We’ve reached the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty, and, yes, Conrad (Christopher Briney) got the final rose. (The fandom can stop keeping scorecards now!) Belly (Lola Tung) has gone to Paris, broken Jeremiah’s (Gavin Casalegno) heart, and chosen the internet’s favorite “black cat boyfriend” over the golden retriever in hedge fund chinos with a crippling inferiority complex.
Color us…well, not that surprised. If the massive success of Jenny Han’s teen romance drama has taught us anything this summer, it’s that yearning is cool. Yearning is hot. Sadly, Han prefers things in threes— books, seasons, romantic entanglements that pit brother against brother, blood against raging hormones and undeveloped prefrontal cortexes—so we’ve reached the end of this long and winding melodrama.
And while all those happy endings and neatly resolved conflicts have left fans buzzing like the champagne bubbles from a failed Fisher wedding, one lesson still lingers. Perhaps the real triumph of Isabel Conklin’s coming-of-age tale wasn’t “Which Fisher brother will she choose?” so much as “What does it mean that choosing was the whole point?”
By the end of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Belly's love triangle may be through—but, more importantly, she's chosen herself.
All season, Belly has been tugged in a dozen directions at once, and rarely just by the Fisher brothers. She’s balancing the weight of family expectations, the lingering presence of Susannah’s wishes, and the invisible checklist of what a “perfect summer” turned “perfect life” is supposed to look like. She’s so absorbed in making the “right” choice that she stops choosing at all, spending most of the show’s final season playing barnacle to the sinking ship that is her engagement to Jeremiah. Her extracurriculars are surprisingly narrow: obsessing over two brothers, perfecting the art of beach-chair lounging, and occasionally sinking to the bottom of the Fisher pool for some silent soul-searching. That’s what makes her choice to jump on a plane to Paris even more shocking than her day-of decision to call off the wedding. (Okay, fine, Jeremiah, it was mutual!) A Belly with aspirations and dreams that don’t center around a Cousin’s beach house and a shared set of DNA? Oh là là.
But how exactly did we get here? And how does the show’s finale, season 3, episode 11, “At Last,” upend the very trope that made it so deliciously watchable? Here’s a breakdown of our biggest takeaways from the series finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty.
Benito (Fernando Cattori) and Conrad (Christopher Briney) are introduced by Belly (Lola Tung).
How do Belly and Conrad end up together after reconnecting in Paris in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' season 3 finale?
Did Belly’s baguette-fueled walkabout finally prove that her libido will perk up for a man who doesn’t hold the deed to a multi-million dollar oceanfront property? Yes, and that’s called growth. But we could’ve done without the implied romantic roadblock of a dead ringer for a young Diego Luna on a red Vespa (a.k.a rising Mexican actor Fernando Cattori), and Conrad probably feels the same. The poor guy shows up on Belly’s very French doorstep to profess his feelings and deflates like a sad balloon when the object of his affection rolls up in a chic bob with a sexy Latin carry-on. Is Junior Mint really doomed to live life as the child of divorce forever? (Jennifer Han, we do not have time for this!)
But Paris is more than just a backdrop for romance—it’s a reminder that Belly’s life exists beyond Cousins Beach. Amid the city lights and cobblestone streets, she and Conrad navigate old wounds, shared history, and lingering feelings. Their reunion isn’t just about rekindling a summer fling; it’s a moment that frames their connection within Belly’s newfound independence. That’s why it’s so important that she hesitates to let him back in, that she tosses him into the deep end with a planned birthday party thrown by people who don’t exist in their shared circle of friends. Belly has built something for herself while building herself, and whatever current exists between them has to prove it can survive that metamorphosis. Watches and staircases and red lipstick smudged on birthday blunts—their reunion is messy and charged and simmering with the tension of who will admit what and when. It’s the kind of buildup that will launch a thousand TikTok fan edits long past the finale’s end credits, but it’s only the start of this next chapter in their story.
Taylor (Rainn Spencer) and Steven (Sean Kaufman) are another couple who finally come together by the series finale.
What happens to Taylor and Steven in 'The Summer I Turned Pretty' series finale?
While the Fishers occupy most of the drama, Taylor (Rain Spencer) and Steven (Sean Kaufman) quietly remind us what growing up looks like when you’re not at the center of a love triangle. Their relationship deepens naturally, moving from playful flirtation to committed partnership, with a few bumps along the way that remind them to slow down and actually communicate with one another. It’s a subtle counterpoint to the Fisher chaos, showing that choosing the next step in life—or love—doesn’t have to come with public spectacle or melodrama. Even when the pair argues over job changes that could alter the fabric of their carefully curated life, their foundation feels solid in a way that’s still foreign to fans of this show. The juxtaposition between Belly and Conrad’s finale moments and Taylor and Steven’s gives us two very different stages of love: the reconnection and the reaffirmation, the beginning and the evolution. As frustrating as it was to spend time away from Belly and her Parisian getaway, this detour made sense.
Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) is still figuring it out, but well on his way to becoming the next "Hot Chef."
What happens to Jeremiah at the end of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty?'
Just when you think Jeremiah might fade into irrelevance, he doubles down with a Hot Chef pivot. The former Finch “super senior” has given up majoring in getting high and ruining his credit score for a more lucrative career as an influencer-approved line cook. (He’s Carmen Berzatto from The Bear, but without the chainsmoking addiction and crippling anxiety.)
Six months of couch surfing, unresolved grief, and daddy issues later, he’s still figuring things out, although the distance from Belly and the graveside coming-to-blows with Conrad seems to have given him at least a bit more perspective. He’s started to mend the broken things in his life—his relationship with his father, his contentious, competitive bond with Conrad, and his own crushing self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy. He’s still diving headfirst into doomed romances—this bicoastal flirtation with Denise (Isabella Briggs) just cannot be built to last—and centering himself in the narrative a bit too much for our liking, but he’s young, immature, and deserves the space to find himself just as much as anyone else on this show. Are we interested in watching a spinoff of that journey of self-discovery? Not particularly, no.
Conrad and Belly touring Paris.
Who does Belly choose at the end of 'The Summer I Turned Pretty?' Ultimately herself.
Some fans will gripe about changes from the book that robbed us of a (successful) Cousins Beach wedding and a more drawn-out epilogue chronicling Conrad and Belly’s hard-fought happily ever after. (Not so fast: The finale movie may give fans what they want!) The show spent so long establishing sides in this tug of war for its main character’s affections that we almost forgot this was Belly’s story and not an excuse for American Eagle to issue a trademarked T-shirt drop. But this is Belly’s story. It always has been. And despite seasons of her being branded the “true villain” of the show, this journey has always been about her and, to some extent, how we see ourselves through her. Yes, she makes a romantic choice, but the real triumph is her act of self-determination. After reflection, heartbreak, and a year abroad, she steps into her agency. She weighs her desires, considers her past, and then makes decisions that feel fully her own.
The finale of The Summer I Turned Pretty is less about which Fisher brother gets the girl and more about Belly discovering that she’s the one in charge of her life and her heart. It’s really just a bonus that her choice comes with a palatial waterfront home, mortgage-free, in the midst of a housing crisis.
You can buy The Summer I Turned Pretty book series on Bookshop.org.