“The Summer I Turned Pretty” has been a part of most summers since its release in 2022, but this summer’s season was memorable because it was the show’s concluding season. The third season of the show premiered on July 16, 2025, and began with a 4-year timeskip since the last season, with Isabel, also known as Belly, dating Jeremiah at Finch College. At a frat party, Belly finds out about Jeremiah’s infidelity on his trip to Cabo over spring break. Belly is heartbroken, but then Jeremiah apologizes by proposing to her.
Over the course of the season, the viewer sees Jeremiah and Belly’s relationship struggle, especially after Conrad, Belly’s first love and Jeremiah’s brother, confesses his love for Belly. Soon, the wedding gets called off before Belly can walk down the aisle. Belly escapes to Paris to avoid the drama and ends up settling there for a while. Conrad spends months writing her letters, and when invited to go to Brussels, he takes the opportunity to visit Belly in Paris.
The final episode was long-awaited by many Team Conrad fans. During the finale, fans got to see Belly realize she was still in love with Conrad. The episode begins with Belly being hostile towards Conrad, but as the day progresses, she softens and even invites him to her birthday party. There, he meets all her friends and even becomes jealous of her former Paris fling, Benito. Conrad and Belly end up walking around Paris for a while longer until they begin dancing together. They kiss as Taylor Swift’s “Dress” plays in the background. The viral Stairs scene happens (if you know you know), and soon they are lying in bed together. Belly again begins to show hostility to Conrad, admitting she feels like she will never love him with her own free will.
Conrad, heartbroken, leaves for Brussels, but Belly realizes she made a grave mistake and runs after him, boarding his train. They have an epic kiss, and it cuts to them going back to Cousin’s Beach for the first time since the failed wedding. Phoebe Bridgers’s “Scott Street” plays in the background as the camera pans out of the summer home with Belly and Conrad standing in the backyard.
Many fans have discussed whether the finale was truly worth the wait. In my opinion, it was not, but it had all the right material in the episode. As a Team Conrad member myself, I was happy with the ending, but throughout the season, there were too many side plots. The music choices were perfect for the show’s target audience and captured the moments spot on. Overall, “The Summer I Turned Pretty”’s final episode was exactly what Team Conrad fans wanted after waiting for so long, but it wasn’t worth the eleven-episode season. Many fans are excited for the recently announced “The Summer I Turned Pretty The Movie.“
