing that she’s reached out but he never responds. One night, Conrad shows up at Belly’s door and shares that Jeremiah is over what happened, but he’s not because he can never get over her. After he comments how it’s torture to stand in front of her and not be able to kiss her, Belly doesn’t hesitate to kiss him instead and it’s clear just how happy the two of them are
Steven is graduating
While getting ready to go to Steven’s (Sean Kaufman) graduation, a gift is delivered from Susannah, which includes a laptop and a note. It is then revealed that neither Jeremiah or Conrad will be attending to support their close friend. He is actually the class valedictorian and gives an amazing speech about making what you want happen because tomorrow is not promised.
It is an obvious tribute to Susannah, which is later confirmed when Laurel (Jackie Chung) reads the letter, and during lunch to celebrate the special occasion it’s revealed that Laurel wrote a book about her late best friend.
At Steven’s grad party, Taylor (Rain Spencer) encourages Belly to move on from Conrad and she tries to flirt with a guy, almost kissing him, but he’s actually interested in one of her friends. After that, Steven spills beer on her and Belly decides that she’s had enough, leading to a fight with her brother over how they’re both grieving. Steven also expresses his anger over ruining their relationship with Jeremiah and Conrad, but that anger quickly disappears when Belly shares just how in love she was with Conrad.
Conrad is Missing
In her bedroom, Belly reflects on the fact that she did not just lose Susannah, she lost Conrad and Jeremiah too. It’s enough to push her to then pick up her phone and call her former best friend, who does answer this time. However, he gives her the concerning news that his brother is gone. He has not been able to get a hold of him since yesterday and he’s planning to go to Conrad’s college in the morning. Belly, of course, volunteers to go with him, deciding that she has to fix things with the boys.
New episodes of The Summer I Turned Pretty will be released weekly on Prime Video with the finale streaming on Friday, August 18.
